It's been a while since I've had to ship anything. But, I was shipping more USPS Priority Mail than UPS just because of those surcharges.
Fuel surcharge is actually based on current market price of all fuels. My brother-in-law runs a custom shipping house - all commercial and private carries are charging this fee. It provides the shipper with the ability to not have to change their shipping pricing structure with swings in commodity prices. Of course, it never seems to go down when fuel prices do the same.
Residential Delivery surcharge is whenever a package is shipped to someone's house. I would always try to make it a shipment to a business to avoid this one.
You pretty much nailed the Delivery Area surcharge. If the delivery isn't a major metro area or close to one of their hubs, you are going to pay that fee.
I stopped using UPS (except for oversize packages) because I was averaging $8-$9 in extra fees for each package that provided no added benefit.
I chose USPS Priority Mail because I typically got 2-3 day delivery, free shipping boxes, free package pickup at my door, free tracking when I printed my own labels, and even with added insurance I beat out UPS by at least $7 to $10 for shipping the same package.
And, I never had anyone tell me there was a problem with a package shipped USPS. Properly packed, there should never be a problem with a packge - unless someone drop kicks it or runs over it.
Fred