Fuel Surcharges & Your Chit Chats Canada Tracked Shipments
Update October 14
Over the course of this year, Canada Post and others in the industry announced steep monthly changes to fuel surcharges for their services amid the ever fluctuating cost of fuel. As a result, shippers have had to deal with large and unpredictable increases and decreases to the cost of shipping packages domestically.
However, how dynamic the cost of fuel has become, Canada Post recently announced that they will be moving away from monthly, to weekly fuel surcharge updates.
While our hope is to keep clients informed with the most current industry updates, the situation is ever changing. For that reason, we are moving away from communicating fuel surcharge changes monthly. However, we recommend keeping a close eye on Canada Post’s weekly updates for insights into current fuel costs.
As the situation progresses around the globe, we believe there will be further fluctuations in the cost of fuel. In turn, you may see more frequent but minor adjustments to the rates for Chit Chats Canada Tracked, both increases and decreases. Moving forward, we recommend accounting for these potential fluctuations when setting the shipping rates for your store. For an overview of the weekly fuel surcharge rates, please refer to Canada Post’s website.
We apologize for the inconvenience that this may pose for your business and we welcome you to reach out to us for support or to answer any questions. We truly appreciate your feedback and thank you for your understanding.
The Chit Chats Team
What are fuel surcharges?
To account for the unpredictable nature of fuel costs, shipping companies will often charge special fees called fuel surcharges. How to calculate fuel surcharges can vary depending on the carrier; however, they are commonly based on the average price of fuel and are updated regularly, often weekly or monthly. For some carriers, you can find details about the current and previous surcharge amounts on their website.
What does this mean for my Canadian Shipments?
Although higher fuel surcharges is an industry-wide trend, it is a problem that impacts Canadian shipments in particular. This is because of the challenge that Canada’s low population density poses for transportation costs. As a result, Canada Post and others have had to significantly increase the fuel surcharges they apply to shipments.
Despite our best efforts to avoid changes to your postage rates, there will be an impact for your Canadian shipments.
Beginning the week of April 18, 2022, postage prices for our Chit Chats Canada Tracked service will reflect these significant changes to fuel surcharges. You can expect to see an increase of approximately 10% for your Canadian shipments.
It is unclear how long these surcharges will remain elevated but we want to prepare you for possible changes ahead. As the situation progresses around the globe, there may be further fluctuations in the cost of fuel. In turn, you may see minor adjustments to the rates for Chit Chats Canada Tracked, including decreases, each month. We recognize that this uncertainty can be extremely difficult for you to plan for. That’s why we will continue to do our best to minimize the disruptions to your shipping workflow ahead.
Planning for Changes Ahead
You can expect fluctuations (increases and decreases) month to month for our Chit Chats Canada Tracked pricing as Canada Post updates their fuel surcharges. To keep things as simple as possible, all updates to pricing will take place on the first Monday of the month. For an early overview of the changes, please refer to Canada Post’s website.
We apologize for the inconvenience that this may pose for your business. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for support or to answer any questions. We truly appreciate your feedback and thank you for your understanding.
The Chit Chats Team