Additional fees and charges

Variable Rates

Calculating Courier Costs

There are two key components when calculating freight costs, these are:

• Base Price; and
• Variable Rates including VFR, RUC and ARFT, CSCS if applicable.

To calculate the total price you pay for a product or service, the base price is multiplied by the Variable Rates and added to the base rate.
Calculation: Base Price + (Base Price x (VFR% + RUC% + ARFT% + CSCS%) = Total Price (excl. GST)

Example calculation:
If the base rate is $5.00 and the VRF for that month was 2.00%, RUC 1.60%, ARFT 1.50% and CSCS (if applicable) 2.3%, the total price excl. GST you pay would be $5.37 excl. GST

Critical Service Continuity Surcharge (CSCS)

On 1 April, 2022 Aramex New Zealand introduced the CSCS which is a temporary surcharge for helping cover significantly increased operating expenses caused by extraordinary events. Aramex New Zealand has absorbed many costs in relation to Covid-19 pandemic such as Government lockdowns and associated safety measures, however, we are now at a point we must have a portion of these costs onto customers.

We felt that the Critical Service Continuity Surcharge was the most transparent method of sharing this with our customers and will appear on your invoice in conjunction with VFR and RUC surcharges. The surcharge will be reviewed monthly and will be published here.

The Critical Service Continuity Surcharge (CSCS) for February is: 0.0%

The Critical Service Continuity Surcharge (CSCS) for January is: 0.0%

Variable Fuel Rate (VFR)

As the cost of fuel is one of the most significant and fluctuating factors to the transport industry, the adoption of a VFR allows this cost to evolve whilst your base freight rates remain the same. Your VRF and freight rates are separate so rates will not need to be renegotiated every time fuel prices change;

VFR built into your freight rates can be higher to account for the inflation of fuel, Aramex New Zealand chooses to keep VFR and base rates separate meaning that our customers benefit from falling fuel prices;

When the price of fuel decreases, so will your VFR; and

The rates are transparent and displayed so you can at any point determine how the rates are calculated.

At the beginning of each month, the VFR will be calculated based on the average price of diesel.

Two Month Lag
To calculate the VFR for the current month we use the Index from two months earlier. For example, to calculate the July VFR, we use the Index price from May.

Average Diesel Price
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (“Index”) publishes the Weekly Oil Price Monitoring tables. The VFR is calculated using the 'Average diesel main port price less taxes, levies and ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme)'.

When is the VFR applied?
As of 1 July 2017, our VFR uses a Baseline Diesel (Index) price of $1.05. The ‘trigger point’ for when the VFR is applied is when there is movement of $0.01c above the Index price of $1.05. If the average diesel price for the month including taxes is $1.05 or below, then no VFR will apply for that month.

The VFR for each month alters according to the average monthly diesel price.

Variable fuel rates

Road User Charges (RUC)

On 1 December 2018, Aramex New Zealand introduced a surcharge to offset RUC’s implemented by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Due to the nature of the industry, majority of transport companies across the nation were impacted and introduced surcharges of their own.
For any queries regarding the Aramex RUC surcharge, please contact your local Regional Franchise to discuss further.

Auckland Regional Fuel Tax (ARFT)

Auckland Regional Fuel Tax (ARFT) of $0.10 per litre (excl. GST) came into effect on 1st December 2018.
Fuel expenditure is one of the most significant operating costs as a transport service provider. Therefore, and to ensure that we continue to fairly remunerate our Courier Franchisees and offset increases in our linehaul business, we will be introducing an ARFT surcharge of 1.5%. This will be applied to our monthly Variable Rates. As the ARFT is only applicable to the Auckland region, this will not be applied to our customer base outside of the Auckland region.

Length Surcharge

Due to the boom of e-commerce and change in consumer purchasing patterns since the Covid-19 pandemic started the courier industry has seen a heightened demand for large/awkward items, this includes the Aramex New Zealand network.

There are significant costs associated with the pickup, sortation, warehousing and sending of large/awkward items and therefore we need to adjust our costs so that we can continue delivering for you.

From 4 April 2022, we introduced a length surcharge for parcels over 1.2 metres. The surcharge will be a flat fee of $5+GST for parcels over 1.2 metres and up to a maximum of 2.4 metres. 

Important information

• Length surcharge is applicable on any consignments where the greater of the length, width or height exceeds 1.2m.
• For customers consigning on the myfastway platform/API the surcharge will be calculated and presented as at time of consignment (assuming correct declaration from customer).
• For customers transacting on other consigning systems or third party software the surcharge will be calculated and invoiced for the previous month.
• Where surcharge was not initially applied due to under-declaration of freight or data not being provided, additional charges may be applicable on reconciliation.