Fall is in the air and it’s time for people to start thinking about football, apple cider… and if you are in a customer-facing business that ships merchandise, peak holiday season surcharges. These additional fees have grown in recent years as a means of managing strong growth in peak season deliveries among major shippers.
Here is a quick guide to what to expect – and more importantly, where to look for the latest up-to-date peak season rates directly from each shipper:
1. FedEx
FedEx now has a two-tiered peak season this year: a lower-priced surcharge tier early in the season from September 5 to October 2, 2022, followed by a full peak surcharge tier from October 3, 2022 to January 15, 2023. Specific surcharges have increased by as much as 10%+ since 2021 – highlights of these surcharges include:
| Surcharge | Tier | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Handling Fees | Tier 1 | $3.45 |
| Tier 2 | 6.55 | |
| Oversize Package | Tier 1 | 39.50 |
| Tier 2 | 68.75 | |
| Exceed Size/Weight | $380 |
Full details of FedEx surcharges for 2022 are available online at:
https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/rate-changes/peak-surcharges.html
2. UPS
The brown-truck company has increased surcharge rates for its peak season from October 2, 2022 to January 14, 2023 by rates ranging from 8-16% or more, including:
| Surcharge | Increase Fees |
|---|---|
| Additional Handling | $6.50 |
| Exceeds Size/Weight | $70-$400 |
| Residential Surcharges | $1.25-$7.00 |
A detailed description of UPS’s holiday surcharges can be found at:
https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/webcontent/en_US/PeakDemandSurcharges_US.pdf
3. USPS
The USPS frames its current 2022 peak season surcharges as temporary rate increases in effect from October 2, 2022 to January 22, 2023, applicable to all affected shipments regardless of shipper volume. These include:
| Surcharge | Commercial Fee Increase | Retail Fee Increase | General Fee Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail | $0.25-$6.50 | $0.30-$6.45 | |
| First Class Packages, Parcel Select Ground and USPS Retail Ground | $0.25-$5.50 | $0.30-$5.85 | |
| Parcel Select Delivery Destination Unit (DDU) | $0.25 | ||
| Parcel Select DSCF and DNDC | $0.75 |
Full details of USPS’s 2022 surcharges can found in the following press release:
4. Other shippers
DHL: A set of year-round Emergency Situation Surcharges effective as of April 10, 2022: https://mydhl.express.dhl/us/en/ship/surcharges/emergency-situation-surcharge.html
Amazon.com: A first-ever average peak season surcharge of $0.35 for orders fulfilled by Amazon between October 15, 2022 and January 14, 2023.
We can help
Our flagship DOTS Address Validation services can help mitigate your peak-season shipping costs by ensuring that each shipping address is accurate, genuine and up to date. For more information on our deliverability solutions, visit our dedicated webpage or contact us.
