Lower increases on Ground relative to all express services (except for a few exceptions on express services to shorter zones.).Lower increases on Overnight relative to 2 Day and 3 Day.Initially, they look very similar, sharing the following trends: Below are two charts (Tables 1 and 2) comparing the actual increase by service level and zone for 2017 and for 2018. You probably also understand that not all 4.9% rate increases are created equal.Īs stated above, the announced average increase for Ground in 2017 was 4.9%, the same as the announced average increase for 2018. Those of you who have been paying attention over the years and who have either been able to quantify the true impact of the increase to your business or those who have hired a consultant to help you do so know that there is likely little relationship between that true impact number and the carriers’ announced average increase. Notice a trend? Since the carriers (UPS and FedEx) began announcing an annual general rate increase (GRI), they’ve been consistent in their announced average increase. 2010: 4.9% for Ground, 5.9% for Express (to be offset by fuel surcharge reduction).2011: 5.9% for Ground and Express (to be offset by fuel surcharge reduction).2012: 5.9% for Ground and Express (to be offset by fuel surcharge reduction).2013: 5.9% for Ground and Express (to be offset by fuel surcharge reduction).Here are the FedEx announced average rate increases for the past few years:

If that number sounds familiar, it should. As has been widely reported in many industry trade journals, FedEx Corp announced that it will be raising shipping rates in 2018 for FedEx Ground, FedEx Express, and FedEx Freight by 4.9%.

Fedex international zone chart 2018