How we get our data
Where every number on this site comes from, how it is checked, and what we cannot promise.
1. Find the carrier document
Every figure starts with a public UPS or FedEx document: rate and service guides, tariffs/terms, surcharge change notices (which list old and new amounts), fuel pages, demand-surcharge pages and carrier newsrooms. We use only documents anyone can open on ups.com or fedex.com (and UPS’s own PDF host). We do not use carrier APIs, logged-in pages, scraping of carrier sites, or third-party articles.
2. Transcribe it
Each amount, effective date and rule is transcribed into a versioned dataset with the document and its effective date. Software tools, including AI assistants, are used to read long PDFs and draft entries; nothing is published without a link to the carrier document it came from.
3. Check it and label it
A figure is labeled Verified only after it has been compared line by line with the carrier document. Until then it is Pending. Figures calculated from two carrier documents are Derived; fuel figures calculated from a carrier table before the carrier posts them are est. Missing figures are left blank, never estimated.
4. Cross-check automatically
Automated tests compare overlapping documents (for example, a notice’s “old” column against the previous notice’s “new” column), check that zone amounts rise from zone 2 outward, flag unusual year-over-year moves for review, and confirm every source is a UPS or FedEx address.
5. Update and keep history
Fuel percentages refresh automatically every six hours from our sister site’s feed, which reads the carriers’ published fuel tables; large moves are held for review. Surcharge amounts change only when an editor enters a new carrier notice. Earlier values are kept, never overwritten, and verification dates change only when a check is repeated.
6. Fix what is wrong
Readers can report errors through the corrections process. Corrections are logged with the date and what changed.
What the data covers
- Current amounts and rules: UPS and FedEx U.S. domestic package accessorials from Dec. 2025, including announced 2027 amounts.
- History (Time Machine): UPS 2018–2027 and FedEx 2020–2027 from each year’s carrier change notice.
- Fuel: weekly UPS and FedEx Ground and Air percentages.
- Demand surcharges: 2026–27 periods and amounts.
- Delivery area ZIP lists: loaded from the carriers’ own files when available, with their effective date.
What it does not cover
- Your negotiated discounts, minimums or contract terms.
- Base transportation rates by year (not yet in the Time Machine).
- International-only and freight charges, except where noted.
- Carrier decisions about how a specific package is measured or classified.
Our limits
Carrier documents are long, sometimes revised without a new date, and occasionally inconsistent with each other. Transcription mistakes are possible. That is why every figure links to its document, carries a status, and is covered by our terms and disclaimer: the site is provided as is, and you must verify figures with the carrier before relying on them.
Full detail: methodology · source registry · datasets and API · corrections.