Every business has the same goal: getting as much as you can from a product that cost as little to make as possible. Except in communism, that’s the basic economics of trade, so choosing carriers based on package shipping rates makes complete sense. While smaller companies like DHL do offer the same services, for Americans the biggest competitors are UPS, Fed Ex, and the US Postal Service. Seeing what they charge can help any business reach its goal of an ideal profit.

Most businesses can receive discounts for regular shipping, but mass shipments are much more difficult to calculate. For the sake of simple comparison, we’ll pretend a company based in North Texas needed to send a rock sculpture to a customer in Portland, Oregon. The sculpture was not a large one—just under ten pounds—and would ideally act as a door stopper or conversation grabber in the middle of a table. Though it had no true purpose, the customer e-mailed to say he wanted the rock “as soon as you can get it to me. But not too expensively.” Every carrier can get it to him a little differently.

UPS and Fed Ex are often preferred for businesses, because they can make same-day deliveries when necessary, and they have a variety of choices that cater to clients’ needs. For early next-day, however, both would charge just under $150; a delivery a few hours later would be about $110; and a two-day delivery would cost between $70-90. USPS offers one rate—Express Mail—which is often next day delivery but would only cost $57.58 to ship across country. This seems insanely cheap in comparison, but if there is no rush, both Fed Ex and USPS offer ground services (about four business days) for under $20, and their services for tracking/insurance can’t be beat. If one individual needs to send just one package overnight, clearly USPS is the cost-effective choice, but if there’s no true rush to send out a rock sculpture, paying Fed Ex $14.34 is probably the way to go.