With gas price spikes affecting the bottom lines of transportation-based companies across the country, many businesses have been forced to pass fuel prices onto their customers — and their drivers.
“Clearly, the rising gas prices are not a positive thing for our drivers because they do have to fill up their own tanks,” said Chris Sternberg, a spokesman for Papa John’s Pizza. “The drivers feel a portion of the rising fuel increase.”
The pizza chain added a delivery fee last year to combat rising gas costs. The fee — typically between $1 and $1.50 in the Washington region — gets passed on to drivers to cover fuel. But it still isn’t enough to cover their costs, said Konrad Pawlowsky, an assistant manager at an Arlington Papa John’s.
“Increasing gas prices have a definite strain on the drivers,” he said. “Drivers used to get better tips when there was no delivery charge. Adding the delivery charge doesn’t help them out at all.”
At Domino’s Pizza, drivers have always received a small reimbursement charge — separate from delivery charges — for gas and car maintenance, said a company spokesman. Each franchisee sets his or her own delivery fee, but it typically increases with gas prices.
Courier services such as FedEx and UPS have also passed fuel prices on to customers with an added surcharge. The surcharge varies monthly as gas costs rise or fall.
“Obviously, for transportation companies, fuel is a big expense,” said Peggy Gardner, a spokeswoman for UPS. “It’s something that we spend a lot of time looking at better ways to economize.”
Both FedEx and UPS add a 3.5 percent surcharge to all ground deliveries. That number is scheduled to jump to 3.75 percent in May at both companies.
FedEx’s fuel costs spiked 47 percent to $2.1 billion from 2004 to 2005. In the first quarter of 2006, prices were up 48 percent over the first quarter of 2005.
Passing the buck
» Courier service giants such as FedEx and UPS have added surcharges to deliveries to cover increasing fuel prices, with prices for air service rising significantly more than those for ground service.
» Beginning May 1, FedEx’s surcharge for air delivery will jump to 13.5 percent, up from 12 percent in April. At UPS, the air delivery surcharge has been capped at 12.5 percent.
