UPS began its first 2026 holiday demand surcharges on September 27, and FedEx begins its comparable domestic charges on September 28. The first wave does not apply a holiday fee to every parcel. It targets packages that trigger additional handling, large or oversize treatment, or the carriers’ maximum-size rules.

That distinction matters. A seller shipping standard residential cartons has more time before the broad per-package charges begin. A furniture, sporting-goods or bulky home-products seller can already be paying tens or hundreds of dollars more on one shipment.

The first wave is aimed at nonstandard packages

UPS’s official 2026 demand-surcharge schedule applies the following charges to U.S. domestic packages from September 27 through November 21. The rates then rise for shipments tendered from November 22 through December 26.

FedEx’s domestic demand-surcharge table starts one day later and uses slightly different dates. From September 28 through November 22, Additional Handling costs $8.80, Oversize costs $95.75 and an Unauthorized Package costs $535. From November 23 through December 27, those amounts rise to $11.85, $117.25 and $595.

These amounts are added to the other transportation and accessorial charges on the shipment. They are not the total price of the label.

Standard residential packages start later

The calendar has a second wave. UPS adds 50 cents per UPS Ground Residential or Ground Saver package from October 25 through November 21, 75 cents during the November 22 through December 26 peak, and 50 cents again through January 16.

FedEx begins its corresponding residential schedule on October 26. FedEx Ground Residential and Home Delivery cost another 50 cents per package in the first window, 80 cents from November 23 through December 27, and 50 cents through January 17. FedEx Ground Economy follows a separate and much higher schedule.

High-volume shippers face additional formulas. UPS publishes a peaking-factor table for customers that crossed 20,000 combined packages in a week after October 2025. FedEx applies a dynamic Residential Delivery Charge to customers above its stated 20,000-package calculation-week threshold. If you ship at that scale, the flat rates above are not a complete forecast.

One carton can erase the order’s contribution

Suppose you ship 50 UPS packages that qualify as Large Packages during the first window. The demand surcharge alone is $4,812.50. During the core peak, the same 50 qualifying packages would carry $5,875 in demand surcharges before the base rate, fuel and other charges.

That example is arithmetic, not an estimate of an average seller’s bill. Your result depends on how the carrier classifies the finished carton. A one-inch packaging change can matter if it pushes the package across a dimensional or size threshold.

Start with actual shipped dimensions, not the dimensions printed on a product box. Include padding, the outer carton and any warehouse substitutions. Compare those records with the adjustment codes on carrier invoices. If a 3PL buys the labels, ask for package-level accessorial data rather than a blended postage line.

EcomCrew’s comparison of UPS and FedEx services and dimensional pricing is useful background for choosing a carrier, but published examples are not quotes for a September 2026 shipment. Re-rate your own package, origin, destination and pickup date through the account that will actually buy the label.

Marketplace labels may show a different price

Do not assume the carrier’s public schedule flows through every marketplace or shipping platform unchanged. A negotiated account can have discounts, caps or different treatment. A platform may pass through a surcharge, absorb part of it or publish its own schedule under a separate service name.

The same warning applies to Amazon. EcomCrew’s analysis of Amazon’s separate Q4 fulfillment and shipping fee stack covers Amazon programs, not a direct UPS or FedEx invoice. Keep FBA fees, Amazon Shipping charges and carrier-billed surcharges in separate lines of your margin model.

For every high-risk SKU, quote at least three finished-package scenarios: the normal carton, the largest approved carton and the carton your warehouse uses when the preferred size runs out. Add the applicable shoulder and peak surcharge to each scenario.

Audit before the residential wave begins

Pull 60 to 90 days of shipping data and sort by Additional Handling, Large Package, Oversize and adjustment codes. Rank SKUs by surcharge dollars instead of order count alone. A low-volume bulky product can create more exposure than hundreds of small parcels.

Then assign an action to each outlier. The answer may be a smaller carton, disassembly, a two-box configuration, a different service, a regional carrier or a price change. Test the complete delivered cost and damage risk before changing the packaging. Saving a surcharge is not useful if the new carton increases breakage.

Reconcile the first UPS invoices dated September 27 onward and the first FedEx invoices dated September 28 onward. Preserve the package measurements and any carrier scans used to calculate adjustments. Your next deadline is October 25, when the broader UPS residential schedule starts, followed by FedEx on October 26.