AFMS Global Logistics

09/23/2026

FedEx’s 2027 rate increase is 5.9%, but that number doesn’t tell the full story.

Effective January 4, 2027, FedEx will increase standard list rates for U.S. domestic, export, and import package services by an average of 5.9%. But depending on service, weight, zone, and accessorial usage, many shippers could see increases well above that headline figure.

Our analysis shows Ground, Priority Overnight, 2Day, and several common accessorials increasing above the average, with some fees rising as much as 9.1%. Changes to minimum charges, ZIP classifications, zones, and fee eligibility can add even more cost.

The bottom line: applying 5.9% across total shipping spend won’t give most shippers an accurate 2027 budget. The real impact depends on your actual shipment profile.

AFMS can help quantify your true exposure and identify opportunities to offset the increase. For a no-cost, cell-by-cell rate impact analysis, contact us today:

📞 888-318-3862
✉️ [email protected]

09/17/2026

UPS peak season costs are going up, and shippers need to be ready.

UPS has announced its 2026 Demand Surcharges, with fees beginning to roll out on September 27 and continuing through January 16, 2027.

The biggest increases hit during the November 22–December 26 holiday peak:

• Additional Handling: up to $11.90/package
• Large Package: up to $117.50/package
• Over Maximum Limits: up to $590/package
• Ground Residential & Ground Saver: up to $0.75/package
• UPS Air Services: up to $2.50/package

High-volume shippers may face even greater costs, with volume-based demand surcharges reaching as high as $8.00 for ground and $9.35 for air.

For businesses with significant parcel volume, these charges can add up quickly. Now is the time to understand your exposure, review shipping patterns, and prepare your strategy before peak season hits.

AFMS helps shippers identify hidden costs, benchmark carrier pricing, and find opportunities to reduce transportation spend.

08/27/2026

U.S. Postal Service Announces Temporary Price Change (6% rate hike) for 2026 Holiday Shipping Season

The U.S. Postal Service filed notice yesterday with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a temporary price change for some package products for the 2026 peak holiday season.

The planned change for peak season would affect prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive parcels: Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM), USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No other products or services would be affected. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the temporary rates would go into effect at 12 a.m. CT on Oct. 4 and remain in place until 12 a.m. CT on Jan. 17, 2027.

Key Details of the Temporary Rate Change
Effective Dates: October 4, 2026 (at 12 a.m. CT) through January 17, 2027 (at 12 a.m. CT).
Affected Services: Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM), USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select.
Unaffected Services: Regular First-Class Mail and stamps are not impacted
Overview of Price Increases
Increases vary by product, weight, and delivery zone, ranging from $0.40 to $20.80:
Retail Priority Mail & Ground Advantage (Zones 1–4): Increases range from $0.50 (0–3 lbs) to $3.90 (26–70 lbs/oversized).
Retail Priority Mail (Zones 5–9): Increases range from $1.00 (0–3 lbs) to $9.10 (26–70 lbs). Flat rate large boxes go up by $2.10, while other flat rate products increase by $1.00.
Commercial Priority Mail & Ground Advantag

08/20/2026

Tariff Refund Portal - International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)

In February 2026, IEEPA tariffs were invalidated by the United States Supreme Court. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began accepting refund declarations in April and issuing refund payments to eligible recipients in May 2026. FedEx is committed to returning any applicable refunds to its customers as efficiently as possible. We appreciate your patience as we navigate this process.

This portal allows you to (1) provide payment and tax information for you or your company's IEEPA refunds and (2) check if FedEx has received your IEEPA refund(s). You may also be asked to provide consent for FedEx to share information with third parties, if applicable, to process those refunds.

If you are interested, you can access the refund portal here: https://ieepa-refunds.fedex.com/

08/18/2026

Join AFMS Founder & CEO Mike Erikson and Trax EVP Steve Beda for a live discussion on what’s next for carrier rates and the freight market.

📅 Thursday, August 20
🕛 12 PM ET
📍 Live on LinkedIn & YouTube

08/06/2026

FedEx Changes: Is Your Shipping Contract Still Optimized?

As of June 1, 2026, just over two months ago, after nearly two decades as one unified organization, FedEx Express, Ground, and Freight are no longer operating under the same corporate umbrella.

FedEx Freight officially completed its spin-off from FedEx Corporation and is now its own independent, publicly traded company (NYSE: FDXF), separate from the parcel and express side of the business (which continues to trade as FDX).

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. For the past 20 years, FedEx customers of all sizes have benefited from bundled shipping agreements that combined parcel and freight volume into a single contract. That combined spend often pushed shippers into higher incentive tiers, unlocking deeper discounts than either service alone would have qualified for. With Express and Freight now operating as separate companies with separate sales teams, separate pricing structures, and separate strategic priorities, those old bundled-volume incentive tiers are being restructured. If your contract was built around combined volume thresholds, there's a real chance your effective discount levels are shifting, and not necessarily in your favor, unless your agreement is renegotiated to reflect the new corporate structure.

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. Carrier contracts are dense, tier structures are constantly evolving, and a change this significant at the corporate level can quietly erode discounts that took years to negotiate, especially if no one renegotiates the agreement to reflect the new reality.

At AFMS, we've spent over 30 years helping companies review these changes and benchmark your current rates, tiers, and accessorial charges against best-in-class discounts in today's market. We offer a No-Cost, No-Risk evaluation so you know exactly where you stand before this transition continues to impact your bottom line.

Give us a call at 888-984-1827 to schedule your review. It costs nothing, and it could save you significantly on your next contract cycle.

07/30/2026

FedEx has announced its **2026 Peak Season surcharges**, and holiday shipping is about to get more expensive. 📦

From higher residential delivery fees to increased oversized package charges and new volume-based demand surcharges, these changes could have a significant impact on your shipping costs this season.

Don't wait until October to find out how they'll affect your business. See what's changing and how you can prepare:

https://afms.com/fedex-peak-season-charges-2026/

03/27/2026

At AFMS, we turn your parcel spend into a strategic advantage. 📦

Our Parcel Optimization solutions help businesses unlock measurable savings, improve carrier performance and help protect the future parcel landscape for you and your customers.

Through contract optimization, pricing intelligence, invoice auditing and advanced data intelligence, we empower smarter decisions and stronger outcomes.

👉 With over 30 years in the industry, discover how AFMS can help define your parcel strategy A No cost, No Commitment review https://afms.com/

01/16/2026

FedEx is increasing surcharges on Additional Handling and Oversize packages, effective January 11th.

Shippers — here’s what you need to know to avoid unexpected costs and keep your logistics budget in check.

Full article:
https://afms.com/fedex-surcharge-changes-additional-handling-oversize/

Starting January 11th, 2026, the Annual General Rate Increases for both FedEx and UPS are now active. These higher rates are shown on your latest invoices. Just because the average increase is 5.9%, don't be fooled, these increases are specifically created to have the greatest impact on the most cri...

10/31/2025

Effective December 22, 2025, the published Daily Rates for UPS® Ground, UPS Air and International services will increase an average net of 5.9%.

Key points from preliminary review:
Average Increase: An average GRI of approximately 5.9% is anticipated for 2026, matching FedEx's announced increase.

Variable Impact: The 5.9% is an average, and the actual rate increases for specific packages will vary based on factors like service type, package dimensions, and shipping zones.

Surcharge Changes: Expect adjustments to various surcharges. Some reports point to potential significant increases in residential surcharges, while others indicate new criteria for additional handling fees that could impact lighter packages.

ZIP Code Alignment: The list of ZIP codes that fall into different zones is set to change, which could impact costs for some shippers.

Demand Surcharges: UPS has changed the wording from "Peak/Demand Surcharges" to just "Demand Surcharges," which may give the company more flexibility in applying these fees.

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Read More Here:

Effective December 22, 2025, the published Daily Rates for UPS® Ground, UPS Air and International services will increase an average net of 5.9%. Key points from preliminary review: Average Increase: An average GRI of approximately 5.9% is anticipated for 2026, matching FedEx's announced increase. V...