This story appears in the
August 1999 issue of
Startups.
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Operate a homebased business from the boonies or 'burbs?
Either way, it costs more bucks to ship to or from your
business.
UPS announced in February it was tacking on a $1 delivery area
surcharge to less accessible ZIP codes--atop the added buck it
charges on residential deliveries--for all packages to residential
addresses.
The delivery area surcharge (DAS) helps UPS defray the cost of
making daily deliveries to remote ZIP codes, says Steve Holmes of
UPS. Some 2.5 percent of all UPS shipments are affected by the
charge, which Holmes says hits the shipper--not the recipient.
"Everybody else does it," Holmes says of his
competitors. Indeed, FedEx charges $3 for unscheduled package
pickups, but in February dropped a $1 surcharge from its Express
Saver three-day delivery product, according to Carla Boyd of
FedEx.
Want to avoid the charge? Have a traditional office-based
company ship or receive your packages. Or use a pack-and-ship
service. But beware: They often charge their own fee for
service.
Jeff Zbar is a homebased writer, speaker and author of
Home Office Know-How (Upstart Publishing).