FedEx’s 2027 General Rate Increase (GRI) takes effect Jan. 4, 2027, at an average of 5.9%, the same headline number the carrier has published for four straight years.
Even though the average increase is the same, that average hides a lot: the increase lands unevenly across services, zones, and package sizes, and the framework behind it has changed since last year.
Where the last two GRIs loaded pressure onto long-haul zones and mid-weight packages, the 2027 version flattens the FedEx Ground table across zones and shifts the squeeze toward light packages, minimum charges, and accessorial fees.
Five of FedEx’s seven major services will see increases above the 5.9% average, while one service, Express Saver, was held to about half that rate. Here’s what that means for a typical budget:
- Ground, Priority Overnight, and standard 2Day carry the increases most shippers will feel.
- First Overnight and 2Day A.M. are technically above 5.9% too, but low-volume, niche services for most shippers, so they rarely move the needle.
- Exception: if your Express volume runs through Zones 3–5, 2Day A.M. spikes well above the rest and is worth a second look.
That pattern isn’t limited to a few services: across the full rate and accessorial tables, about two-thirds of base rate cells and more than 60% of changed accessorial line items land above the published 5.9%.
As you build your 2027 budget, the 5.9% headline is a starting point, not an answer. A close look at where your shipments fall, by service, zone, and weight, is what determines your real number.
Key Highlights
| Accessorial | Average Increase % |
|---|---|
| Announced GRI | 5.9% |
| FedEx Residential Delivery, Express | 5.8% |
| FedEx Residential Delivery, Ground | 7.0% |
| FedEx Additional Handling | 7.4% |
| FedEx Oversize | 6.7% |
| FedEx Ground minimum charge | 5.9% |
| FedEx Ground, 1–5 lb. | 6.5% |
| FedEx Delivery Area Surcharge, Extended Residential | 9.1% |
| FedEx Express Saver | 3.1% |
2027 FedEx GRI
The 2027 changes take effect Jan. 4, 2027, for base rates, and Jan. 18, 2027, for a new set of paper-processing fees.
Base Rate Increases
| FedEx Ground & FedEx Home Delivery | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 6.2% | 5.7% | 6.3% | 6.1% |
| Zone 5 | 6.5% | 6.3% | 6.4% | 6.0% |
| Zone 7 | 6.7% | 6.7% | 6.3% | 6.1% |
| Zone 8 | 6.7% | 6.7% | 5.8% | 6.1% |
| FedEx Express Saver | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.2% |
| Zone 3 | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| Zone 4 | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.1% | 3.0% |
| Zone 5 | 4.7% | 3.4% | 2.9% | 3.0% |
| Zone 6 | 4.3% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 3.0% |
| Zone 7 | 3.8% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.1% |
| Zone 8 | 4.1% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.1% |
| FedEx 2Day | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 6.4% | 6.4% | 5.4% | 5.0% |
| Zone 3 | 6.9% | 6.7% | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| Zone 4 | 6.8% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| Zone 5 | 6.7% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 6 | 6.2% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 7 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 8 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| FedEx 2Day A.M. | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.8% |
| Zone 3 | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% |
| Zone 4 | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% |
| Zone 5 | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% |
| Zone 6 | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.5% |
| Zone 7 | 5.3% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.7% |
| Zone 8 | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% |
| FedEx Priority Overnight | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 6.9% | 6.9% | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| Zone 3 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 4 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 5 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 6 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 7 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Zone 8 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| FedEx Standard Overnight | 1-5 LBS | 6-10 LBS | 11-20 LBS | 21+ LBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2 | 5.9% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 5.0% |
| Zone 3 | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| Zone 4 | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Zone 5 | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Zone 6 | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Zone 7 | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Zone 8 | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
FedEx Ground rates hold flat across every zone. After two years of loading increases into long-haul Zones 7 and 8, the 2027 table runs a tight band: about 6.1% in Zone 2, 6.1% in Zone 5, 6.2% in Zone 7, and 6.1% in Zone 8. The zone-by-zone gap that shippers used to point to in carrier conversations has closed.
That flattening lines up with where FedEx is under the most pressure. Regional carriers have been taking short-zone Ground volume for years, and evening out the zone table looks like a response to that, not a retreat from pricing power. Part of what’s driving that shift is structural, not just competitive: regional carriers can price short-zone minimums well below what FedEx’s cost base supports, a floor FedEx has no way to match without eating margin on its highest-volume weight class.
For shippers, the case for relief has to change shape this cycle: a stronger overall discount structure across the full zone table, rather than a targeted ask on a handful of long-haul lanes.
Light packages carry the steepest increase. FedEx Ground packages in the 1–5 lb. range, the weight class that makes up most eCommerce volume, will see a 6.5% increase, the highest of any weight break. Packages in the 21–30 lb. range see the smallest change. This is a pointed signal: FedEx has reduced its emphasis on general eCommerce volume in recent quarters, chasing more profitable shipments in segments like healthcare and automotive instead, and a 1–5 lb. package is the profile it’s pricing to discourage, key account exceptions aside.
Express Saver is the outlier, and that’s deliberate. While every other major service increases between about 5% and 7%, Express Saver comes in around 3.1%, about half of everything else, and floors near 2.9% through most of the weight table. Only 3Day Freight, at 4.6%, also lands below 5%. That’s not a giveaway. FedEx’s published Express Saver rates sit above UPS’s comparable three-day service, so a smaller increase still keeps FedEx priced higher on that lane. It’s a defensive move to protect deferred-air volume from trading down into Ground, or to hold ground against competing three-day options.
Shippers with transit-tolerant freight currently moving on 2Day have a wider gap than usual to close before their next contract review. Modeling the Express Saver alternative against your actual delivery-time requirements is worth the hour it takes.
2Day A.M. runs flat at 7.9% across Zones 3, 4, and 5, in every weight class. That’s not a single-zone spike; it’s a plateau covering the entire middle of the zone table. Outside that band, 2Day A.M. drops to a 5.3%–5.9% range in Zones 2, 6, 7, and 8. Ground and Home Delivery, which carry identical rates to each other in both years, rise in the low-to-mid 6% range across the zones with confirmed 2027 data. If your Express volume concentrates in Zones 3 through 5, your effective increase will land well above the 5.9% headline no matter how strong your discounts look on paper.
Priority Overnight holds close to 6.5% almost everywhere except Zone 2. Every zone from 3 through 8 lands within a tenth of a point of 6.5%, regardless of weight, the most uniform pricing of any service in this GRI. The one exception runs backward from what you’d expect: Zone 2, the shortest-haul lane, actually sees the highest increase, 6.9% for lighter packages, 6.6% for heavier ones. If your Priority Overnight volume skews short-zone, don’t assume that’s the cheap seat this year.
Minimum Charges
The FedEx Ground minimum charge rises from $11.99 to $12.70, a 5.9% increase that lines up with the announced GRI. That’s the second straight year of about 5.9% growth on the floor, which takes the Ground minimum from $11.32 to $12.70 over two years, a compounded increase of more than 12%.
The minimum charge is the lowest amount FedEx will bill for a shipment, regardless of any discount in your agreement. For light, short-zone packages, it’s not an occasional floor; it’s the rate you’re paying on a meaningful share of volume. Every point the minimum climbs erases a point of discount on those packages, and no amount of base rate relief changes that math.
It’s also worth being clear-eyed about what a minimum charge concession is worth. Even a hard-won reduction in your agreement rarely closes the gap with FedEx’s effective full price on a low-weight shipment; the floor still sits close to where the carrier wants it. The more useful question isn’t “can we get the minimum lowered,” it’s “how much of our volume is hitting the minimum at all,” since that’s the number that tells you whether the discounts in your agreement are reaching your packages.
Accessorials
The most consequential 2027 changes sit outside the 5.9% headline entirely.
Zone-Based Additional Handling & Oversize Surcharge
| FedEx Surcharge | 2025 Rate | 2026 Rate | 2027 Rate | 2026-2027 Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Handling (Weight) | ||||
| Zone 2 | $43.50 | $46.00 | $49.50 | 7.6% |
| Zone 3-4 | $47.50 | $50.25 | $54.00 | 7.5% |
| Zone 5-6 | $50.50 | $56.25 | $60.25 | 7.1% |
| Zone 7-8 | $55.00 | $58.75 | $63.00 | 7.2% |
| Additional Handling (Dimension) | ||||
| Zone 2 | $28.00 | $29.50 | $31.75 | 7.6% |
| Zone 3-4 | $31.00 | $32.75 | $35.25 | 7.6% |
| Zone 5-6 | $34.00 | $38.50 | $41.25 | 7.1% |
| Zone 7-8 | $38.00 | $40.75 | $43.75 | 7.4% |
| Additional Handling (Packaging) | ||||
| Zone 2 | $25.00 | $26.50 | $28.50 | 7.5% |
| Zone 3-4 | $29.00 | $30.75 | $33.00 | 7.3% |
| Zone 5-6 | $30.50 | $33.00 | $35.25 | 6.8% |
| Zone 7-8 | $31.50 | $33.75 | $36.25 | 7.4% |
| Oversize (Express/Ground) | ||||
| Zone 2 | $205.00 | $255.00 | $270.00 | 5.9% |
| Zone 3-4 | $225.00 | $275.00 | $290.00 | 5.5% |
| Zone 5-6 | $240.00 | $320.00 | $345.00 | 7.8% |
| Zone 7-8 | $260.00 | $330.00 | $355.00 | 7.6% |
| Oversize (Home Delivery) | ||||
| Zone 2 | $240.00 | $255.00 | $270.00 | 5.9% |
| Zone 3-4 | $260.00 | $275.00 | $290.00 | 5.5% |
| Zone 5-6 | $290.00 | $320.00 | $345.00 | 7.8% |
| Zone 7-8 | $305.00 | $330.00 | $355.00 | 7.6% |
Other Accessorials
| Accessorial | 2026 | 2027 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery Area Surcharge, Residential | $6.60 | $7.00 | 6.1% |
| Delivery Area Surcharge, Extended Residential | $8.80 | $9.60 | 9.1% |
| Residential Delivery, Ground | $6.45 | $6.90 | 7.0% |
| Adult Signature Required | $10.00 | $10.60 | 6.0% |
Additional Handling normalized above base rates. After two years of uneven increases by zone and trigger, FedEx reset Additional Handling at a consistent 6.8%–7.6% across every zone and every trigger: weight, dimension, and packaging alike, a much tighter band than last year’s 4.5%–6.9% spread. A Zone 2 Additional Handling fee for weight, for example, rises from $46 to $49.50.
Extended delivery area accessorials are the fastest-moving line items in the table. The Extended Residential Delivery Area Surcharge climbs 9.1% ($8.80 to $9.60), and Extended Commercial rises 8.1% ($5.55 to $6). Rural residential delivery is where FedEx is pricing hardest for 2027.
Oversize charges run cooler than last year’s mid-cycle jump. After a 15%–24% mid-2025 spike that hit before the 2026 GRI even applied, 2027’s Oversize increases (5.5%–7.8% depending on zone) look calmer by comparison, though there’s no confirmed mid-2026 change on record to compare against. Express/Ground and Home Delivery Oversize remain identical dollar-for-dollar in every zone. The Ground and Home Delivery residential fee climbs 7.0%, from $6.45 to $6.90.
Most accessorial discounts are written as a percentage off FedEx’s published rate. When the published rate climbs 7%-plus and your discount percentage holds steady, your cost climbs with it. These fees also layer on top of base rates and on top of each other, and many carry their own fuel surcharge, so the effect on a final invoice is often larger than any single line item suggests.
New Fees
Alongside the rate and accessorial changes, FedEx is introducing three changes effective Jan. 18, 2027, two weeks after the GRI itself, and none of them show up in a year-over-year percentage comparison because they have no 2026 baseline.
The first two are new fees: a $25 paper document fee for any trade document submitted in non-electronic form ahead of processing, and a $5 fee for U.S. domestic and export shipments initiated with manual paper airbills. At $25 per shipment, the paper document fee alone is larger than most accessorials in the book, so any manual or paper-based international lane is worth auditing before January.
The third is a scope expansion, not a rate change, and it’s the one most likely to get missed: FedEx will begin assessing the $7.35 Residential Delivery Charge on select international shipments that previously didn’t carry it. Because the rate itself matches the existing domestic figure, a straight rate comparison shows nothing changing. Shipments that were never assessed this charge will start carrying it.
Key Takeaways
- FedEx’s 2027 GRI averages 5.9%, but five of seven major services land above that number, and Express Saver was held to about half of it.
- FedEx Ground rate increases are flat across all zones for the first time in three years, closing the long-haul angle shippers used in past carrier conversations.
- FedEx Ground packages between 1 and 5 lbs. see the steepest increase, at 6.5%, hitting the eCommerce weight range head-on.
- The Ground minimum charge rises to $12.70, up 5.9%, and a lower minimum in your agreement rarely closes the gap with FedEx’s effective full price on light shipments.
- Additional Handling normalized to a flat 6.8%–7.6% across every zone and trigger, and extended delivery area accessorials rose as much as 9.1%, both outpacing the headline GRI.
- New paper-processing fees take effect Jan. 18, 2027, ahead of the broader push toward electronic documentation.
Building Your 2027 Shipping Strategy
Step 1: Know How the GRI Hits Your Profile
The 5.9% average is a blend across every service, zone, and weight class FedEx moves. Your actual increase depends on your mix of Ground versus Express, your zone distribution, and how much of your volume sits at 1–5 lbs. or below the minimum charge.
Key metrics worth reviewing before you finalize a 2027 budget:
- Share of volume by service level and zone
- Share of shipments landing at or near the minimum charge
- Accessorial spend as a percentage of total transportation cost
- How your discount structure is written: percentage off published rate, or fixed dollar terms
Step 2: Build a Plan Around What You Find
Once you know where the increases land hardest, a few levers are worth exploring:
- Review your agreement’s minimum charge and accessorial terms. Percentage-off-published-rate terms rise automatically with every GRI; fixed-dollar or capped terms don’t.
- Model the Express Saver alternative for any transit-tolerant Express volume currently on 2Day.
- Revisit packaging and weight for products clustering in the 1–5 lb. Ground bracket, where this year’s increase is steepest.
- Diversify carrier mix, particularly for short-zone Ground volume where regional carriers are already competitive.
Step 3: Put SiftedAI to Work
Modeling all of this by hand across a full shipping profile takes time most teams don’t have during peak budget season. SiftedAI‘s GRI dashboard shows how the 2027 changes land across your historical shipping data, and Sifted’s scenario modeling tools let you test packaging, carrier mix, and service-level changes before you commit to a 2027 plan.
Curious how the 2027 GRI plays out across your own shipping profile?
