If you ship enough things, you'll have a run-in with everyone. Recently USPS decided to reinterpret their rules about rural areas and decided that our neighborhood, three developments with around 800 houses, is now rural because we are not incorporated in a city, so won't pick up or deliver to houses more than half a mile from their mail room on the main road. Never mind that we have more residents here than two of our adjacent counties combined. I also remember reading in forums recently about surcharges for long items, but it appears that has gone by the wayside, likely because of pressure from gun owners, fishermen, golfers, baseball, hockey, lacrosse and other sports with more lobbying power than billiards and similarly long items.
I use UPS for pool cues and shafts, and go through Pirateship.com. Last few things I sent have been under $10 going to the far side of the country. Fedex was a little more, USPS was much higher. I have found that if you ship really heavy things, Fedex is decidedly cheaper. I sent a 50 lb box the other day that was $40 with Fedex, $50 with UPS and over $100 with USPS. On the way to deliver it in town, I was able to flag down the Fedex driver in the neighborhood who helped me unload it from my car, scanned it in and it was on its way that afternoon.
Now if you ask our dog about her preference, she is definitely a Fedex lover. When she hears the UPS truck coming up the hill, she runs to the window, barks and has successfully chased it away two or three times a day for some time now. Won't do that to Fedex because the Fedex lady gives her treats when she delivers her dog food and things from Chewy.com. Maybe that is the solution--have Fedex drop of some cookies when they deliver a package.
