With the holiday season rapidly approaching (we can’t believe it either), FedEx has announced their peak holiday surcharges. These surcharges will affect both FedEx Ground services and FedEx Express in hopes of keeping up with the higher shipping volume during the holidays. We’ve included the current FedEx peak season surcharges below and will keep you updated if anything changes!
| Surcharge name | Applicable services | Surcharge amount | Effective date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak — Additional Handling Surcharge | U.S. Express Package Services, U.S. Ground Services, International Ground Service | $3.45 per package $6.55 per package | Sept. 5, 2022–Oct. 2, 2022 Oct. 3, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023 | ||||
| Peak — Oversize Charge | U.S. Express Package Services, U.S. Ground Services, International Ground Service | $39.50 per package $68.75 per package | Sept. 5, 2022–Oct. 2, 2022 Oct. 3, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023 | ||||
| Peak — Ground Unauthorized Package Charge | U.S. Ground Services, International Ground Service | $385.00 per package | Oct. 3, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023 | ||||
| Peak Surcharge | FedEx Ground® Economy Package Services | $1.50 per package $2.50 per package $1.50 per package | Oct. 31, 2022–Nov. 27, 2022 Nov. 28, 2022–Dec 11. 2022 Dec. 12, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023 | ||||
| Peak — Residential Delivery Charge | FedEx Express and FedEx Ground U.S. domestic residential packages (excluding FedEx Ground Economy and FedEx One Rate® packages). | See Peaking Factor Chart | Oct. 31, 2022–Jan. 15, 2023 |
How do I calculate some of my surcharges?
This year, FedEx announced that the peak residential delivery charge will adjust each week. So, depending on your shipping volume throughout the holiday season, the exact cost is likely to change. FedEx decides the surcharge cost based on a Peaking Factor. The Peaking Factor is based on how many more packages you ship during this time compared to your weekly average shipping volume for residential and FedEx Ground Economy shipments between June 6 and July 3.
These surcharges will be divided into two parts: a Calculation Week and an Application week. The Calculation Week is when your shipping volume is calculated while the Application Week is the week when these charges are actually applied. If your business has a higher shipping volume of more than 20,000 residential and FedEx Ground Economy packages during a Calculation Week, you’ll be charged for these packages during the Application Week for these shipments. This means there will be a delay in when you’ll see these surcharges applied to your invoice of around two weeks, regardless of your shipping volume. You may also need to pay additional residential delivery surcharges beginning October 10.
To calculate your Peaking Factor, you’ll divide your amount of residential and FedEx Ground shipments in the Calculation Week by those weekly averages of shipments from June 6 and July 3 and multiply this number by 100. FedEx Ground and FedEx Express won’t be charged together, so shipments using these services will be calculated separately.
If your Calculation Week falls on a week with a FedEx holiday, your shipment volume can be multiplied by 5 and then divided by 4 to make up for the shorter week. Here’s an example from FedEx directly:
For example, if a customer’s weekly volume tendered is 10,000 packages, simply multiply 10,000 by 5, then divide that number by 4 to calculate the weekly volume during a Calculation Week.
How can I save money to help offset these surcharges?
Between inflation, supply chain issues, COVID shipping strains, and other factors, we know you’ve already had to endure other fuel surcharges and carrier strains. We know these surcharges can have a massive impact for small businesses, especially during the busiest season of the year. That’s why we have a few tips to help you save in other areas to help combat these new surcharges:
- Ask your customers to reuse packaging for returns when you can
- Use the rate calculator in your ShippingEasy account to find the best rates for your shipments
- Apply Shipping Rules to your shipments to have specific services automatically applied to your shipments to avoid using the wrong carrier and/or service
- Order free supplies when using other carriers like USPS as well as whatever free FedEx supplies you can use
If you aren’t already a ShippingEasy use, we’ve also got you covered! Sign up for your free 30-day trial today
Baillee Perkins
