Holiday Shipping Surcharges 2026 vs 2025: How Much Each Carrier Raised

What changed since 2024, and when the costly weeks start. Three years of peak fees, boiled down to what each one costs per box.

Holiday shipping surcharges in 2026 are higher than in 2025 at FedEx, UPS, and USPS. In the busiest weeks, a home delivery costs an extra $0.80 per box on FedEx Ground, up 23% from $0.65 last year (FedEx). UPS's per-box holiday fee on Ground Residential, Ground Saver, and Air runs $0.50 to $2.50 per package from October 25 (Supply Chain Dive). USPS doesn't add a separate fee. It raised its own counter prices from October 4, 2026 to January 17, 2027, starting at $0.50 more for a light box going nearby (USPS). All figures here were checked on October 8, 2026. Carriers can change them with notice.

Say you're shipping two gifts from Sultan to grandkids in Arizona. One's a sweater. The other's a kid's bike, still in the store carton. Same address, same day. The bike box will cost a lot more, and most of that gap isn't the weight. It's the size. If that carton runs longer than 48 inches on its longest side, it picks up an Additional Handling charge, and from late September a holiday fee lands on top of it.

That's why "holiday shipping" is hard to budget as one number. It's really a stack of smaller fees with different start dates. Some started in late September. Some don't start until late October. Here's each one, this year against last.

Which holiday fees start when in 2026

The short version:

• Size fees came first. UPS's holiday fees for Additional Handling and Large Package boxes started September 27. FedEx's started September 28.
• USPS and DHL Express joined in early October. DHL Express's international demand fee started October 1, and the USPS temporary price increase started October 4.
• Per-box fees start in late October. UPS and DHL eCommerce start October 25, and FedEx starts October 26. The busiest weeks are November 22 to December 26 (UPS, DHL eCommerce) and November 23 to December 27 (FedEx). Most of these fees end January 16 or 17, 2027.

For every date, week by week, see our 2026 peak fee calendar.

Sources: Supply Chain Dive on UPS; FedEx demand surcharges; DHL Express U.S. notices; USPS; DHL eCommerce 2026 peak sheet.

One date mix-up worth clearing up: UPS's home-delivery fee does not start September 27. Supply Chain Dive's report on UPS's 2026 schedule puts the Ground Residential, Ground Saver, and Air fees at October 25. September 27 is only for oversized and hard-to-handle boxes. FedEx works the same way, with size fees on September 28 and per-box fees on October 26.

Home delivery fee per box: 2026 vs 2025

This is the fee most gift shippers actually feel. It's added to each package going to a home on certain ground services. The table shows the busiest-weeks amount (UPS's is published only as a range).

USPS doesn't charge a per-box fee like this; it raises its prices instead (see the USPS table below). DHL Express is mostly an international service and has no per-box home-delivery fee.

About the UPS row: Supply Chain Dive publishes UPS's 2026 per-box demand fee as one $0.50 to $2.50 range covering Ground Residential, Air, and Ground Saver packages, so there's no matching 2025 number to compare it with. (ups.com wouldn't load for our check.)

How it moved since 2024 (early season → busiest weeks):

• FedEx Ground home: $0.30 → $0.55 in 2024, $0.40 → $0.65 in 2025, $0.50 → $0.80 in 2026.
• UPS Ground Residential: $0.25 → $0.50 in 2024 and $0.40 → $0.60 in 2025. For 2026, Supply Chain Dive reports only the combined $0.50 to $2.50 range shown above.
• DHL eCommerce Parcel Ground (zones 1–8): a flat $0.25 all season in 2024, a flat $0.62 in 2025, then $0.50 → $0.90 in 2026.

Sources: FedEx 2026 from fedex.com; FedEx and UPS 2024–2025 from Sifted's 2025 surcharge guide; UPS 2026 from Supply Chain Dive; DHL eCommerce from its peak sheets for 2024, 2025, and 2026.

What changed: In one year, FedEx's busiest-weeks fee went up 15 cents. Over two years, it's up 45%. UPS's 2026 fee is only published as a range, so it can't be lined up against 2025 the same way. DHL eCommerce dropped its flat season fee for a two-step one, so its early weeks are a bit cheaper than last year and its busiest weeks cost more. Small dollars, but they land on every box.

Additional Handling holiday fee: 2026 vs 2025

Additional Handling is for boxes that are long, heavy, or not in a plain cardboard box. Both FedEx and UPS list a longest side over 48 inches, a second-longest side over 30 inches, more than 10,368 cubic inches, or more than 50 pounds among the triggers (UPS, Sifted on FedEx's 2026 rules). During the holidays, carriers stack a demand fee on top of the regular Additional Handling charge.

USPS has no holiday Additional Handling fee; its holiday change is a price increase. DHL Express doesn't publish a flat holiday handling fee, because its demand fee is charged by weight and route.

How it moved since 2024 (early season → busiest weeks): FedEx went $7.75 → $10.00 in 2024, $8.25 → $10.90 in 2025, and $8.80 → $11.85 in 2026. UPS went $7.75 → $9.95, then $8.25 → $10.80, then $8.75 → $11.90.

Sources: FedEx 2026 from fedex.com; FedEx 2024 and 2025 from Supply Chain Dive (2024, 2025); UPS from Supply Chain Dive (2024, 2025, 2026).

What changed: Both rose about a dollar from 2025. Since 2024, both are up a little under 20%.

Large Package and Oversize holiday fee: 2026 vs 2025

This is the big one. UPS calls it Large Package. FedEx calls it Oversize. It's for really big boxes: longer than 96 inches, more than 130 inches in length plus girth (girth is twice the width plus twice the height), more than 17,280 cubic inches, or over 110 pounds (UPS, Sifted on FedEx's 2026 rules). UPS says it won't also charge Additional Handling on a box that gets the Large Package fee.

USPS has no holiday oversize fee; its holiday change is a price increase. DHL Express doesn't publish a flat holiday oversize fee, because its demand fee is charged by weight and route.

How it moved since 2024 (early season → busiest weeks): FedEx Oversize went $84.50 → $100 in 2024, $90 → $108.50 in 2025, and $95.75 → $117.25 in 2026. UPS Large Package went $84.75 → $99, then $90.50 → $107, then $96.25 → $117.50.

Same sources as the Additional Handling table.

What changed: That's on top of the regular oversize charge, not instead of it.

Honestly, this is the fee that matters most for a holiday budget. A 15-cent bump on a sweater box is annoying. A $117 holiday fee on one truly oversized box can cost more than the gift inside. Our peak size fee checklist walks through the measurements that trigger it.

USPS holiday price increase, 2024 vs 2025 vs 2026

USPS handles holidays differently. There's no demand line on the receipt. Instead, it files a temporary price change, and the counter price itself goes up. Here's the extra amount on retail prices, the ones you pay at a counter.

Sources: USPS newsroom (2024, 2025, 2026). 2024 amounts are as announced when USPS filed them.

A few things people get wrong about the USPS side:

• The "$0.40" you may have read about for 2026 is the commercial price, not the counter price. In 2026, the commercial add-on for a light box going nearby is $0.40. The retail add-on is $0.50. Commercial prices are the ones business shippers use.
• The 2026 increase covers Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. First-Class letters and cards aren't part of it.
• USPS puts the average increase at 6.0% for each of those products, per the Governors' decision in the Federal Register.

For the full USPS table by weight and zone, see USPS Peak Surcharge Starts Oct 4.

DHL Express vs DHL eCommerce: two different things

This trips people up every year. They share a name, but they're separate services with separate holiday fees.

DHL Express is the international express service. That's the DHL you drop off with us. Its U.S. notice says a demand fee applies to international Time and Day Definite shipments from October 1, 2026 to February 5, 2027, and to domestic Time Definite shipments from November 1 to December 31, 2026 (DHL Express U.S.). DHL charges it by weight and by where the box is going and coming from. So there's no single dollar figure to put in a table. A quote on the actual box is the only honest number.

DHL eCommerce is a separate U.S. domestic parcel service for online businesses. It relies on USPS for final delivery. Its 2026 fee for Parcel Ground in zones 1–8 is $0.50 a box from October 25, then $0.90 from November 22 to December 26, then back to $0.50 until January 16, 2027. Last year it was a flat $0.62 for the whole season, so the early weeks are a bit cheaper this year and the busiest weeks cost more.

If you're mailing a gift overseas from Monroe, the DHL eCommerce numbers don't apply to you.

Who actually pays these fees

Short answer: the fee is tied to the package and the service, not to the person holding the box.

• Size fees apply to any box that trips the size or weight rules, during the dates above. The holiday amount is added on top of the regular size charge.
• Per-box home-delivery fees apply to home deliveries on the listed ground services. For UPS, Supply Chain Dive lists Ground Residential, Ground Saver, and Air. FedEx lists Ground residential and Home Delivery residential, and its air services carry their own per-box fee.
• Big-volume tables only kick in for very large shippers. UPS and FedEx both use a 20,000-package weekly threshold for their sliding-scale tables. A family mailing gifts won't come near that.
• FedEx Ground Economy is contract-only, per FedEx, so its $2.55 → $4.05 holiday fee only touches businesses with that contract.

Businesses with contracts may have negotiated some of these down. Someone shipping a few gifts a year almost never has.

What's coming in 2027

Most holiday fees end in mid-January (DHL Express's international one runs to early February). Then the yearly price increases land.

An average is just an average. Your box could go up more or less, depending on weight, distance, and service.

Fuel surcharges: the fee that moves every week

Fuel isn't a holiday fee, but it rides on top of everything. FedEx charges it as a percentage of the shipping charge and resets it weekly. For the week of October 5–11, 2026, FedEx lists (FedEx fuel surcharges):

• FedEx Ground and Home Delivery: 29.25% (down from 29.75% the week before)
• FedEx domestic Express packages: 31.75%
• FedEx international export and import: 44.25%

UPS posts its own weekly fuel rates on ups.com. Check the current week there before you compare.

How to keep holiday fees down

Here's what we'd actually do with a stack of gifts in Monroe, Sultan, or Gold Bar this year:

1. Ship before the busiest band. The jump comes the Sunday or Monday before Thanksgiving. Sending in early November dodges FedEx's higher per-box tier, and Supply Chain Dive says many UPS holiday charges peak from November 22 too.
2. Measure the finished box, not the gift. Longest side, second-longest side, and length plus girth. Going past 48 inches on the longest side usually means Additional Handling, and in the busiest weeks the holiday part of that is $11.85 at FedEx or $11.90 at UPS. The roughly $117 holiday fee only hits much bigger boxes: over 96 inches long, or over 130 inches in length plus girth (or over 17,280 cubic inches or 110 pounds).
3. Don't ship a gift in its store carton if it's huge or oddly shaped. A smaller, snug box often clears the size rules. Sometimes it can't, and that's worth knowing before the label prints.
4. Think about where it's going. The per-box home-delivery fee is for home addresses. If the person is fine getting it at work, a business address can skip that fee on UPS Ground and FedEx Ground.
5. Compare carriers on the same box. For a light box going a short distance, USPS's $0.50 bump may be the smallest add. For a bulky box, the math can flip.
6. Get a quote close to your ship date. Fuel changes weekly, and prices change again in January.

Checklist before you ship a holiday gift

• I know which carrier and service I'm using
• I measured the packed box on all three sides
• I checked whether it's over 48 inches long or unusually heavy
• I know if it's going to a home or a business
• I picked a ship date before November 22 if I can
• For DHL, I know whether it's DHL Express or DHL eCommerce
• I got a fresh quote this week, not a screenshot from last month

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are holiday shipping surcharges in 2026? At the busiest point, $0.80 per home delivery on FedEx Ground. UPS's per-box fee on Ground Residential, Ground Saver, and Air runs $0.50 to $2.50, per Supply Chain Dive. Holiday size fees reach $11.85 (FedEx) and $11.90 (UPS) for Additional Handling, and $117.25 (FedEx) and $117.50 (UPS) for oversize boxes. USPS raises retail prices instead, starting at $0.50.

How do holiday shipping surcharges in 2026 compare with 2025? They're higher at FedEx, UPS, and USPS. At the busiest point, FedEx's home-delivery fee rose 15 cents (+23%). The holiday size fees rose roughly 8% to 10% at both FedEx and UPS.

When does the UPS residential holiday fee start in 2026? October 25, 2026, per Supply Chain Dive's report on UPS's 2026 schedule. The September 27 date only applies to UPS's size and handling fees.

Does the USPS holiday increase apply at the post office counter? Yes. USPS raised both retail (counter) and commercial prices from October 4, 2026 to January 17, 2027. The smallest retail increase is $0.50.

Is DHL charging a holiday surcharge? DHL Express has an active demand fee on international shipments from October 1, 2026 to February 5, 2027. It's figured by weight and route. DHL eCommerce, a separate domestic service, charges $0.50 to $0.90 per box from October 25.

Bring the Box In and We'll Compare

You don't need five browser tabs open to sort this out. Bring the gift in, packed or not. The Mail Station ships FedEx, USPS, and DHL, and we can help you compare those options for the same box at the counter. We'll measure it, show you which fees apply, and help with custom packing if a smaller box would clear a size fee. UPS isn't a carrier we handle at our counter.

Already have a prepaid FedEx, USPS, or DHL label? Package drop-off is free.

The Mail Station 19916 Old Owen Road, Monroe, WA 98272 (360) 805-9250 Contact us · Custom packing

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Related Reading

Peak Season Surcharges 2026: Monroe Holiday Fee Calendar — every 2026 fee start date, week by week.

Peak Size Fees Start Sep 27 — How Do You Stay Under? — the measurements that trigger Additional Handling and oversize fees.

UPS & FedEx Residential Surcharges: 2026 Fees Explained — the year-round residential fee under the holiday one.

USPS Peak Surcharge Starts Oct 4. Here's What You Pay — full USPS add-on table by weight and zone.

USPS Holiday Rate Increase October 2026 Is Final — what the final USPS holiday prices mean at the counter.

Sep 21 FedEx Change: Odd Intl Boxes Get Demand Fees — FedEx's international holiday size fees.

USPS Last Day to Ship for Christmas 2026? Official Dates — mail-by dates for December.

FedEx, USPS, or DHL? Best Shipping Carrier in Monroe, WA — how to pick a carrier once fees are clear.

Where Do I Drop Off a DHL Package Near Monroe, WA? — DHL Express drop-off in Monroe.

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Written by the team at The Mail Station Monroe — helping Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar, Snohomish, Duvall, and Granite Falls families ship holiday gifts without surprise fees since 1982.