Due to the complexity of shipping rates, it’s quite possible that we may not be aware of the potential surcharge until it appears on the bill. And it is very confusing because it has been described as service fee, transportation charge, or additional handling fee.
Therefore, understanding what these surcharges are — and how they are applied — can be a powerful tool to help you potentially minimize your shipping costs.
Today we are going to talk about one of the most common surcharges: additional handling surcharge, also known as additional handling fee or AHS.
Definition: What is Additional Handling Surcharge?
Charges:
As you can see from the information above, additional handling surcharge costs great amount and it could a huge portion of your shipping expense. Thus, it is time for you to pay more attention.
How to avoid Additional Handling Surcharge?
Here are some tips that might be helpful:
Ø First, remember the following numbers for the limitation:
1. Weight: 70 pounds
2. Dimension: longest side: 48 inches; second longest side: 30inches
Ø Second, remember the following words:
Packaging
1. Better be in corrugated cardboard box.
2. Don’t ship cylindrical-shape items
3. FedEx：soft-plastic pack：18 inches；13 inches；5 inches
4. Shrink wrap or stretch wrap
5. Entangled or cause damage to other packages
Ø Third, don't forget the following statements:
1. FedEx
We reserve the right to assess additional handling charges for packages that require special handling or that require FedEx to apply additional packaging during transit.
2. UPS
Any other package that requires special handling, as determined by UPS in its sole discretion.
Case example:
For instance, we have a customer that keeps getting charged for additional handling surcharge by FedEx.
Following is the information of his shipments:
1. Dimensions: 12*18*13/ 10*10*6/19*18*4 (inches)
2. Weight: 3lbs-12lbs
3. Packaging pictures:
Guess why he gets charged for additional handling surcharge?
It seems nothing wrong with his packages and even FedEx store might pack just like that.
We contacted FedEx multiple times. Their customer service representatives keep giving us different answers, “nobody can give you an exact answer” one representative said.
However, we didn’t give up. After digging into FedEx’s policy, we finally figure out the reason:
l Any package that is encased in a soft-sided pack (e.g., courier packs, poly bags and bubble mailers) that exceeds 18 inches along its longest side or 13 inches along its second-longest side or 5 inches in height
Conclusion
Shipping surcharges are real pain for many shippers. Therefore, we highly recommend you to pay more attention to these surcharges in order to avoid potential fees.
Thank you for choosing EzeeShip.