The ground fuel surcharge on highway diesel as of 9/10 was $3.38 per gallon, which translates to a 9.5% fuel surcharge on the current scale and will be moving to 11.25%, an 18% increase. Starting November 1, this would go to 10.75%, a 19% increase on the previous fuel surcharge amount. On 9/10 Jet fuel was $1.91 per gallon, which is currently a 9% express fuel surcharge.
Starting November 1, both Express and Ground shipments will receive a 1.75% increase to the current scale. The 5.9% increase on freight rates will be what most people focus on, but FedEx has also adjusted the fuel scale to make fuel prices higher. This could be extremely costly to those e-commerce shippers who have chosen ground economy for their returns program. In addition to the gross rate increases starting January 17, FedEx will also be implementing a $1.00 per-package delivery and returns surcharge for shipments that are delivered or returned using FedEx ground economy. Similarly for priority overnight shipments, the average increase for the same shipment profile is 7.1%. For example, the average increase for ground shipments that are 1-5 pounds and zones 2-5 is 7.5%.
These lower-zone and lower-weight shipments are much more frequent shipments and thus the average net increase is higher than the posted 5.9%. The 5.9% increase is a bit deceiving as the lower-zone, lightweight shipments are increased at a higher rate than the rest of the zone and weight matrix.
