What changed
FedEx US domestic fuel surcharge tables up 1.5 points at every band (Ground, Home Delivery, Express domestic package)
When
Announced November 2, 2026; effective November 9, 2026; this week Ground 30.50%, Express 34.00%
Who it affects
Any brand shipping on its own FedEx account or through a 3PL that bills FedEx fuel: FBM, Shopify and Walmart seller-fulfilled orders
What to do
Pull your 10 most common package profiles, recompute fuel on the new table, and reprice or renegotiate before Black Friday

Key takeaways

  • FedEx added 1.5 percentage points to every band of its US domestic fuel surcharge tables on November 9, 2026: Ground is 30.50% and Express 34.00% this week, up from 29.25% and 33.25%, although diesel eased.
  • UPS made a 0.5 point table change on November 2 and raised the floor where its surcharge starts falling, so both carriers keep more fuel revenue if prices drop.
  • Recompute fuel on your 10 most common package profiles, reprice or re-route the worst ones before Black Friday, and ask for a fuel concession in writing.

FedEx US fuel surcharge, week of Nov 2 vs week of Nov 9, 2026

  • Ground, Nov 2 to 829.25%
  • Ground, Nov 9 to 1530.5%
  • Express package, Nov 2 to 833.25%
  • Express package, Nov 9 to 1534.0%
Source: FedEx fuel surcharge tables, November 2026

What FedEx changed on November 9

A fuel surcharge is a percentage added to the transportation charge of a parcel, set each week from a published fuel price. Two things move it: the fuel index moves the shipment up or down the table, and the table itself can be rewritten. FedEx did the second. On November 2 it announced new US domestic tables effective November 9 that assign 1.5 percentage points more at every diesel and jet fuel band for FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx International Ground and pickup services, and for domestic and US to Puerto Rico Express package services, according to parcel consultancy TransImpact and the tables now on FedEx's fuel surcharge page.

The effect is visible on FedEx's own page. The band from $6.25 to $6.34 per gallon of diesel now carries 30.50%, and the band from $6.34 to $6.43 carries 30.75%. EcomCrew notes that the $6.34 to $6.43 band carried 29.25% under the previous table. For Express domestic packages, the jet fuel band from $4.46 to $4.51 now carries 34.00%, and the $4.61 to $4.66 band moved from 33.25% to 34.75%. Express freight moved too, from $0.728 to $0.740 per pound at this week's jet price. FedEx states that percentages and trigger points can change without notice and that the customer agreement is the final authority on how fuel is calculated.

This week's rates: diesel eased, the surcharge rose

The sharpest detail is the week-over-week move. FedEx's table shows the November 2 to 8 Ground surcharge at 29.25%, based on the diesel price reported on October 26, and the November 9 to 15 surcharge at 30.50%, based on the November 2 price. TransImpact puts that November 2 diesel price at $6.292 a gallon, where the old table would have given 29% and the new one gives 30.5%. In other words, the fuel index slipped about a quarter point down the table and the table revision added 1.5 points, so the invoice line rose 1.25 points on a week when fuel got cheaper.

  • FedEx Ground, Home Delivery, International Ground: 29.25% last week, 30.50% this week (diesel index).
  • FedEx Express domestic and US to Puerto Rico package services: 33.25% last week, 34.00% this week (jet fuel index).
  • FedEx Express domestic freight: $0.728 per pound last week, $0.740 this week.
  • FedEx international export and import: 44.75% this week on a table unchanged since June 22, 2026, so this move does not touch cross-border air.
  • Step rule: at or above $5.71 diesel, Ground moves 0.25% for every $0.09 change in the index; below $5.71 it moves 0.25% for every $0.27.

UPS moved first on November 2, by a third as much

UPS rewrote its Ground, Ground Saver and Domestic Air fuel tables effective November 2, 2026, alongside its 2027 general rate increase of 5.9% that starts December 21. Parcel consultancy Reveel describes the UPS change as 0.5 points at current fuel prices, plus a quieter move at the bottom of the tables: the point where the Ground surcharge starts falling slowly shifted from $4.99 to $5.80 per gallon of diesel, and for Domestic Air from $3.01 to $3.56 per gallon of jet fuel. Below those floors the surcharge drops 0.25% for every $0.27 (Ground) or $0.21 (Air) decline in fuel instead of every $0.09 or $0.05, so UPS keeps more of today's surcharge if fuel falls in 2027. TransImpact calls the FedEx increase at least three times the size of the UPS one. Both carriers apply fuel to the net transportation charge plus surcharges such as residential delivery, delivery area and additional handling, so a parcel that already carries surcharges pays the new percentage on a bigger base.

Two carriers, two fuel table changes before peak

  1. UPS Ground and Air fuel tables up about 0.5 pts; FedEx announces its change

  2. FedEx tables live: +1.5 pts at every band

  3. Black Friday, peak parcel volume

  4. UPS 5.9% general rate increase

  5. FedEx annual rate changes take effect

So what: the plain math on a parcel

Take a parcel with $12 of charges subject to fuel, roughly a 2 lb Ground package to a residential address after a typical discount. At 29%, fuel was $3.48. At 30.5% it is $3.66, 18 cents more per parcel for the same box, same zone and same fuel price. On a $6 contribution per order, 18 cents is 3% of profit gone before any seasonal demand surcharge, which runs on its own schedule. For a brand already paying residential and delivery area surcharges on, say, $18 of fuel-eligible charges, the same 1.5 points cost 27 cents a parcel. The percentage sounds small; the money is proportional to how much surcharge your parcels already carry, and peak season is exactly when they carry most.

The second cost is forecasting error. Finance teams usually model fuel as a pass-through that follows diesel. A table revision breaks that link: fuel can fall and the fuel line can rise. If your landed cost model or your free shipping threshold was set in October, it is already wrong by 1.5 points on FedEx and 0.5 points on UPS.

Worked example: a Shopify brand over Black Friday week

Illustrative numbers. A direct to consumer brand ships 4,000 FedEx Home Delivery parcels in the two weeks around Black Friday, each with $13 of fuel-eligible charges (transportation plus a residential surcharge). Under the old table at this week's diesel price, fuel would have been about 29% or $3.77 a parcel, $15,080 for the fortnight. Under the new table it is 30.5% or $3.97, $15,860. The revision alone costs $780 over two weeks, and about $1,700 across the full peak period from November 9 to mid January if volume holds at 2,000 parcels a week. If the brand nets $7 of contribution per order, the change takes 2.8% of profit on every FedEx order without a single rate card changing.

Now compare carriers on that same profile. If UPS quotes the same $13 base and its Ground surcharge sits around 30% this week, the UPS fuel line is $3.90, 7 cents cheaper per parcel than FedEx at 30.5%. On 4,000 parcels that is $280, not enough to switch on its own, but enough to put fuel on the table in the next negotiation. Your real numbers will differ: a heavy, oversized profile with additional handling pays far more than this example, a light local parcel far less.

  • Fuel is charged on surcharges too, so peak parcels pay the most.
  • Model the table change and the fuel index separately or you will blame the wrong one.

What sellers should do this week

Do this before Black Friday on November 27, starting with the invoices that cover shipments from November 9.

  • Finance lead: download FedEx's November 9 tables from its fuel surcharge page and rebuild the fuel line in your cost model as a lookup on the diesel or jet band, not a fixed percentage. Metric: modeled fuel within 0.25 points of the first November 9 invoice.
  • Operations lead: in your 3PL portal or FedEx Reporting, export your 10 most common package profiles (weight, zone, residential, surcharges) and recompute fuel at the old and new rates. Metric: the per-parcel delta by profile, with the three worst profiles flagged for repricing.
  • Pricing owner: for SKUs whose free shipping threshold or shipping charge was set before November, re-run margin with the new fuel and holiday surcharges, then raise the threshold or move the SKU to a cheaper service. Metric: contribution per order back to its October level on the top 20 SKUs.
  • Carrier negotiator: ask your FedEx or UPS rep for a fuel discount or a cap, in writing, and ask your 3PL whether its negotiated fuel terms reach your account; a transportation discount does not imply a fuel concession. Metric: a signed fuel concession or a documented refusal before the January rate increases.
  • Marketplace lead: for Amazon orders you fulfill yourself, compare the new FedEx all-in cost against Buy Shipping rates and against moving fast movers to FBA, where fees are fixed per unit, using the FBA vs FBM breakdown and your profit calculator. Metric: fulfillment cost per unit by channel, updated weekly.
  • Bookkeeper: reconcile every FedEx invoice dated November 9 onward against the label estimate and keep the fuel percentage, base and seasonal fee in separate columns, as recommended in our seller cash flow guide. Metric: zero unexplained variance over 0.5 points between estimate and invoice.

Fuel surcharge checklist before Black Friday

  • Download the Nov 9 FedEx tables and rebuild fuel as a band lookup
  • Recompute fuel on your 10 most common package profiles
  • Re-run margin on SKUs with pre-November shipping thresholds
  • Ask FedEx or UPS for a fuel discount or cap in writing
  • Compare self-ship cost with FBA or Buy Shipping on fast movers
  • Reconcile every invoice from Nov 9 against the label estimate

When this does not apply

If every order ships through Fulfillment by Amazon, Walmart Fulfillment Services or TikTok's fulfillment network, you pay a fixed per-unit fee and these carrier tables do not reach you, though they shape the cost of inbound shipments and any seller-fulfilled overflow. If you buy labels through a marketplace program such as Amazon Buy Shipping or Shopify Shipping, the carrier's public table may not be the rate you pay; check the program's own fuel terms. International FedEx air shipments run on a separate table that has not changed since June, and FedEx Freight LTL has its own schedule. USPS does not charge a fuel surcharge today, though a weekly fuel fee on packages is scheduled for 2027. For planning the whole season, see our Amazon Q4 strategy guide.

Where PPC Spider helps

PPC Spider is a marketplace agency for brands selling on Amazon and other marketplaces whose SpiderOS platform monitors bids, budgets, search terms and stock, with ACoS targets set from each product's margin after fees. When shipping costs move, we rebuild the margin inputs so ad targets follow real contribution, not last month's assumptions. If you want a second pair of eyes on where fulfillment costs are eating your ad budget, start with a free Amazon audit. More carrier and marketplace cost changes are tracked on our ecommerce marketplace news channel.

Sources

Get the next change before your competitors do

We send the marketplace changes that matter each week, with what to do next.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Unsubscribe any time.
Want this done for your account?

We run these playbooks on client accounts every day. Start with a free audit.

Get a free audit