From Southern California, Arizona is practically local — one of the cheapest interstate sends on the map. From the East Coast it reprices as a full cross-country run, and the two tables below show that split plainly.
Quoted 2026-07-27 against live carrier rates for one fixed box. The route and the date are part of the data, not fine print.
We described a household-goods box to the SMKlog calculator, fixed its size at 12 × 10 × 6 in and 5 lb, and asked for live rates to Phoenix from opposite ends of the country. The tables reproduce the response line by line. What's printed is the full amount you'd pay, SMKlog's charge included.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $17.30 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.14 | 5 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $19.30 | 6-7 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $20.50 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $27.17 | 3-4 business days |
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $11.55 | 2-3 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $12.38 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $13.52 | 4 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $14.05 | 2-3 business days |
| USPS | Priority Mail | $16.16 | 2-3 business days |
Coming from Newark, USPS Ground Advantage led at $17.30; from Los Angeles it led again at $11.55, and that West Coast run also quoted just 2-3 business days. Phoenix and Tucson price alike from far-away origins. Summer heat advisories can pause acceptance of perishables, though normal parcels move on schedule all year. None of this is fixed: rates get refiled constantly, so a fresh quote with your own ZIPs beats any saved table.
A secondhand box ships fine as long as old barcodes are covered and the walls still have life in them. The bigger win is size: moving down to a box that actually fits the item cuts the volume the carrier may bill you for.
From Los Angeles, FedEx Ground Economy came in 83 cents above the cheapest row and matched its 2-3 day window; from Newark the spread between tiers was wider. The transit column is where those trade-offs live, so give it equal billing with the price.
No scale handy is fine. Say what the item is in a sentence and SMKlog estimates the packed box for quoting; if you do have a tape measure, exact numbers tighten it further. Then it's compare, pay, print, and the tracking number is on the label.
Dated answer, honest answer: on 2026-07-27 our 12 × 10 × 6 in, 5 lb box quoted $17.30 from Newark and $11.55 from Los Angeles, USPS Ground Advantage both times. Checkout charges that figure and nothing more; SMKlog's charge is already in it. Today's number for your box needs a live run.
Depends heavily on origin. Our West Coast quotes clustered at 2-3 business days on most tiers, while the Newark side ran 5 to 8 days on ground services and 3-4 on 3 Day Select. Every price in the tables carries its own quoted window from the carrier.
$11.55, USPS Ground Advantage out of Los Angeles; from Newark the floor was $17.30 on the same service. Short answer: proximity wins. Longer answer: box size, weight and the week's rate filings all reshuffle the leaderboard, so check live before buying.
Not at all. The flow is describe, quote, pay, print, all as a guest, and every label ships with tracking attached.