FedEx tackles peak fees during the holiday season

FedEx is imposing additional fees on customers during the peak holiday season as it prepares for an increase in residential deliveries.

The carrier, which has long dominated the package delivery business in the United States, said customers who reach a certain volume threshold will be charged peak residential delivery charges for certain packages shipped anytime between November 2 and January 17.

Depending on the temporary change,

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“As the impact of the virus continues to drive an increase in residential deliveries, we are entering this peak holiday season with extremely high demand for capacity and experiencing increased operating costs on our network,” FedEx said. “We expect residential volume to continue to increase in the new year.”

A FedEx Express courier prepares the numerous packages inside the delivery truck parked on the street in Hong Kong, China on November 5, 2011. (Photo by Budrul Chukrut / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

The US Postal Service adds a similar fee. The post office announced earlier this month that it plans to add additional fees in October ahead of the expected rise in holiday orders from online shoppers.

In addition to the holiday rush, carriers have already been inundated trying to manage the large volume of online orders, which peaked during government-mandated foreclosure orders earlier this year.

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As trade volumes have declined “significantly” due to coronavirus-related business closures around the world, the company has seen “an increase in residential deliveries to FedEx Ground and trans-Pacific and charter flights at FedEx Express,” FedEx said in its latest earnings report.

“With security the number one priority, these men and women have provided essential transportation of critical supplies around the world and have delivered cutting-edge e-commerce volumes to the United States,” said Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx Corp.

FedEx shipments rose 20% in the three-month period ending May, and UPS recorded a 50% increase in a three-month period ending in June, according to Bloomberg.

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