FedEx will adjust its fuel surcharge tables beginning June 9, 2025, impacting a broad range of services, including FedEx Express®, FedEx Ground®, FedEx Home Delivery®, FedEx International Ground®, and FedEx Freight®. These updates introduce a revised band structure that allows FedEx to retain higher fuel surcharges even when fuel prices decrease. For shippers, this update signals more than just a pricing tweak, it’s a strategic change with real cost implications.
What’s Changing?
FedEx has restructured the fuel surcharge matrices across its domestic and international services. Key changes include:
An increase of 200 basis points (2%) in the surcharge tables.
Modified bands that creatively apply the higher fuel surcharge for a longer period of time as the actual cost of fuel is decreasing, effectively maximizing FedEx’s fuel revenue.
The updated matrices affect:
- FedEx Express® and FedEx Freight®
- FedEx Ground® and FedEx Home Delivery®
- FedEx International Ground® and International services
The revised tables go live on June 9, 2025. You can view full details on the FedEx Rate Changes page.
Why This Matters
Fuel surcharges affect more than just your transportation rates, they apply to a wide range of accessorial charges like residential delivery, DAS, oversize, and more. These charges make up a substantial part of your overall shipping cost.
Because the surcharge tables are tied to indexed fuel data and are updated weekly, even subtle changes in their structure can trigger significant cost increases for any size shipper, especially when those tables are optimized to extract more revenue during periods of low fuel pricing.
What Shippers Should Do
This isn’t just a routine adjustment, it’s an open invitation to reassess your shipping agreements and cost controls. Here’s where to start:
- Renegotiate your agreement: FedEx has raised your costs. That’s your prompt to review and renegotiate your carrier contract, or explore more competitive options.
- Reassess your total cost model: Fuel-related surcharges often go unnoticed but contribute meaningfully to your all-in shipping cost. Make sure they’re being tracked, measured, and negotiated.
- Benchmark and explore options: Diversifying your carrier mix or exploring regional alternatives could expose better fuel terms, or at minimum, create leverage in negotiations.
Final Thought:
FedEx’s June 9 fuel surcharge update isn’t just about rising costs, it’s about revenue strategy. If your business hasn’t reviewed its exposure to fuel charges recently, now’s the time.
Shipware’s experts can help you model the impact of these changes and identify opportunities to offset them through optimized agreements, more accurate data, and smarter logistics decisions.