Everywhere you look, fuel surcharges are becoming a regular part of corporate life. As companies struggle to accommodate the rising price of gasoline, they are searching everywhere for solutions. Canada Post charges over 8% on all deliveries; WestJet recently announced $20, $30, and $45 charges on short, medium, and long flights (numbers that are less than the surcharges by Air Canada); and small businesses across Canada are either cutting back on their delivery service or charging extra for it.
Gas prices have hit $1.50/litre in some spots throughout Eastern Canada and are hovering above $1.30/litre everywhere else. Many analysts expect the price to soar to around $2.50/litre by the end of summer – a price that will cause businesses to either…
- charge their customers even more for delivery costs
- go bankrupt
- explore transportation alternatives
Nobody wants #1 or #2 to happen – as it would cause major damages to the economy. #3, however, seems inevitable. If companies don’t start planning right now for what is coming in the future, they could be swallowed up by significant increases to their standard operating costs. Fortunately, there are many alternative forms of transportation available.
At Digitech, we’re proud to offer free delivery services to all our clients throughout the Greater Vancouver Area and Kelowna. Since we have a fleet of Toyota Prius delivery vehicles, we are able to send our remanufactured printer cartridges at zero cost to the customer and minimal cost to ourselves.
If we were using non-hybrid vehicles, we would certainly be scrambling for solutions like those around us. Instead, because we’ve planned ahead, we can continue offering the best service in the industry at zero cost to our customers.
