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Savings estimator

These are planning ranges, not results or a quote. Each lever below turns your own numbers into a yearly figure, using only published rules where one exists. Where no public benchmark exists, the lever asks you for the number instead of assuming one, and a lever with a missing input is left out of the total.

With JavaScript on, nothing you type leaves your browser. Without it, “Calculate” sends the numbers to the server once to work out the answer; they are not stored.

Packaging

Rebid or re-spec boxes and film

Price change on the packaging you already buy, from a rebid or a lighter spec that still passes your tests.

From your invoices
$
From a quote you have· No public benchmark exists for this. Use a quote, or your buyer’s view.
%
From a quote you have
%
Right-size one box to cut dimensional weight

Parcel carriers bill the greater of actual and dimensional weight. A smaller box can drop billable pounds on every parcel that uses it. The saving lands on your parcel invoices.

From your invoices
Your observation
in
Your observation
in
Your observation
in
Your judgment
in
Your judgment
in
Your judgment
in
Your observation
lb
Public figure you look up· preset from UPS, Determining billable weight (dimensional weight)
From your invoices· Total parcel charges ÷ total billable pounds from a recent invoice. Carrier rates are not linear by weight, so treat this as a planning average.
$ /lb
Your observation· Leave blank for 100%.
%

Public sources: UPS, Determining billable weight (dimensional weight); FedEx Service Guide (dimensional weight rules).

Pallets

Buy recycled grade instead of new

Many loads ride fine on a recycled or remanufactured pallet. The gap is your new price against a real recycled quote, on the share of pallets that can switch.

From your invoices
From your invoices
$
From a quote you have· From a quote for the same size and a grade your loads can use.
$
Your judgment
%
Your judgment
%
Sell used pallets back instead of throwing them out

Pallets that leave in the dumpster cost you twice: the hauling they add, and the buy-back value you give up.

Your observation
From a quote you have· Enter 0 if a recycler would only take them free.
$
From your invoices· Your hauling cost spread over the pallets, if you can estimate it. 0 if unknown.
$
Your judgment
%
Your judgment
%

Freight

Fuel surcharge billed above the carrier’s own table

Most carrier fuel tables step up with the weekly U.S. average diesel price published by the EIA. If the billed percentage is above what the table gives at that week’s price, the difference is an overcharge to question.

From your invoices· Before fuel and accessorials.
$
From your invoices
%
From your invoices· From the carrier’s fuel table: the price at which the first percentage applies.
$ /gal
From your invoices
%
From your invoices· For example, every $0.05 a gallon.
$ /gal
From your invoices· For example, +0.5% per step.
%
Public figure you look up· Look it up in the EIA weekly series (the region your table names, usually the U.S. average).
$ /gal

Public source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update.

Accessorials you can dispute or stop triggering

Liftgate, residential, reweigh, re-class, detention and redelivery charges. Some are billed in error; others are avoidable with better shipment data.

From your invoices
$
Your judgment· No public benchmark. Base it on a sample of your own invoices.
%
Your judgment
%
Rebid base rates or discounts

A change in linehaul rates or tariff discount from a rebid or a renegotiation.

From your invoices
$
From a quote you have· No public benchmark. Use competing quotes if you have them.
%
From a quote you have
%

Waste hauling

Fewer pickups for containers that leave half full

If a dumpster or compactor is often far from full when it’s emptied, you are paying for air. Fewer scheduled pickups at a higher fill cuts the service charge.

From your invoices
From your invoices· Monthly service charge ÷ pickups in the month, or the per-pull haul fee for roll-offs.
$
Your observation· Look in the container on pickup day for a few weeks, or ask for the driver’s photos.
%
Your judgment· Leave room for busy weeks. Overflow can bring its own charges.
%
Fuel, environmental and admin fees

Fee lines added on top of the service rate. Some are allowed by the contract; some are not, or are set as a percentage with no stated basis.

From your invoices
$
Your judgment· No public benchmark. Read your contract’s fee clause first.
%
Your judgment
%
Price increase above inflation

Many hauling contracts allow a yearly increase. If this year’s increase ran ahead of the consumer price index, the excess is the starting point for a conversation, whatever your contract’s index is.

From your invoices
$
From your invoices
%
Public figure you look up· From the BLS CPI release, or the index your contract names.
%

Public source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index.

Container rental billed on top of service

Some contracts include the container in the service rate; others bill rent monthly. Rent is often negotiable at renewal.

From your invoices
$
Your judgment
%
Your judgment
%

Yes or no

These add checks to your list. They never add dollars.

Clear all

Why doesn’t the estimator suggest a savings percentage?

Because there is no neutral public source for one. Savings rates quoted by cost-reduction firms describe their own clients and are part of their marketing. Using one here would turn your estimate into someone else’s claim. So the estimator only computes what it can from your numbers and named rules: a carrier’s dimensional divisor, the EIA’s weekly diesel price, the CPI. For everything else, such as how much a rebid might move a price, it asks you for a low and a high.

How accurate is it?

As accurate as the inputs, and a little less where it simplifies. Two simplifications to know: dimensional-weight savings use an average cost per billable pound, though carrier rates aren’t linear by weight; and the fuel-table check assumes a simple stepped table. An audit replaces both with your actual rate files and tables.