2026
03/09/2026
Fuel surcharge increase
- Another 1% increase for Ground and Air fuel
- Assuming no change in actual fuel cost, Ground Fuel Surcharge will go from 21.5% to 22.5%
- Source
02/02/2026
FedEx One Rate — Extra Small Box added
- One Rate pricing updated to include the FedEx Extra Small Box
- Source
01/12/2026 [Rule change]
Oversize charge — triggers expanded
- New trigger: Cubic volume greater than 17,280 cubic inches
- New trigger: Actual weight greater than 110 lbs.
- Previous: length exceeding 96 inches or length plus girth exceeding 130 inches. Rating based on greater of actual rounded weight or dimensional weight, subject to 90 lb minimum billable weight. International shipments not subject to 90 lb minimum.
01/12/2026 [Rule change]
Additional handling surcharge — dimension trigger expanded
- Surcharge now applies to any package with a cubic volume greater than 10,368 cubic inches (length × width × height)
- Previous: triggered based on longest side or length-plus-girth thresholds
01/05/2026
2026 GRI — accessorial fees
- Varies by service and surcharge type
- Source
01/05/2026 [GRI]
2026 General Rate Increase
- 5.9% across domestic and international services
- Source
2025
12/01/2025 [Fuel]
Fuel surcharge increase
- 1.5% index increase applied to Domestic Air, Domestic Ground, and International Ground services
- Source
09/22/2025 [New tiers]
Clearance entry fee — FedEx International Ground (Canada to U.S.)
- Two additional rate tiers introduced:
- $9.75 for shipments with a customs value of $0–$200
- $19.50 for shipments with a customs value of $200.01–$800
09/22/2025 [New]
U.S. inbound processing fee — FedEx International Connect Plus
- $1.00 per shipment
- Int’l Connect Plus added to the list of services subject to the U.S. Inbound Processing Fee on U.S. imports
08/18/2025
U.S. inbound processing fee — international services increase
- New: $2.50 per shipment
- Previous: $1.50
- Applies to: Int’l First, Int’l Priority Express, Int’l Priority, Int’l Economy, Int’l Express Freight Services, Int’l Ground
08/18/2025 [New rule]
Package dimension rounding
- FedEx rounds every fraction of an inch or centimeter up to the next-higher whole unit. A package measuring 11.1 inches on any dimension is billed as 12 inches.
08/18/2025
Pickup fees — restructured
- New: Regular: $7.50–$33.50, weekend $12/day | Automated: $19, weekend $7.95/day | On Call: $9–$22.75
- Previous: Regular: $23 or $46/week | Automated: $19/week, weekend $16/pkg | On Call: $3–$5/pkg, weekend $16/pkg
07/14/2025
Additional handling weight threshold — international
- New: 55 lbs.
- Previous: 70 lbs.
07/14/2025
Unauthorized package charge
- New: $1,775 per package
- Previous: $1,325 per package
- Note: Applies to international packages and express freight shipments that exceed maximum allowed dimensions and weight
07/14/2025
Oversize package rate — Home Delivery
- New: Zones 5–6: $297.50
- Previous: Zones 5–6: $290.00
07/14/2025
Oversize package rate
- New: Zone 2: $240.00 | Zones 3–4: $260.00 | Zones 5–6: $297.50 | Zones 7+: $305.00
- Previous: Zone 2: $205.00 | Zones 3–4: $225.00 | Zones 5–6: $240.50 | Zones 7+: $260.00
- Source
07/09/2025 — Announced [Holiday]
Holiday demand surcharges — volume-based fee
- New: Ground & HD: $1.55–$7.50 | Express: $2.80–$8.75
- Previous: Ground & HD: $1.45–$7.10 | Express: $2.60–$8.25
07/09/2025 — Announced [Holiday]
Holiday demand surcharge — flat fee
- New: Res & Comm Express: $1.05–$2.10 | Res Ground: $0.40–$0.65 | Ground Economy: $2.20–$3.55
- Previous: Res & Comm Express: $1.00–$2.00 | Res Ground: $0.30–$0.55 | Ground Economy: $1.90–$3.15
- Varies based on ship date
06/09/2025 [Fuel]
Fuel surcharge increase
- Ground: 2.00%– 2.25%
- Express: 1.75%– 2.75%
06/02/2025
DAS zip code list update
- FedEx updated Delivery Area Surcharge ZIP code assignments for U.S. package services
06/01/2025
Late payment fee
- New: 9.9%
- Previous: 8.0%
05/02/2025
Duty & tax forwarding fee
- Customs value ≤ $800: greater of $8.50 or 2% of duty and tax, whichever is greater
- Customs value > $800: greater of $27 or 2% of duty and tax, whichever is greater
- Previous: greater of $27 or 2% of duty, tax, and merchandise processing fee charges
02/20/2025 [Fuel]
Fuel surcharge increase
- Ground: +1.75%
- Express: +1.00%
02/10/2025
GRI — Ground Economy accessorial fees
- New: DAS $6.20 | EDAS $8.30
- Previous: DAS $4.00 | EDAS $5.35
01/13/2025 [New fee]
U.S. inbound processing fee
- $1.50 per shipment assessed on U.S. import shipments in connection with customs clearance processing
01/13/2025 [New rule]
Additional handling — dimension trigger
- 40 lb minimum billable weight now applies to packages triggering the Additional Handling Surcharge based on dimensions
01/06/2025 [GRI]
2025 General Rate Increase
- 5.9% across domestic and international services
2024
09/02/2024 [Fuel]
Fuel surcharge increase
- Ground & Express: +0.75%
08/05/2024 — Announced [Holiday]
Holiday demand surcharges — volume-based fee
- New: Ground & HD: $1.45–$7.10 | Express: $2.60–$8.25
- Previous: Ground: $1.35–$6.35 | Express: $2.40–$7.40
08/05/2024 — Announced [New fee]
Holiday demand surcharges — flat fee
- Res & Comm Express: $1.00–$2.00
- Res Ground: $0.30–$0.55
- Ground Economy: $1.90–$3.15
- Varies based on ship date
What this FedEx pricing pattern means for your contract
Looking at this timeline as a whole, a few patterns emerge that have direct implications for how your carrier agreement is performing — and what to prioritize if you're heading into a contract review.
Accessorials are outpacing base rate increases
From Ground Economy DAS jumping from $4.00 to $6.20 (a 55% increase), to Oversize charges rising as much as $44.50 per package in some zones, to the Unauthorized Package Charge climbing from $1,325 to $1,775, the acceleration in accessorial costs has been substantially faster than the 5.9% GRI in both 2025 and 2026.
This matters for your contract because most discount structures are built around base transportation rates. Accessorial discounts, where they exist at all, are often structured as a flat percentage off the carrier's published list rate. That means when FedEx raises the list rate, your cost goes up even if your discount percentage stays the same. If your contract was last negotiated when Oversize was $205 in Zone 2 and it's now $240, your effective discount rate has compressed even if the percentage terms haven't changed.
The question your contract analysis should answer isn't just "what's my discount?" It's "what percentage of my spend is now in accessorial categories, and what discount protection do I have against continued increases in those categories specifically?"
FedEx's cubic-volume shift changes which packages get flagged — and your contract terms may not reflect that
For years, Additional Handling and Oversize triggers were based on linear dimensions and length-plus-girth formulas. In January 2026, FedEx moved both surcharges to cubic-volume thresholds. That's not a small update. It's a structural change in how packages are evaluated, and it compounds on top of the DIM rounding rule that took effect in August 2025.
It’s important to note that packages which previously cleared the linear thresholds may now cross the cubic thresholds, generating surcharges they didn't before. At the same time, packages that previously triggered surcharges based on length-plus-girth may no longer qualify, which could work in your favor or against you depending on your mix.
Neither outcome is visible without running your actual shipment data against the new trigger definitions. Contracts negotiated under the old rules — which is most contracts currently in force — weren't priced with this profile in mind. That creates both risk and potential opportunity.
Dimension rounding closes a gap that many shipping strategies relied on
The August 2025 DIM rounding change is easy to underestimate because it doesn't show up as a new line item on an invoice. Instead it shows up as a slow, invisible increase in billable weight across your entire parcel volume.
If your operation has packages that commonly measure fractional inches, which is typical for retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods shippers, every one of those dimensions is now rounded up before the DIM calculation runs. The cumulative effect on billable weight, and therefore DIM-based charges, can be significant at scale. It also interacts with the Additional Handling cubic-volume trigger: rounding up dimensions increases the calculated cubic volume, which pushes more packages toward the threshold.
This is the kind of cost shift that won't surface in a high-level spend review. It requires invoice-level data tied to actual package dimensions to quantify.
Ground Economy is no longer the cost-stable alternative it once was
Ground Economy (formerly SmartPost) has historically been treated as a predictable, lower-cost channel for light, non-urgent parcels. The February 2025 DAS increase (from $4.00 to $6.20, a 55% jump) signals that FedEx is actively repricing this service tier. That increase alone can materially shift the cost-per-package math for high-volume, DAS-heavy shipping profiles, particularly for retailers and e-commerce operations with residential-heavy delivery patterns.
If your rate strategy was built around Ground Economy volume as a cost lever, the 2025 accessorial changes warrant a fresh look at whether the channel economics still hold.
What to look for in your current FedEx agreement
Given this timeline, a contract review should specifically examine:
- What accessorial discount protections, if any, exist for DAS, EDAS, Additional Handling, and Oversize, and whether those discounts apply to the current list rates or were locked to older ones
- Whether your minimum charge structure is still calibrated to your actual shipment weight profile, given DIM rounding and the cubic-volume trigger shift
- Whether any surcharge caps or waivers you negotiated pre-2025 have been eroded by rule changes that effectively reclassify packages
- Whether your Ground Economy volume is still delivering the cost advantage it was when the agreement was signed
Loop's contract intelligence tools let you run this analysis against your actual shipment and invoice data, not just published rate tables. If you want to see where the 2025–2026 FedEx changes are hitting your specific spend, request a free contract analysis with Loop's optimization experts.
