Additional Charges
When you request a shipping rate through the Envia API, some carriers apply additional charges on top of the base price. These charges depend on the shipment characteristics, destination, and current carrier policies.
Understanding these charges helps you calculate accurate shipping costs and set transparent pricing for your customers.
Types of additional charges
| Charge | Description |
|---|---|
| Fuel Surcharge | Variable surcharge that carriers apply based on current fuel prices. This is the most common additional charge and fluctuates periodically. |
| Peak Season | Additional charge during high-demand periods such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and other holidays. |
| Overweight | Applied when the package weight exceeds the standard maximum for the selected service. |
| Oversize | Applied when package dimensions exceed the carrier's established limits for the service. |
| Extended Area | Charge for deliveries to remote, rural, or hard-to-reach locations outside the carrier's standard coverage zone. |
| Special Handling | For packages that require special care during transport, such as fragile items or irregular shapes. |
| Green Tax | Environmental surcharge applied by certain carriers as part of sustainability programs. |
How charges appear in the API response
When you call the rate endpoint (POST /ship/rate/), additional charges are included in the response under two fields:
The additionalCharges field contains the total cost of all additional charges, and additionalChargesTaxes contains the taxes applied to those charges.
For a detailed breakdown, the costAdditionalCharges array provides each charge individually:
"costAdditionalCharges": [
{
"additionalService": "fuel",
"commission": 45.50,
"taxes": 7.28,
"cost": 52.78
},
{
"additionalService": "green_tax",
"commission": 12.00,
"taxes": 1.92,
"cost": 13.92
}
]Each charge object includes:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| additionalService | string | Identifier of the charge type (e.g., "fuel", "green_tax") |
| commission | number | The charge amount before taxes |
| taxes | number | Tax applied to this specific charge |
| cost | number | Total cost of the charge including taxes |
Recommendations
- Review the complete cost breakdown of the rate response before confirming your shipment. The
totalPricefield already includes all additional charges. - Validate dimensions and weight of your packages before requesting rates. Accurate data helps avoid unexpected overweight or oversize charges after label creation.
- Plan peak season shipments in advance. Carriers typically announce peak season surcharges weeks before they take effect.
- Check extended area coverage if you frequently ship to rural or remote areas. Use the Geocodes API to validate postal codes before quoting.
- Monitor fuel surcharges periodically, as they change based on fuel price indexes and vary by carrier.
Important: Factor these charges into your pricing structure to offer a transparent experience to your customers and avoid operational issues.
Related pages
- Taxes — How taxes are calculated on shipping costs
- Additional Services — Insurance, COD, and other value-added services
- Delivery Estimate — Understanding transit time estimates in rate responses
Updated 11 days ago