Consumer Pain Goes Beyond The Pump

Two dollars for pizza delivery.

An extra $1.70 to ship a $20 package.

And a $10 surcharge for lawn-mowing service.

The rising cost of fuel is rippling far beyond what consumers pay at the pump. Companies across an array of industries are instituting fuel surcharges that are nibbling away at consumers' pocketbooks. Like the airline industry with its baggage fees, businesses say they are being squeezed by higher gas prices and must pass on the costs to survive.

"We're going to be paying higher costs across the board whether you pay it in the form of a surcharge or you pay it in the form of higher prices," said Noreen Perrotta, finance editor at Consumer Reports, who recently paid an extra $10 to have her lawn mowed. "We'd better get used to it, and we better start budgeting for it."

Soaring gas prices are pushing Americans to shop for bargains, change their driving patterns and vacation at home. But less attention has been paid to the impact of the many small and often indirect ways that consumers are paying for gas, and generally, there are no regulations governing how fuel surcharges are calculated or implemented.

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Source: Washington Post