FedEx is consolidating its separate export and import fuel surcharge tables into a single rate. The change moves export shippers onto the higher charge that previously applied only to imports. The shift adds about $35 per $1,000 in fuel-applicable charges for exports, while imports fall roughly $7.50, according to an analysis by ShipScience.
How it works: FedEx previously used two fuel surcharge tables for international shipping, one for exports and one for imports, with exports charged at a lower rate. Now there is a single table. In the final week of the old structure, exports were charged 34.50% and imports 38.75%. The new single rate is 36.75%.
Those percentages move week to week with fuel prices, but the change itself is structural. With the export table gone, exporters no longer have a lower rate to return to when fuel prices fall.
The tell: FedEx raised export charges even as diesel prices fell to their lowest since early March. That suggests the surcharge is being used to support margins, not just to pass along fuel costs. Counting an earlier increase in spring, exporters now pay about 5.5 percentage points more than before, per TransImpact. FedEx introduced the change quietly through an update to its rate table rather than a formal announcement.
Across modes: FedEx is not alone. Surcharges across freight have been rising regardless of fuel price movements.
Ocean: Carriers are still charging Hormuz war risk fees of up to $3,800 a container, and spot rates recently hit an 18-month high
Trucking: All-in LTL rates are up 13.5% from a year ago
Parcel: FedEx’s change locks in a higher export baseline no matter what fuel does next
Changes built into the rate structure, like this one, often last longer than the fuel swings to justify them.
UPS has not matched the move. It still uses separate export and import tables, leaving a pricing gap between the two carriers that exporters can use in their next contract negotiations. FedEx has not said whether more changes are coming.
