--- title: "Peak Season Is Here: A Quick Carrier Rundown for Q4" description: "Peak Season Is Here: A Quick Carrier Rundown for Q4 by Carolyn" --- [Skip to content](https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4#main-content) BF Publications Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Contact us](https://partnerhandbook.support101.co/article-279-how-to-reach-us2026) [Contact us](https://partnerhandbook.support101.co/article-279-how-to-reach-us2026) Oct 1, 2026, 1:27:06 PM # Peak Season Is Here: A Quick Carrier Rundown for Q4 ![Picture of Carolyn](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/4eabf00bc2dcbb205fc69643e18413e8) [Carolyn](https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/author/carolyn) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4) The holiday rush has officially started, and so have the extra fees. Here's what's changing with UPS, FedEx and DHL over the next few months, so you can give your customers a heads-up before the invoices show up. We've linked the carrier sources throughout if you want the full details. Quick context: shipping is already pricier than usual this year. [FreightWaves](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fuel-surcharges-push-parcel-shipping-rates-near-record-high) reported in July that 2026 is on track to be the most expensive year on record for ground parcel, largely thanks to fuel surcharges. # Peak surcharges UPS and FedEx both run holiday surcharges in three waves. The big one hits from Thanksgiving week through Christmas. Fees for oversized and hard-to-handle packages already kicked in on September 27–28, and residential and air surcharges start October 25–26. Everything wraps up in mid-January. Here's what customers will pay per package during the peak stretch (UPS Nov 22–Dec 26, FedEx Nov 23–Dec 27): | **Charge** | **UPS** | **FedEx** | | --- | --- | --- | | Ground residential | $0.75 | $0.80 | | Overnight / Next Day Air | $2.50 | $2.55 | | Additional handling | $11.90 | $11.85 | | Large package / oversize | $117.50 | $117.25 | | Over max / unauthorized | $590 | $595 | Those are noticeably higher than last year. [Supply Chain Dive](https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/fedex-unveils-2026-peak-season-fees-higher-home-delivery-prices-loom/826049/) points out that FedEx's peak residential fee went up 23%, and UPS's flat surcharges went up 22–25% ([source](https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/ups-preps-higher-holiday-surcharges-for-2026/828936/)). Customers shipping over 20,000 packages a week can get hit with higher, volume-based fees on top of that. Full charts: [UPS](https://assets.ups.com/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:2c542692-de10-4fa3-b507-3b4f181e0953/original/as/demand-surcharges-us-en.pdf) | [FedEx](https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/rate-changes/demand-surcharges.html). **DHL Express:** A demand surcharge applies to international shipments from October 1 through February 5, and to domestic shipments November 1 through December 31. DHL prices it by lane, so customers should check their rates in MyDHL+ ([DHL notice](https://mydhl.express.dhl/us/en/important-information.important-info-active-items.html)). # Holiday closures All three carriers are closed on Thanksgiving (Nov 26), Christmas Day (Dec 25) and New Year's Day (Jan 1). The days around them are where it gets tricky: - **UPS:** On Christmas Eve, there's no Ground pickup, and Air pickups only happen if they're prearranged by Dec 18. New Year's Eve is Air only, prearranged by Dec 28 ([UPS schedule](https://assets.ups.com/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:4756cbe3-c3b7-4bfb-a79e-1d285308dc2e/original/as/2026-holiday-operations-schedule-us-en.pdf)). - **FedEx:** Expect early pickups and some drop box closures on Nov 27–28, Dec 24, Dec 26, Dec 31 and Jan 2. FedEx Office locations will have shorter hours on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve ([FedEx schedule](https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/2026_winter_holiday_operations_schedule.pdf)). - **DHL:** Plan for shorter hours on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. # Stock up on supplies now Free carrier supplies get harder to come by in December, so now's a good time for customers to reorder. UPS ties how much you can order to your recent shipping volume ([UPS supplies](https://www.ups.com/us/en/shipping/order-supplies)). FedEx's free packaging is only for Express shipments, not Ground ([FedEx supplies](https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/packing.html)). DHL account holders can order through the online supplies portal ([DHL supplies](https://www.dhl.com/us-en/home/express/shipping-and-tracking/shipping/packing-and-supplies.html)). Quick reminder: shipping Ground in Express boxes can lead to billing adjustments. # Last days to ship **FedEx** has published its [2026 last-day-to-ship chart](https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/2026_Peak_Last_Day_to_ship.pdf) for delivery by December 24. In short: SameDay goes on Dec 24, Overnight on Dec 23, 2Day on Dec 22 and Express Saver on Dec 21. Ground and Home Delivery depend on transit time, so the cutoffs run from mid-December for longer lanes up to Dec 23 for 1-day lanes. Customers can check their lanes on the [FedEx transit map](https://www.fedex.com/grd/maps/ShowMapEntry.do). **UPS** hasn't released its last-day-to-ship matrix yet. CR will share it as soon as it's available. **DHL** recommends shipping international packages 7–10 business days ahead, so aim for the second week of December ([DHL guidance](https://www.dhl.com/discover/en-global/ship-with-dhl/services/postal-holidays)). Easiest advice for customers: get gifts out by December 15. # 2027 rate increases (GRI) - **FedEx:** Rates go up an average of 5.9% on January 4, 2027. Many surcharges are climbing faster than that, and ZIP codes get reassigned to new delivery-area zones on February 1 ([Logistics Management](https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/fedexs_2027_rate_hike_set_to_outpace_5.9_headline_for_many_shippers), [Gooding](https://goodingsupplychainadvisors.com/insights/fedex-2027-rate-increase/)). - **DHL Express:** An average 5.9% increase in January 2027 ([DHL](https://mydhl.express.dhl/us/en/important-information.important-info-active-items.html)). - **UPS:** Not announced yet. Last year UPS matched FedEx at 5.9%. For an early read, [TransImpact](https://transimpact.com/blog/predictions-for-the-2027-ups-fedex-general-rate-increases-gri) has published its 2027 GRI predictions. *Questions? Reach out to the CR team. We'll keep sharing updates as the carriers publish them.* facebook-f icon linkedin-in icon Twitter icon instagram icon - Menu Item 1 - Sub-menu Item 1 - Another Item - Sub-menu Item 2 - Menu Item 2 - Yet Another Item - Menu Item 3 - Menu Item 4 --- # BF Publications 123 Main Street, City, State 11111 Copyright © 2026, BFS ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Carolyn", "url" : "https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/author/carolyn" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-01T17:27:06.334Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-01T17:27:06.000Z", "headline" : "Peak Season Is Here: A Quick Carrier Rundown for Q4", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://newsletter.support101.co/blog/peak-season-is-here-a-quick-carrier-rundown-for-q4", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" }, "name" : "BFS" } } ```