Your FedEx and UPS Shipments Will Be More Expensive

In 2023

From our new Chamber benefit partners, PartnerShip FedEx and UPS increased their rates by an average of 6.9% for 2023 – an all-time high. But you can’t take the announced increase at face value. Your actual shipping costs will likely go up more than 6.9% this year thanks to fees and other changes. These increases depend on several factors such as the services you use, your shipment dimensions and weight, and how far your shipments are traveling.

To take a deep dive into all of the rate and surcharge details, you will want to review the FedEx and UPS service guide previews, which are available on fedex.com and UPS.com.

For the time being, our shipping benefit provider PartnerShip® has put together a few key observations that matter most to our chamber members: Longer zones are getting hit with higher increases than shorter zones, regardless of services or weight breaks.

For Ground services, many of the rates for shorter zones are lower than the 6.9% average increase. For each service, the rate increases are similar across most weight breaks. Zones are the biggest difference-makers this year.

For the 3-Day services, FedEx is applying a higher increase than UPS. Keep in mind, the rates are actually comparable, because UPS took a higher increase with this service in 2022.

Both FedEx and UPS have increased their Ground Minimum charge to $10.10

Your shipping costs aren’t only determined by base rates. Surcharges are a big component of what you’re paying. Here are some of the most noteworthy surcharge updates:

Larger, difficult-to-move packages continue to cause trouble for carriers and raise prices. You could pay an extra $1,150 fee for oversized shipments with both FedEx and UPS.

Late payment fees have increased to 8% for both carriers.

FedEx has joined UPS in applying a Remote Delivery Surcharge for certain zip codes, costing you even more. Most other common surcharges are increasing, many by more than 6.9%.

It can’t be stressed enough that most Chamber member businesses will actually see a higher than 6.9% average. Noteworthy reasons you may be at higher risk include:

If you’re shipping extra-large packages or if your packages need special handling. FedEx and UPS have been raising fees for these shipments at an alarming pace.

If you ship a higher percentage of residential shipments. These packages require more effort on behalf of the delivery driver and are priced accordingly.

If you ship a lot of low-density packages. FedEx and UPS value efficiency and punish lightweight packages that waste space on their delivery vehicles.

If a high percentage of your shipments go to longer zones. The further your shipment has to go, the more expensive it will be - especially this year.

To help offset these record-high increases, Chamber businesses can save up to 45% on FedEx® shipping. Enroll today at www.PartnerShip.com/SOCA-FedEx If you want to learn more about the FedEx and UPS rate changes for 2023, check out the full report at www.PartnerShip.com/RateIncrease2023