Need to know about FedEx and UPS shipping rate increases? Below, we break down the changes that will affect your business starting in June, focusing on impacts to the cost of shipping basic packages. Use this as a guide to adjust your shipping strategies and avoid surprise charges.
Starting June 2nd, 2025, both UPS and FedEx are rolling out notable mid-year changes to their shipping surcharges and fees that will impact businesses and 3PL companies managing shipments. These adjustments include major changes to surcharge structures, redefining shipping zones, and new classifications for remote areas. Along with small changes like increased late payment fees, the plethora of updates from UPS and FedEx marks a trend towards more dynamic pricing models and a contraction of “normal” shipping distances (plus higher profits for the nation’s largest carriers).
These changes not only impact all businesses that ship products, whether to customers or partners, but also individual consumers and anyone who might ship a package to friends and family. Shippers should review these changes carefully to understand the potential impact on routine shipping expenses.
UPS Updates Effective June 2, 2025
UPS is rolling out several changes that will affect shippers, especially those dealing with long-distance, heavy, or oversized parcels. Key UPS changes include:
Shipping Zone Changes
UPS is updating its zone charts for certain origin–destination ZIP code pairs. Some shipments will shift into new delivery zones, raising or lowering the shipping rates depending on the distance. The new charts will be available on June 2nd, but in the meantime, if you ship frequently to outer zones, it’s a good idea to check your current zone chart so you can anticipate higher costs. You can download a chart of your current shipping zones on the UPS website here.
Higher Surcharges for Zones 7+
For shipments traveling to the farthest zones, UPS is raising its Additional Handling and Large Package surcharges. If you ship to further zones often (especially heavy or bulky shipments), be ready for these surcharge increases (which are now comparable to FedEx’s high-zone charges). Below is a summary of the revised rates affecting zones 7 and up:
- Additional Handling Weight: $55.00
- Additional Handling Dimensions (Length, Length + Girth or Width): $38.00
- Additional Handling Packaging/Other: $31.50
- Large Package Commercial: $260.00
- Large Package Residential: $305.00
Remote Area Surcharge Now Applies to Ground Saver:
UPS’s Remote Area Surcharge will now apply to Ground Saver shipments going to remote ZIP codes in the contiguous 48 states (UPS’s “SurePost” system was just rebranded to Ground Saver in early April). In other words, even low-priority residential deliveries handed off to USPS will incur UPS’s remote surcharges if the destination is in a remote ZIP. Businesses with customers who live outside cities in rural areas will see the most cost increases from these changes. Current surcharge rates, which UPS just increased by 6.3–7.9% in December of 2024, can be found here. Ground Saver shipments will be added to this list in June.
New Shipping Charge Correction Audit Fee
Currently, the UPS correction fee for packages marked with incorrect dimensions or weight by users during label creation is 8% of the total amount of shipping charge corrections that take place within an invoice period. Now, these correction fees will change to the greater of the following:
- $1.65 per package subject to a charge correction during the invoice period; or
- 12% of the total amount of shipping charge corrections during the invoice period, whichever is greater (from UPS.com).
This change will place a small but significant burden on everyday parcel logistics, requiring shippers to input accurate details when creating labels or face potentially hefty add-on fees.
Increase to Over Maximum Fees
Shipments that exceed UPS’s maximum size or weight limits are seeing a hefty increase in cost. The fee for these packages is changing to $1,775 per package, an increase of 34% since the last large increase in December of 2024. To put that in perspective, here’s the history of UPS’s Over Maximum Fees over the past decade:
- 2015: $57.50
- 2016: $110
- 2017: $150
- 2018: $650
- 2019: $850
- 2020: $875
- 2021: $920
- 2022: $1,025
- 2023: $1,150
- 2024: $1,250
- December 2024: $1,325
- June 2025: $1,775
According to UPS, these charges are not meant to be a source of revenue, but have been steadily increasing to encourage shippers to use the UPS Freight system for larger packages. If you ship a lot of large, long, or heavy packages through UPS, it might be time to partner with an independent freight carrier or a skilled 3PL who knows how to secure the cheapest available rates.
New International COD Fee:
UPS is adding an International Collect on Delivery (ICOD) fee for import shipments. Effective June 2, 2025, a $12.00 fee will be charged to the U.S. consignee when duties, taxes, or other import fees are collected upon delivery. This means if UPS has to collect customs charges from the recipient at delivery, an extra $12 gets added to the bill.
How to avoid this? If duties and taxes are billed to a UPS account before delivery or the recipient pre-pays those charges online, the $12 ICOD fee does not apply. You can pay duties in advance via UPS’s International Pre-Payment Application (IPPA) to bypass this new fee. The IPPA is accessible through a tracking results page, or via text/email notifications if the recipient has opted in to notifications from UPS.
FedEx Updates Effective June 1-2, 2025
FedEx’s changes are focused on delivery surcharges for hard-to-reach areas and billing fees. While FedEx implemented its general rate increase back in January 2025, these mid-year updates target specific surcharges.
Late Payment Fee Hike:
As of June 1st, FedEx is increasing its late payment fee from 8% to 9.9% of the overdue amount. This now matches UPS’s late payment fee, which was updated earlier in 2025.
Additions Delivery Area Surcharge ZIP Codes:
FedEx is adding 136 new ZIP codes in the contiguous United States to the Delivery Area Surcharges (DAS) ZIP code list, affecting areas across 20 different states. Notably, FedEx’s 2025 DAS additions include zip codes that many would consider to be urban or suburban, while the list was previously reserved for rural areas. This could mark the beginning of a shift in our perception of what is considered “remote.”
FedEx fees for U.S. Express, U.S. Ground, and U.S. Home Delivery shipments will now see an additional charge between $4.20 to $6.20 for delivery to these zip codes (an increase from 2024’s rates of $3.95 – $5.70). This applies to all zip codes on FedEx’s Contiguous U.S. Delivery Area Surcharge List.
Some notable additions from January and June of 2025 include the following:
California: Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles; Santa Barbara; Central Bakersfield; San Luis Obispo; and Visalia in the Central Valley.
Oregon: Eugene, Bend, and Salem areas.
Washington: Bellingham area, and some suburbs near Seattle and Tacoma.
Arizona: Flagstaff, Tucson suburbs, and Paradise Valley.
Florida: Naples, Key West, Orlando suburbs, Fort Myers, and Cape Coral.
Texas: Georgetown, Tyler, and some suburban areas outside Houston.
Georgia: College Park area (Atlanta suburb).
North Carolina: Wilmington, and other coastal suburbs and military communities.
Reclassification of Extended and Remote Areas:
Approximately 88 ZIP codes that used to fall under the standard Delivery Area Surcharge range are now being moved to DAS Extended, which carries higher fees. These shipments will see their surcharge jump from the $4–$6 range up to $5.25–$8.30 per package.
Even more drastically, FedEx is reclassifying 101 ZIP codes from Extended Delivery to Remote Delivery. Deliveries to these 101 areas, which are generally very rural or hard-to-reach, will now incur the Remote DAS fee, roughly $15.50 per package.
They might seem small now, but these are significant increases, and many businesses will be unprepared for added costs between $4 and $8 on a large number of their shipments. Shippers should check their common lanes and delivery zones to see how their margins are affected, and ideally put new protocols in place for shipments to highly affected areas. For a complete list of changes to FedEx’s DAS zip code list, click here.
What You Can Do
In summary, June of 2025 is bringing a new wave of cost increases from UPS and FedEx that e-commerce brands both large and small must account for. Carriers are tightening standard shipping zones, targeting rural delivery costs, and cracking down on accessorials like large package handling.
To stay ahead of the game and protect margins, business owners should analyze their shipping patterns, optimize shipping for large packages, and institute cost-saving protocols for packages heading to certain areas. Between UPS’s surcharge increases, higher fees, and FedEx’s zip code adjustments, these changes will be felt by small businesses, massive corporations, and consumers alike. Savvy shippers will want to fine-tune their logistics to maintain smooth and cost-effective deliveries.
Need some help?
2025 continues to bring a wave of changes to the logistics industry. Shipping rate increases and complicated carrier updates like these can easily overwhelm businesses who would rather focus on building their brand, creating new products, and growing their audience.
Luckily, TRG Fulfillment is here to help businesses react to increasing costs and navigate convoluted changes in logistics. As a dedicated 3PL partner, its our job to keep an eye on industry changes, inform our clients, and adjust your shipping protocols accordingly to keep operations running efficiently. With 25+ years of fulfillment excellence under our belt, we know a thing or two about optimizing shipping costs during turbulent times.
If you need help responding to the recent UPS and FedEx surcharge increases and zone adjustments, call TRG to find out how we can help increase your bottom line. Beyond our razor-sharp logistics abilities, TRG also provides a full spectrum of fulfillment services designed to help businesses scale. From order processing and inventory management to a host of value-added services, we’re committed to supporting your growth every step of the way.
Let TRG handle the shipping complexities so you can focus on your passions and continue growing your businesses. When you succeed, we succeed!