I just got a slip from FedX explaining that due to the current surge in fuel prices that FedX will be imposing a "Fuel Surcharge" to each delivery they perform. This is NOT a price increase, no rather they will have a seperate line on the bill specifically billing me for the Fuel Surcharge.

Is this sort of like the new phone tax that is not a tax but a surcharge? If it were a price increase it might increase the inflation rate, this way it is not in the CPI?

May you live in interesting times!

-- Helium (HeliumAvid@yahoo.com), February 29, 2000

Answers

This could really put a dent in Amazon.com's earnings. I mean, if they HAD earnings, this could really put a dent in them.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), February 29, 2000.

Ok....OK.......but isn't the CPI measured on how much more the consumer is paying. If this is the case then the overall price of the product/service has increased thus increasing the CPI.

Just wondering,

Exit 316

-- Exit316 (exit316@kc-primary.net), February 29, 2000.

.com earnings? What's that?

-- JD (cogito_ergo_sum@usa.net), February 29, 2000.

Glad I mailed out that computer...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), February 29, 2000.

Exit,

not necessarily. A few years ago the CPI went down because the .gov determined that computers had jumped from old, slow 486/25s to pentium 150s. So, even though the price of the computers went up a bit, .gov decided that productivity had increased by a factor of bandwidth. Therefore, computers cost less, they said. Go figure.

-- rocky (rknolls@no.spam), February 29, 2000.

Interesting. I wonder when UPS will start adding in a "fuel surcharge?"

Least we forget, this country was scrambling madly just a few short years ago when UPS went on strike. We had other delivery services available to us at that time, yet there were still major difficulties(The Postal Service and the independents were having a hard time taking up the slack; they too, had come to depend on UPS to do the bulk of the package delivery work). What happens when ALL delivery services/companies have to develop austerity measures/additional surcharges because of rising fuel costs? JIT will suffer mightily...

Peace,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), February 29, 2000.

Don:

I think your point is valid and speaks to the fast food, JIT attitude of many. Contingency planning, (preparedness), allows for a slower delivery time by having items in stock or on hand, either on a personal or business level.

I find it ironic that so many are about to get hammered by the same vulnerabilty they were so painfully educated on just a few short years ago. And I feel sorry for all the innocent employees that will suffer the fools in management.

-- JCC (wolvering_in_nc@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.

Even while the NASDAQ set a new high and the DOW recovered some more, New York Light Crude Oil futures went up another 30 cents. The inmates have taken over the asylum, but they can't prevent the crash as they see their money erode at an ever-increasing rate.

-- Mr. Adequate (mr@adequate.com), February 29, 2000.

YUP. My company has added a 5% fuel surcharge to each trip we run, effective 3/1. Something about our gas bill going up about 40%.

chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 29, 2000.

use both at work,surcharge added about two weeks ago,3 percent

-- harry huges (daddyo56@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.

Chuck:

How much is the surcharge going to be in the middle of June when 87 octane gasoline is $2.179 a gallon? And how many people will be unemployed, or strapped financially because of the increasing price of ALL products?

I'm not picking on you, but I'm very pessimistic about the price of gasoline this summer and its' effect on the economy overall. I am afraid that we will see a drastic impact on what few industries are left in this country. (Recent government actions over the last 5 years have stripped this country of its' manufacturing base.) The vacation industry is full of minimum wage jobs, but not occupations that will support an individual OR a family!

-- JCC (wolverine_in_nc@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.