What is the Current Fuel Surcharge with FedEx?

The prices change on a weekly basis. Their express, ground, and freight services are subject to change based on U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) spot price and national U.S. on-highway average price for a gallon of diesel fuel.

How is Fuel Surcharge Calculated on a Truck?

Take the current fuel price minus the carrier's base fuel price. Then, divide that number by the base fuel mileage, the average 18-wheeler gets 6 mpg. You can multiply this number by the total mileage of the trip to get your total cost.

Did FedEx Raise their Rates?

In September of 2022, FedEx announced that beginning on January 2nd, 2023, they would be increasing their rates for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Freight Services. The express shipping rates rose by an average of 6.9%.

How do I get a FedEx Shipping Discount?

FedEx's More Savings Program allows businesses to save up to 22% on any eligible express services. This program also provides an additional 9% savings on eligible ground and home delivery services for up to nine weeks.

How to Avoid FedEx Surcharges?

It is impossible to avoid all possible surcharges that FedEx will impose on your shipping needs, but there are a few ways that you can limit the extra fees tacked onto your business.

What is the Cheapest Way to Ship 20 LB Package?

From ground shipping to express air services, there are many ways to ship a 20 lb package. The service you chose depends on factors like the contents of your package, your budget, the destination, and many more.

This article includes shipping rates from different carriers to help you pick the perfect service for sending your 20 lb package.

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Shipping Rates & Contract Negotiation

At ShipSigma we manage, analyze, and optimize over $1Billion in parcel spend to provide you with a deep understanding of the excess of fees your contract has built in and where savings exist. Using our industry-leading cost modeling software, we’ll provide you with a Shipping Savings Guarantee before you negotiate. Once negotiation begins, we'll provide you with a market-best carrier network strategy, contract management & compliance services, surcharge mitigation, and ongoing analysis and optimization opportunities.

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Know Your Savings Before You Negotiate

Using our industry-leading cost modeling software, we’ll let you know what you should be paying, down to the penny.

We could not say enough good things about our relationship with ShipSigma. Beyond the initial savings, they continue to find us new angles for savings, set up dashboards specific to our needs, and meet with us quarterly to go through reporting/review savings/new opportunities. ShipSigma has been more than just a service for us, they have been a continuous partner as we navigate the difficulties of controlling our freight costs and holding the vendors accountable.

Tyler B. Vice President of Finance, Leading Global Manufacturer

4 hours. It took less than 4 hours of my time for my company to see half a million in annual savings. No headaches, no feet-dragging negotiations, no confusing documents. It was so easy.

Todd M. Vice President, Food Manufacturer and Distributor

The insights and analytics, ShipSigma provided before and after negotiating our carrier agreements, make it clear we have a long-term partner who is aligned with our company values. The cost modeling and rate simulation let us know the exact savings we would see, down to the last cent. After running our historical data, ShipSigma was able to find us almost 28% in annual shipping savings with our same carrier.

Jonica H. Controller, Market Leading Wine Distributor

Our team managed billions of dollars of various category spend. To have ShipSigma guarantee a savings and then fully execute so that we’re realizing increased EBITA within 60 days allows us to focus on other strategic opportunities.

Randy H. Chief Procurement Officer, Leading Provider of Pork Products

We thought we had the best rates. We were told we had the best rates. ShipSigma got us better rates. They found us nearly 25% in savings and helped us renegotiate our contract with our carrier. It was just so easy.

Brad M. Chief Operations Officer, Clothing Retailer

The parcel invoice audit was a lifesaver for us. The team at ShipSigma monitored the weekly audit and noticed that instead of shipping air, over 60% of our packages could have traveled ground with no delay in arrival. They saved us more money than we had ever saved in our manual audit process.

Julie F. Chief Financial Officer, Industry Leading Retailer

What Is the Cheapest Way to Ship 20 LB Package?

From ground shipping to express air services, there are many ways to ship a 20 lb package. The parcel shipping service you chose depends on factors like the contents of your package, your budget, the destination, and many more.

This article includes shipping rates from different carriers to help you pick the perfect service for sending your 20 lb package.

What Is the Cheapest Way to Ship 20 LB Package?

Below are UPS, FedEx, and USPS, rates for sending a 20 lb parcel.

Carrier	Shipping service	Cost range to ship a 20 lb package
UPS	UPS Express Critical	Get a quote (Fastest and most expensive UPS service).
	UPS Next Day Air Early	$101.67-$336.20
	UPS Next Day Air	$71.67-$334.89
	UPS Next Day Air Saver	$66.49-$244.25
	UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.	$48.68-$204.68
	UPS 2nd Day Air	$44.45-$185.36
	UPS 3-Day Select	$32.24-$131.10
	UPS Ground	$16.10-$166.06
FedEx	FedEx First Overnight	$106.55-$280.16
	FedEx Priority Overnight	$75.55-$249.16
	FedEx Standard Overnight	$71.75-$241.82
	FedEx 2Day A.M.	$52.29-$206.09
	FedEx 2Day	$47.62-$176.30
	FedEx Express Saver	$44.21-$149.10
	FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery	$16.21-$36.17
USPS	Priority Mail Express	$69.30-$221.95
	Priority Mail	$23.15-$177.55
	USPS Retail Ground	$22.20-$68.60

Using the data from the table above, we can say that the cheapest way to ship a 20 lb package is using FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery.

FedEx Ground delivers is a FedEx service that is used to deliver packages 150 lbs. or less to businesses or commercial addresses, Monday to Friday.

FedEx Home Delivery, which falls under the FedEx Ground network, is a FedEx service that delivers packages 150 lbs. or less to homes (residential addresses) every day of the week.

UPS Ground is also an affordable way to ship a 20 lb package, with prices starting at $16.10.

What Is the Cheapest Way to Ship Several Boxes?

If you’re looking to send several boxes, the cheapest method will be the slowest service available, which is ground shipping in most cases. However, the cost of shipping several boxes can be affected by factors other than delivery speed. These include:

Quantity of the boxes - Generally, the more boxes that are being shipped, the higher the shipping cost will be since they require more space on a truck or plane. However, some carriers may offer discounts for large-volume shipments, so it's worth comparing rates from different companies.
Weight and size of the boxes - The cost to ship 10 extra-large boxes may be higher than the cost to ship 10 medium-sized boxes. This is because heavier boxes are more costly to ship and may require special handling.
Insurance - If the contents of the boxes are valuable or fragile, the cost of insuring them may be added to the shipping cost.
Package contents - You may pay more than the standard rate to ship several packages if, for example, the packages contain hazardous materials, oversized items, or perishable goods. In such cases, the carrier may need to take additional precautions to ensure the safe transport of the items, which can result in higher shipping costs.

To get the cheapest rates for shipping several boxes, you need to shop around with multiple carriers, comparing rates and ensuring their services match your needs. For example, you may need to pay more with a certain carrier but you get the benefit of extra services like signature confirmation or weekend delivery.

Different Ways To Ship Several Boxes

Small Parcel Shipping

If your packages are within standard size, then the cheapest shipping option may be small parcel delivery. For instance with UPS, if your shipment is 150 lb or less, it’s considered a small package. If your shipment is between 150 lb and 15,000 lb, it’s considered freight.

Freight

If your packages weigh more than the standard small package size, you’ll have to use freight services such as UPS Air Freight Direct or FedEx Freight Economy.

Less Than Truckload LTL)

LTL is a freight shipping option that is ideal for businesses and individuals who need to transport smaller quantities of large goods. Rather than paying for a full truck that you cannot fill, you share the space and cost of one truck with other shippers.

With LTL shipping, each shipment is assigned a freight class based on factors such as weight, density, and value, which helps determine the shipping cost. Since LTL shipments are bulky, the carrier will pick up the freight from your premises and take it to a processing hub, where it will be consolidated with other shipments and then transported to the final destination.

Full Truckload (FTL)

FTL is a freight shipping method where the entire truck is dedicated to a single shipment. Shipments sent via FTL are typically larger and heavier than what can be accommodated by LTL shipping. Bulky furniture and industrial equipment are some of the goods ideal for FTL shipping.

What Shipping Service Is Cheapest for Heavy Packages?

If you want to ship heavy packages, your best bet is to use either FedEx or UPS, since USPS does not ship packages weighing more than 70 lb.

Both FedEx and UPS have a weight limit of 150 lb for their standard services. In order to determine which service is the cheapest for heavy packages, we will compare UPS and FedEx rates for shipping a 150 lb package.

UPS and FedEx Rates For Shipping 150 Lb Package

Carrier	Shipping Service	Cost Range for 150 lb package
UPS	UPS Express Critical	Contact UPS for a quote
	UPS Next Day Air Early	$432.68-$1,742.67
	UPS Next Day Air	$402.68-$1,750.83
	UPS Next Day Air Saver	$379.83-$1,489.25
	UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.	$277.11-$1,311.73
	UPS 2nd Day Air	$245.60-$1,139.60
	UPS 3-Day Select	$184.65-$827.47
	UPS Ground	$102.64-$856.00
FedEx	FedEx First Overnight	$445.50-$1,594.50
	FedEx Priority Overnight	$399.00-$1,548.00
	FedEx Standard Overnight	$390.00-$1,474.50
	FedEx 2Day A.M.	$319.50-$1,309.50
	FedEx 2Day	$258.00-$1,104.00
	FedEx Express Saver	$244.50-$940.50
	FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery	$102.64-$152.56

From the table above we can see that FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery are the cheapest services for shipping heavy packages, with costs ranging from $102.64 to $152.56.

What Are the Cheapest Shipping Rates?

Whichever your preferred carrier is, the cheapest shipping rates are always for the service that has the slowest delivery time. Ground shipping, which involves the transport of goods via road and rail, often offers the cheapest shipping rates.

Below are the general categories of shipping services, from lowest cost to highest cost

Standard - This is the basic or standard shipping option, usually the most affordable, but with the slowest delivery timeframe. Depending on the carrier and destination, it can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks for the package to arrive.
Expedited - This is a faster shipping option than standard shipping, and it comes with a higher cost. Delivery is usually within 1-3 business days, depending on the carrier and destination.
Express - This is the fastest regular shipping option offered by most carriers, costing more than expedited and standard shipping. Delivery timeframe is within 1-2 business days, once again depending on the carrier and destination.
SameDay - This is a premium service offered by some carriers that guarantee delivery of a package on the same day it is sent. This is usually the most expensive shipping option and is only available in select areas and for certain kinds of packages.

Shipping Cost Calculator

To make it easy for customers to know their shipping rates, most carriers offer online shipping cost calculators.

USPS Cost Calculator

The United States Postal Service (USPS) provides an online shipping rates calculator that can be used to estimate shipping costs for domestic and international shipments.

UPS Cost Calculator

UPS offers a cost calculator where you can get a cost estimate based on the weight, size, and destination of your shipment.

FedEx Cost Calculator

FedEx has a cost calculator that provides shipping cost estimates based on various factors including the weight and dimensions of your package, the origin and destination addresses, the level of service you require, and any additional fees or surcharges that may apply.

How ShipSigma Can Help You

If you’re reading this, we know you want lower shipping rates, and that’s what we’ll get you. ShipSigma will analyze and optimize your shipping contract to get you GUARANTEED lower shipping costs. What’s better? You don’t need to change carriers or service levels.

Additional Resources

Carrier Contract Negotiation

FedEx Shipping Rates

FedEx Surcharges

Parcel Audit Services

Parcel Audit Software

Parcel Invoice Audit

Shipping Audit

Shipping Calculator

Shipping Insights & Analytics

Shipping Optimization

Small Parcel Audit

Small Parcel Definition

Small Parcel Shipping

UPS Shipping Rates

UPS Surcharges

FAQ

What is the difference between parcel and freight?

A parcel typically refers to a relatively lightweight small package that is usually small enough to be easily handled by one person. A parcel can range in weight from a few ounces to around 70 pounds. Parcel shipping is often used for sending personal mail, business-to-business deliveries, and direct-to-consumer shipments.

On the other hand, freight refers to a larger consignment of goods transported using special means such as freight trucks, ships, or planes. Freight shipments typically consist of multiple packages bundled together on pallets, crates, or other large shipping containers.

What is the cheapest way to ship a 1-pound package?

USPS Retail Ground and USPS First Class Package are the cheapest ways to ship a 1-pound package.

What is the cheapest way to ship a 20 lb package?

UPS Ground and FedEx Ground are the cheapest options for sending 20 lb packages.

What is the cheapest way to ship a 2lb package?

USPS Retail Ground and USPS Priority Mail are the cheapest options for shipping packages with weights of between 1-5 pounds.

What is the difference between Amazon partnered carriers and other carriers?

Amazon partnered carriers are authorized by Amazon to transport packages on behalf of the company, while other carriers are not affiliated with Amazon in any way.