<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Bookman Old Style" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face="Bookman Old Style" color=#000000 size=3> <DIV>Fuel surcharges are very trendy, but I assume that my customers are as irritated by them as I am (same with paying fifteen dollars to take a bag on an airplane - I would rather pay fifteen dollars more for the ticket). </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, just for the sake of argument, assume one customer is ten miles from the next, and that my car gets 30 mpg (it does). If gas goes from $2 to $4 per gallon, it costs me an extra $0.66 to drive to their house. I recently raised my fee by $15, so I don't think I want to annoy them for an extra 66 cents.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bob Davis</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 6/6/2008 9:02:55 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, mkurta@roadrunner.com writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Tahoma color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>     Last week I got a bill from my pool service with a fuel surcharge added.  Today I got another from my lawn service with a fuel surcharge also.  Should we,  1. Absorb the higher travel costs and say nothing or,  2. Add a fuel surcharge too or, 3. Raise our rate to cover the extra cost and lump it together with tuning?  Comments?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta, RPT</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Auburn, NY</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Soon to be moving to the Chicago area.....</FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. <A title="http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002" href="http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002" target="_blank">Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>