South Carolina rides the I-95 corridor: modest zones from the Northeast, dense coverage around Columbia and Charleston, and a standard long band from the West.
One box, two coasts, quoted live on 2026-07-27; the full carrier responses sit in the tables.
We put one honest parcel, a 12 × 10 × 6 in box at 5 lb packed with household goods, through the SMKlog calculator toward Columbia from either coast. The tables reprint the carriers' answers as received; every price is a finished checkout total with SMKlog's charge already counted.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground Saver | $11.09 | 4 business days |
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $11.55 | 4-5 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $12.32 | 2-3 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $12.38 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $17.95 | 2-3 business days |
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $17.30 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.14 | 6 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $19.30 | 7-8 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $20.50 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $27.17 | 3-4 business days |
Newark's cheapest row was UPS Ground Saver at $11.09, Los Angeles's was USPS Ground Advantage at $17.30. From origins that far out, Charleston on the coast and Columbia inland fall in the same bands, so the destination city inside the state matters less than you'd guess. These figures wear a date on purpose; carriers reprice, boxes differ, and a live quote with your ZIPs is the only current answer.
Every major carrier compares your box's real weight against a volume-based figure and charges the bigger one. Light, bulky shipments lose that comparison. Snug packing in the smallest safe carton is the one habit that reliably lowers quotes.
From Newark, UPS 3 Day Select cost $17.95 against $11.09 for Ground Saver, and bought back roughly a day or two. Nearly seven dollars for that gap is a poor deal most days. The same math flips when a deadline is real, which is why both columns print side by side.
A previously shipped box in sound shape costs nothing and ships the same. Peel or cover every old barcode, reinforce the bottom seam, and check corners for crush damage. Carriers price the dimensions and weight, never the box's history.
Our 2026-07-27 sample, 12 × 10 × 6 in at 5 lb, listed at $11.09 from Newark, NJ via UPS Ground Saver and $17.30 from Los Angeles, CA via USPS Ground Advantage. Both are complete checkout amounts with SMKlog's charge counted. Treat them as that day's truth and run a live quote for the current one.
Newark rows quoted 2-5 business days depending on service; the Los Angeles run spread from 3-4 days on UPS 3 Day Select at $27.17 to 7-8 on ground. Windows come straight from the carriers per route, dated 2026-07-27.
UPS took the short-haul crown at $11.09 with Ground Saver, USPS the long-haul one at $17.30 with Ground Advantage. USPS also ran a close second from Newark at $11.55. Rankings this tight get reshuffled often, so compare fresh.
Not at any point. Item description, two ZIP codes, a payment card: that is the whole checklist. Pick your rate from the live board and the tracked label downloads at once.