Prices are up on everything. I for one think that the surcharge on large packages is great. You need to understand that as a carrier I have a limited amount of room in my Jeep. Since Covid arrived (and a bit before) we went from having around 12 or fewer packages that didn't fit in mailboxes a day to having CASES of staples like diapers, TP, Paper Towels, dog food. As well as outsized items such as mattresses(over a dozen in the past year) small refrigerators (2), even a drill press and a 69.2# bounce house.
It is a rare day when I don't have my Jeep piled to the roof. Heck a coworker will strap packages on top of his Jeep (my knees say not only No to that but a resounding H**l No). Most carriers now are having to return and reload several times a week if not daily. I can not do that as my route is in a area that it would take an extra hour to travel back to reload and get back to the route, I would never make dispatch. This is basically unpaid time. No extra pay and no extra milage, the new system that they are currently getting ready to roll out addresses this and that in part is the reason for the surcharge. Face it I right now have a package waiting pickup that the only way it ould fit in my Jeep is to go in the back on top of the back seat and rest on the dash. It weighs only around 5# it makes no sense that it costs the same or less than a LFRB who's size is much more manageable. It also should be noted that If I have to take it out, if the customer schedules redelivery instead of picking it up I will be doing so on my own time or if I can fit it in I will be hampered by it for around 4 hours of the route. It will kinda block my side mirror, it will hinder me using my gear shift and it will mean that I have to park and get out to retrieve anything I could normally reach for in the back seat.
