Shipping costs have significantly risen (25-30%) in the last 12-18 months. Prices fell during the COVID years because fuel was cheaper and volume was abundant. The exorbitant cost stem from dimensional weight and size, along with multiple other contributing factors. But when you ship a pallet of goods that weighs 200lbs, you would roughly pay the same should the same dims be 450lbs. Small package shipping, .25-50lbs is not as shocking in costs as is heavier and larger footprint items. For me, even my FedEx employee discounted rate is high in my opinion. However, there is staring to be a slow resurgence of shippers (not highly profitable) that contract out the work across multiple ground network carriers. This will decrease freight charges but increase the transit times should they be able to survive/break even. Most have become spoiled with 1-3 day shipping, I know I am included, but increasing transit times and less handling brings the cost back down. The freight industry is all over the map currently. Look at the thread about Yellow, things are progressively changing, companies are going out, smaller companies are being forced go under, and overhead costs are high. The areas that get hit the hardest are your less populous and lower industry cities. It is more expensive to ship parts to Tulsa, OK than it is to Dallas, TX. I could go on for days about freight, that is my profession, but no matter how or where to look, freight charges and costs are very expensive.
