UPS 2026 Peak Season Surcharges Start September 27, 2026 and Run Through January 16, 2027 — Additional Handling Rises to $11.90 and Large Package to $117.50 at Peak, While the Flat Ground Residential and Ground Saver Demand Charge Jumps to $0.75 From $0.60
UPS has published its 2026-27 peak season surcharge schedule and it arrives in two waves. Size- and handling-driven fees — Additional Handling and the Large Package Surcharge — switch on September 27, 2026. The flat per-package demand surcharges on Ground Residential, Ground Saver and air services follow on October 25, 2026. Everything peaks between November 22 and December 26 and stays in effect until January 16, 2027. The shape of the increase matters more than the headline: coverage of the schedule reports that handling and size charges are up roughly 6% to 10% year over year, while the flat service-level demand charges are up roughly 22% to 25%. That means the fee that hits every single residential parcel you ship went up far faster than the fee that only hits your bulky ones.
Real-World Impact
Take an FBM seller moving 500 UPS Ground Residential packages a week. During the November 22 to December 26 peak the flat demand surcharge alone is $0.75 × 500 = $375 per week, against $0.60 × 500 = $300 per week at the 2025 peak rate — $75 more per week, or roughly $375 more across the five-week peak window, before any Additional Handling or Large Package fees. If 40 of those 500 weekly packages also trip Additional Handling, that is another $11.90 × 40 = $476 per week at the peak rate, up from $10.80 × 40 = $432.
Key Points
- Two start dates: Additional Handling and Large Package Surcharge begin September 27, 2026; the per-package demand surcharges on Ground Residential, Ground Saver and air services begin October 25, 2026
- Peak-of-peak window is November 22 through December 26, 2026; all surcharges remain in effect through January 16, 2027
- Additional Handling ranges from $8.75 to $11.90 per package on domestic and select export shipments; third-party rate analysis (Intelligent Audit) puts the comparable 2025 peak rate at $10.80
- Large Package Surcharge ranges from $96.25 to $117.50; third-party rate analysis (Intelligent Audit) puts the comparable 2025 peak rate at $107
- Standard demand surcharge runs $0.50 to $2.50 per package; third-party rate analysis breaks the November 22 to December 26 peak out as $0.75 on Ground Residential and Ground Saver, against $0.60 at the 2025 peak, and $2.50 on air services, against $2.05
- Shippers billed for more than 20,000 eligible packages in a week move onto a tiered version of the demand surcharge running $0.50 to $9.35 per package, scaling with how far volume runs above the shipper's baseline
- The published schedule also lists a Surge Emergency Fee of $0.50 per pound on the specific shipment types it names
- Third-party analysis of the schedule (ShipScience, cited in the Supply Chain Dive report) puts the year-over-year movement at approximately 6% to 10% on handling and size charges and approximately 22% to 25% on the flat service-level charges
- UPS CEO Carol Tomé has said the carrier expects U.S. volume to rise about 24% from Q3 to Q4, which is the operational backdrop for the higher holiday pricing
What You Should Do Now
- 1Mark both dates in your cost model separately — September 27 for Additional Handling and Large Package, October 25 for the flat demand surcharges — because the September wave hits before most sellers start watching holiday costs
- 2Re-measure and re-weigh your top SKUs against UPS Additional Handling and Large Package thresholds now; a package that drops below a threshold avoids a fee that peaks at $11.90 or $117.50
- 3Check whether your weekly UPS volume crosses the 20,000-package line, since that moves you onto the tiered demand surcharge that reaches $9.35 per residential air package rather than the $2.50 standard rate
- 4Rebuild your FBM landed-cost math for November and December using peak rates, not current rates, and reprice or adjust your shipping charges before the peak window opens
- 5Compare your UPS peak cost per order against FBA fulfillment plus the FBA holiday peak fulfillment fee for the same units — for some SKUs the FBM cost advantage narrows or disappears during peak
- 6If you buy UPS labels through Amazon Buy Shipping, pull an actual label cost for a representative package after October 25 and compare it against your September baseline rather than relying on the published schedule