BUSINESS NEWS
Shipping rates to jump, no holiday shipping fee again
Max Garland
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Published 8:58 AM EDT Sep 17, 2019
After the holidays, FedEx customers will see some shipping rate increases.
Effective Jan. 6, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight will increase shipping rates and surcharges, the Memphis logistics giant announced Monday.
FedEx Express shipping rates will jump by an average of 4.9% for U.S. domestic, export and import services. FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery will increase shipping rates by a 4.9% average as well.
FedEx Freight shipping rates will jump by 5.9% on average for shipments within the U.S. and between the contiguous U.S. and Canada, the company said. FedEx Freight rates will also increase for Canada and Mexico shipments, along with shipments between the contiguous U.S. and Mexico.
Rates at FedEx SmartPost, used for low-weight residential shipments, will also be higher.
Beyond rate changes, various surcharge changes will become effective Jan. 20, including criteria and pricing for heavy, hard-to-handle FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packages, the company announced.
FedEx has the full details on shipping rate changes available on its website.
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No holiday home delivery fee again
FedEx also confirmed Monday it won’t apply a holiday surcharge for residential deliveries. This is the third consecutive year the company has not applied a residential holiday surcharge.
Earlier this year, UPS joined FedEx’s approach by announcing it wouldn’t have any holiday home delivery surcharge this season.
The period between mid-November and Christmas is considered the peak season for FedEx and UPS as gifts fill couriers’ planes, trucks and vans.
Hard-to-handle, oversized or unauthorized shipments remain an exception, as holiday surcharges will apply to items that fall into one of those categories.
The additional handling surcharge for FedEx U.S. express package services and U.S. and international ground services is $4.10 per package. The surcharge period runs from Nov. 18 to Jan. 5.
The surcharge applies to packages that are heavier than 70 pounds, measure greater than 48 inches along the longest side or are not fully encased in an outer shipping container, among other criteria.
Oversize packages in U.S. express package services and U.S. and international ground services will see a $37.50 surcharge from Oct. 21 to Jan. 5. “Oversize” applies to packages above 96 inches in length or 130 inches in length and girth, per FedEx.
An unauthorized package running through FedEx’s ground services will be hit with a $435 surcharge from Oct. 21 to Jan. 5.
Unauthorized packages are those longer than 108 inches, have a combined length and girth of more than 165 inches or weigh more than 150 pounds. These packages may be refused by FedEx.
Full peak season surcharge information is available on FedEx’s website.
Max Garland covers FedEx, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @MaxGarlandTypes.
