Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As gas prices are going up, as high as $3.99 a gallon in Buffalo, rates are going up everywhere, including shipping rates. One local shipper says he's making adjustments.
Andrew Nyhart of Lind-Hart Mini Ship says it's something he's always dealt with as a shipping location that works with all carriers. He says gas price hikes are noticeable, to the point the US Postal Service is adding a fee for shipping. "For the USPS, with their recent announcement, it's going to be more noticeable, because they just increased their rates in January. So this is going to be a compounded increase," says Nyhart.
Nyhart says it's one of these things where as service based industry, he makes sure every customer gets the best price. "When somebody comes to our location, for example, and if anybody is looking for the best way to get their goods from one place to another, they're going to price this out. That's what we do, and we have relationships with these carriers," says Nyhart. How does he adjust? "We look at what the need is of the shipment, so it's going to be on size or weight, and typically that's how most of the other carriers charge, and that's being UPS FedEx, DHL and post office has also embraced that over the past too. So we adjust by adjusting to the rules that that are at play. But we are all subject to the increases like fuel and because the data is so real nowadays, right? It's so at our fingertips, this data can be implemented more quickly. So this being something the post office is doing is a sign that they're doing more modern charges, which is also just going to impact us more, because change kind of hurts," adds Nyhart.
Nyhart says he's keeping rates as they are. "I can't control what the cost of the pump is, and therefore the carriers are saying the same thing. They still can take Product A from, you know, X, Y and Z, and make sure that they get delivered, but they're also going to be subject to that increase," explains Nyhart.
He says his goal is to look for that option that puts the least pain on their customers so they can continue selling their product.
Lind-Hart Mini Ship says there are no plans to raise rates right now
