Residential and Commercial Shipments

Small package carriers like FedEx and UPS charge a residential fee anytime they deliver a package to a residence. This is designed to cover the cost of driving out to a neighborhood and delivering directly to an individual’s front door. This fee goes up each year and currently sits around $2.45 (2011).

Residential fees are initially assessed based on whether there is a business name associated with the address. Any shipment not being sent to an address with a business name is charged the fee, however, it is still up to the delivery driver’s discretion to charge the fee upon delivery. Often, a home business will still be charged the residential fee when the driver discovers that the business is actually at a residence.