The 2026 Shipping Rate Index
Carrier pricing changed more in 2026 than in the previous three years combined, and most published figures are already stale. This page holds every number we’ve verified, with the date we checked it and what it actually means. It’s updated the week each carrier publishes.
Free to cite with attribution. Journalists, researchers and merchants are welcome to quote any figure on this page, provided the source is credited as ship-audit.com with a link to this page. If a number here contradicts a carrier’s own current documentation, the carrier is right and we want to know — corrections reach us at contact@ship-audit.com.
Peak season surcharges 2026–27
All three carriers have now published. FedEx filed on July 22, USPS on August 25, UPS on August 26. The pattern across all three: flat per-package fees on ordinary residential parcels rose 22–25% year over year, while handling and oversize fees rose 6–10%. This season’s increase is aimed at the small residential box, not at oversized freight.
UPS — published August 26, 2026
| Surcharge | Peak (Nov 22 – Dec 26) | Surrounding windows |
|---|---|---|
| Ground Residential & Ground Saver | $0.75 per package | $0.50 (Oct 25 – Nov 21 · Dec 27 – Jan 16) |
| Next Day Air & all other Air | $2.50 per package | $1.35 |
| Additional Handling | $11.90 per package | $8.75 (from Sept 27) |
| Large Package Surcharge | $117.50 per package | $96.25 (from Sept 27) |
| Over Maximum Limits | $590 per package | $530 (from Sept 27) |
| High-volume tiers (20,000+ packages/week) | Up to $8.00 Ground · $9.35 Air | Scaled against a June 2026 baseline |
Year over year: Ground Residential and Ground Saver rose from $0.60 to $0.75 (+25%), Air from $2.05 to $2.50 (+22%), Additional Handling from $10.80 to $11.90 (+10%), Large Package from $107 to $117.50 (+10%). Handling and oversize fees start September 27; per-package fees start October 25; everything ends January 16, 2027.
Read directly from the UPS Demand Surcharges schedule dated August 26, 2026. Several third-party summaries published a $0.30 shoulder-period figure for Ground Residential; the carrier document states $0.50. Where a summary and the carrier’s own schedule disagree, we use the schedule.
FedEx — published July 22, 2026
| Surcharge | Peak (Nov 23 – Dec 27) | Surrounding windows |
|---|---|---|
| Ground Residential / Home Delivery | $0.80 per package | $0.50 (from Oct 26) |
| Ground Economy | $4.05 per package | $2.55 |
| Demand Additional Handling | $11.85 per package | From Sept 28 |
| Demand Oversize | $117.25 per package | $95.75 (from Sept 28) |
| Enterprise tiers (20,000+ weekly) | $1.70 – $8.00 Ground · $3.05 – $9.35 Express | Baseline: June 2026 average |
All FedEx demand fees end January 17, 2027. Residential rose from $0.65 to $0.80 (+23%).
USPS — filed August 25, 2026 · docket CP2026-10
USPS filed for an average 6% holiday increase across Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select, running October 4, 2026 to January 17, 2027. Unlike UPS and FedEx, it is a percentage adjustment rather than a flat per-package fee, applied uniformly across the window with no tiered escalation by date.
- Published range: $0.40 to $18.20 per package, depending on service, weight and zone.
- Worked examples: a 3 lb Zone 1 Ground Advantage commercial parcel rises about $0.40; a 25 lb Zone 5 Priority Mail Express parcel rises about $10.50.
- Excluded: First-Class stamps and international products.
- Comparison: 2025’s holiday adjustments ranged from roughly 4.9% to 5.8%.
- Stacking: this sits on top of the temporary 8% increase to base postage prices in force since April 26, 2026, which also runs to January 17, 2027. Both apply simultaneously through the entire holiday window.
- Status: filed under Postal Regulatory Commission docket CP2026-10. A procedural order established the docket on August 28 and closed comments on September 4; no merits ruling had issued by mid-September. Competitive products aren’t gated the way market-dominant rates are, so “filed” is closer to “scheduled” than “uncertain” — but amounts could still move.
Amazon Shipping — identical to UPS
A fourth carrier published for 2026–27, and its schedule matches UPS’s to the cent on every line. Per-package demand fee $0.50 / $0.75 / $0.50; Additional Handling $8.75 / $11.90 / $8.75; Large Package $96.25 / $117.50 / $96.25; Extra-Heavy $530 / $590 / $530. The window runs October 25, 2026 to January 16, 2027, peak-of-peak November 22 to December 26 — again identical. On seasonal surcharges alone, there is nothing to compare between the two.
Amazon’s shipping news page blocks automated access. These figures come from four independent analyses published between September 6 and 17, all in agreement — we report them as secondary rather than primary.
Regional carriers
OnTrac: additional handling $11.00, large package $110.00, over maximum $595.00 and unauthorized $595.00 from September 26, 2026 to January 15, 2027; demand residential $1.00 per package from October 24. Residential and additional handling are unchanged year over year; large package rose 4.8% and over maximum 8.2%. Note that OnTrac’s fuel surcharge applies on top of its demand surcharges.
LaserShip no longer publishes a separate schedule — the brand was folded into OnTrac after the 2021 merger, and OnTrac’s demand surcharges apply across Ground, Merged and LaserShip services. Veho, Better Trucks and DHL eCommerce had published no 2026–27 US peak schedule as of September 17.
Effective dates, in order
The windows don’t open together. September 21: FedEx revises its schedule — an adjustment to the demand surcharge on US international services, extension of the non-standard fees to Express international packages, and a rename of the Ground Unauthorized Package Charge to the Demand Unauthorized Charge, amounts unchanged. September 26: OnTrac’s handling and oversize fees. September 27: UPS’s handling and oversize fees, plus its Surge Emergency Fees. September 28: FedEx’s handling, oversize and unauthorized fees. October 4: USPS holiday prices. October 24: OnTrac residential. October 25: per-package fees at UPS and Amazon Shipping. October 26: FedEx per-package fees. November 22 to December 27: peak-of-peak everywhere. January 15 to 17, 2027: the windows close.
Two dates beyond the season are known: FedEx’s 2027 general rate increase takes effect January 4, percentage not yet published, and USPS’s next regular adjustment window opens January 17 as the temporary 8% change lapses. UPS had not announced its 2027 increase as of mid-September.
Full analysis and budgeting guidance: Peak Season Surcharges 2026.
Dimensional weight: divisors and thresholds
The 2026 headline was that USPS aligned its divisor with UPS and FedEx. The part that matters more went unreported: the threshold didn’t align.
| Carrier | Divisor | When DIM applies |
|---|---|---|
| USPS | 139 (was 166 until July 12, 2026) | Only above 1 ft³ (1,728 in³) |
| UPS | 139 | Every parcel, no threshold |
| FedEx | 139 | Every parcel, no threshold |
| Rounding rule | Each fractional dimension rounds up | UPS/FedEx since Aug 18, 2025 · USPS since July 12, 2026 |
| Dimensional data mandate | Accurate L × W × H required on all parcels | Required on all parcels since July 12, 2026 · $3.00 noncompliance fee generalised at Phase Two, tentatively early 2027 |
Surcharge thresholds: Additional Handling above 10,368 in³ · Oversize above 17,280 in³. Full explanation and a free calculator: Dimensional Weight Explained.
The deadline almost nobody is covering: accurate length, width and height have been required on every manifested parcel since July 12, 2026 — not just those over one cubic foot. The $3.00 Dimension Noncompliance fee (raised from $1.50 on January 18, 2026) currently applies only to parcels above 1 ft³ or 22 inches with missing or inaccurate dimensions; USPS deferred generalising it to Phase Two, tentatively scheduled for early 2027, when automated detection switches on. Flat Rate pieces and USPS Returns are exempt. Some carrier documentation cites January 17, 2027 specifically, but the final rule gives no fixed date — treat it as an estimate. Full breakdown: USPS Parcel Dimension Compliance.
Residential and delivery-area surcharges
| Fee | 2026 amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground residential | $6.50 | Up 6.6% from 2025 |
| FedEx Ground / Home Delivery residential | $6.45 | Up 8.4% from 2025 |
| UPS / FedEx Air & Express residential | ~$7.00 | Applies per package |
| USPS residential | $0 | No residential surcharge, no extended-area surcharge domestically |
| Delivery Area Surcharge (extended residential) | ~$8.80 – $8.85 | UPS/FedEx, stacks on top of the residential fee |
| Delivery Area Surcharge (remote) | up to ~$17 | UPS/FedEx |
| Fuel surcharge | ~22–25% of base | UPS/FedEx, adjusted weekly · USPS builds fuel into base rates |
Carrier-by-carrier decision rules: USPS vs UPS vs FedEx.
Insurance and declared value
One distinction decides more claims than any premium: UPS and FedEx sell declared value — a liability cap — not insurance. USPS and third-party policies sell actual insurance.
| Provider | Included free | Beyond that |
|---|---|---|
| USPS (Priority, Priority Express, Ground Advantage) | $100 — actual insurance | Tiered, starting around $2.80 · cap $5,000 |
| UPS | $100 declared value · $20 on Ground Saver | $5.10 flat for $100.01–$300, then $1.70 per additional $100 · cap $50,000 |
| FedEx | $100 declared value | Minimum charge plus per-$100 rate · cap $50,000 |
| Third-party insurers | — | ~$0.50–0.85 per $100 · claims typically settled in 5–10 business days |
Covering a $500 shipment costs $6.80 at UPS against roughly $3.40 through a third-party insurer — and only the latter pays on post-delivery theft. Most policies require Signature Required above roughly $500 for coverage to hold. Full framework: Shipping Insurance: When It’s Worth It.
Cross-border: the end of duty-free
Both major duty-free thresholds fell within eighteen months.
- United States — the $800 de minimis exemption was suspended for all origins in 2025. Details: Selling to the US After De Minimis.
- European Union — the €150 duty-free exemption was abolished on July 1, 2026, replaced by a temporary flat €3 customs duty charged per product category, not per parcel. Categories are determined by the six-digit tariff code: ten identical pairs of socks trigger one €3 charge, but five wool and five cotton count as two categories and owe €6. A parcel holding clothing, footwear and a wallet owes €9. The duty is charged to the business — seller, importer or representative — not collected from the consumer at the door, and VAT still applies separately from the first euro.
- The €3 is transitional, and what follows costs more. It applies until July 1, 2028, the confirmed go-live date for the EU Customs Data Hub for e-commerce — after which parcels are taxed at their actual tariff rate, which for most product categories exceeds €3. The Hub’s phased rollout extends to all goods by March 2034. Plan the current window as a discount with an expiry date, not a ceiling.
- A separate handling fee is coming, but its amount is not set. The Council confirmed on September 3, 2026 that an EU-wide handling fee on small parcels will be introduced by November 1, 2026, and that the Commission will set the level before it applies. The figure of €2 circulates widely in press coverage but no delegated act establishing it has been published — treat it as an expectation, not a rate. Unlike the €3 duty, this fee would apply per parcel regardless of contents. The two are frequently reported as one thing.
- Item-level customs declarations are now mandatory for every B2C shipment at or under €150, with or without IOSS. Without IOSS, parcels clear in the destination member state rather than centrally.
- Product identifier (PID) data becomes mandatory on November 1, 2026, voluntary since July 1.
Full playbook: Shipping Internationally From the US.
USPS 2026: the stacked increases
- January 2026 — annual increase, about 7.8% on Ground Advantage.
- April 26, 2026 — temporary 8% increase to base postage prices across Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select, running through January 17, 2027.
- July 12, 2026 — base rates unchanged, but the DIM divisor tightened from 166 to 139 and fractional dimensions began rounding up.
- October 4, 2026 — holiday adjustment of about 6% filed on August 25, running to January 17, 2027, on top of April’s 8%. Pending regulatory approval.
- Cumulative effect on a typical Ground Advantage parcel: roughly 16% year over year before the holiday adjustment, and higher during the October–January window when all layers apply at once.
This stacking is the reason a November USPS label feels more expensive than any single announced percentage suggests: January’s annual increase, April’s temporary 8% price change and October’s 6% holiday adjustment all apply simultaneously.
Service comparison: Ground Advantage vs Priority Mail.
Platform pricing, verified
| Platform | Free tier | Paid entry |
|---|---|---|
| Pirate Ship | Free, no label cap | No paid tier — commercial USPS/UPS rates at $0 |
| Shippo | Up to 30 labels/month | Pro from $17 (≤200) · $29 (≤500) · $199 (≤10,000) |
| ShipStation | None — 30-day trial | Starter $14.99–174.99 (no API) · Standard $29.99+ · $89.99 at 500 shipments |
| Easyship | Up to 50 shipments/month | Plus $29 · Premier $69 (duty display starts here) · Scale from $99 |
| Shopify Shipping | Included in every plan | Discount scales with plan: ~0–25% (Basic) to 88% (Advanced, $399/mo) |
Detailed breakdowns: ShipStation · Shippo · SendCloud. SendCloud’s own figures are not republished here at the platform’s request; its pricing page is the source.
How we verify
Every figure on this page follows the same process, and the process is the point.
Primary sources first. Carrier-published rate schedules, official regulatory texts and platform pricing pages — not aggregators, not comparison sites, not our own memory. Where secondary sources are the only option, we say so and formulate accordingly.
Verified before publication, re-verified before updates. A rate checked in March is not a rate in August. Every number here carries the date we last confirmed it, and anything we cannot confirm is marked as pending rather than estimated.
Nothing invented, ever. If a figure cannot be sourced, it does not appear — including plausible-sounding statistics that would make an argument stronger. We have removed our own published numbers when verification failed, and we say so in the page that carried them.
Conflicts are disclosed, not smoothed over. When two credible sources disagree, we publish only what they agree on and state that the rest is contested. Easyship’s own pricing page and its Shopify App Store listing currently show different shipment allowances for the same Premier tier — that kind of discrepancy gets reported, not averaged.
Corrections are public. When we get something wrong, the correction is documented in the page itself rather than quietly edited. Errors caught this way have included a carrier insurance rate and a customs date — both corrected before they could mislead anyone, and both recorded.
Independence. ship-audit.com earns affiliate commissions from some of the platforms it covers, disclosed on every page. It earns nothing from Pirate Ship or Red Stag Fulfillment, and recommends both wherever they are the right answer. No figure on this page is adjusted for commercial convenience.
Using this data
Quote any figure here with attribution to ship-audit.com and a link to this page. If you need a number we haven’t published, or you believe one is out of date, write to contact@ship-audit.com — corrections and requests both get a reply.