A package that UPS classifies as large has carried a $96.25 demand surcharge since Sept. 27, and the charge steps up to $117.50 for packages shipped from Nov. 22 through Dec. 26. The figures come from UPS’s own peak-season schedule, which also raises the Additional Handling charge for awkward boxes and the Over Maximum Limits charge for the biggest ones. For anyone mailing a bulky holiday gift, a piece of small furniture or a keepsake sent across the country, the schedule sets the outer edge of what a carrier can bill.
UPS’s three-period schedule for bulky parcels
UPS published its demand-surcharge update on Aug. 26, a month before the first period began. The document lists three charges for U.S. domestic shipments across three periods. Additional Handling is $8.75 per package from Sept. 27 through Nov. 21, $11.90 from Nov. 22 through Dec. 26, and $8.75 again from Dec. 27 through Jan. 16, 2027. The Large Package Surcharge follows the same pattern at $96.25, $117.50 and $96.25. Over Maximum Limits is $530, $590 and $530. UPS notes in the same document that Additional Handling and Large Package charges are as described in the UPS Rate and Service Guide and the UPS Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service, and that demand surcharges are subject to change and demand periods may be extended.
The Nov. 22 step-up adds $21.25 to the Large Package Surcharge, or about 22 percent, and $3.15 to Additional Handling, a 36 percent jump. Over Maximum Limits rises $60, or about 11 percent. The schedule is written for shippers and does not address what a retailer or a store that ships for a customer will pass along.
What makes a package “large” in UPS’s terms
A separate UPS support page on avoiding shipping charge corrections sets the thresholds. For domestic shipments, a package is large when its length plus girth exceeds 130 inches, when its length exceeds 96 inches, when its cubic size exceeds 17,280 cubic inches or when it weighs more than 110 pounds. A minimum billable weight of 90 pounds applies to large packages except under UPS Ground with Freight Pricing, so a light but oversized box is billed at no less than 90 pounds. UPS defines girth as twice the width plus twice the height, which means a box 40 inches long and 30 by 30 inches in cross-section has a length plus girth of 160 inches, well past the 130-inch line.
The same page says the Additional Handling charge applies to a package whose longest side exceeds 48 inches or whose second-longest side exceeds 30 inches, to a shipment averaging more than 50 pounds per package, to a package not fully encased in corrugated cardboard, and to a domestic package larger than 10,368 cubic inches. Over Maximum Limits covers packages above 150 pounds, above 165 inches in length and girth combined, or above 108 inches in length. UPS advises entering accurate dimensions, rounding any fraction of a pound up to the next full pound and marking addresses as residential or commercial correctly.
FedEx’s oversize charge lands within dollars of UPS’s
The peak-season pricing is not unique to UPS. FedEx’s demand-surcharge page, updated Sept. 4, lists an Oversize Charge of $95.75 per package from Sept. 28 through Nov. 22, $117.25 from Nov. 23 through Dec. 27 and $95.75 from Dec. 28 through Jan. 17, 2027. Its Additional Handling Surcharge runs $8.80, $11.85 and $8.80 over the same periods, and FedEx lists Express-service demand surcharges from Oct. 26 of $1.30 to $2.55 for overnight services and $1.20 to $2.35 for 2Day and Express Saver. The FedEx dates run one day later than UPS’s at each step, and by the two schedules’ numbers UPS’s Large Package Surcharge sits 50 cents above the closest FedEx counterpart in the first period and 25 cents above it in the peak period.
FedEx separately raised its standard fees for 2026. In its 2026 surcharge changes summary, effective Jan. 5, the U.S. Oversize Charge is $255 in Zone 2, $275 in Zones 3 and 4, $320 in Zones 5 and 6 and $330 in Zone 7 and above, up from $240, $260, $297.50 and $305. The residential delivery charge rose to $6.95 from $6.55 per package.
When the higher charge ends and where UPS posts updates
On its shipping costs and rates page, UPS says updated demand-surcharge information is available, “including Demand Surcharge rates for certain domestic shipments effective September 27, 2026.” The schedule returns the Large Package Surcharge to $96.25 on Dec. 27, but the same document that sets that date also says the periods may be extended, so a shipper booking a large item for late December has to confirm the current figure with UPS before dropping the box off. The higher $117.50 rate covers 35 days, while the $96.25 rate covers 77 of the schedule’s 112 days.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
