Parcel billing glossary

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A

Accessorial

Any charge added to the base transportation rate for a package characteristic, address type or optional service.

Actual weight

The scale weight of a package, rounded up to the next pound for billing.

Additional Handling

A UPS and FedEx surcharge for heavy, long, bulky or non-boxed packages. See the fee library. More →

Address correction

A fee for the carrier correcting an incorrect or incomplete address. More →

B

Baseline (demand)

A shipper’s average weekly volume in a reference period, used to place weekly volume in a demand surcharge tier.

Billable weight

The weight used to rate a package: the greatest of actual weight, dimensional weight and any applicable minimum.

C

Carrier-published

A figure taken from the carrier’s own document or page.

Commercial address

A business address that the carrier does not classify as residential.

Cubic volume (cube)

Length × width × height in cubic inches, after rounding each side up. 10,368 in³ triggers Additional Handling; 17,280 in³ triggers Large Package / Oversize.

D

Declared value

An optional charge to raise the carrier’s liability above its standard limit. More →

Delivery Area Surcharge (DAS)

A per-package fee for destination ZIP codes on the carrier’s delivery-area list. More →

Demand surcharge

A temporary per-package charge during peak periods. More →

Diesel index

The weekly U.S. on-highway diesel price the carriers’ ground fuel tables are keyed to. It is an input, not the surcharge.

DIM divisor

The number cubic inches are divided by to get dimensional weight. 139 at published UPS daily and FedEx rates. More →

Dimensional weight

Cubic volume divided by the DIM divisor, rounded up to the next pound.

E

Effective date

The ship date from which an amount or rule applies.

Estimate

A figure calculated from a carrier’s published table before the carrier posts it, not a figure the carrier has posted. Labeled “est.”

Extended area

A higher DAS tier for ZIP codes the carrier considers more remote.

F

Fuel-assessable

A charge the carrier applies the fuel surcharge to.

Fuel surcharge

A weekly percentage the carrier applies to transportation charges and fuel-assessable accessorials. More →

G

General rate increase (GRI)

A carrier’s annual list-price change, announced as an average.

Girth

Twice the width plus twice the height. Length + girth is the longest side plus girth.

H

Higher Volume Shipper table

UPS’s tiered demand surcharge for shippers whose weekly volume exceeds a threshold relative to baseline.

Home Delivery

FedEx’s residential ground service.

L

Large Package Surcharge

UPS’s charge for packages over 96 in long, 130 in length + girth, 17,280 in³ or 110 lb. More →

List amount

The published price before any negotiated discount.

M

Minimum billable weight

A floor on billable weight that applies when certain surcharges apply (for example 40 lb for dimension-based Additional Handling).

O

Oversize Charge

FedEx’s equivalent of the UPS Large Package Surcharge. More →

Over Maximum Limits

UPS’s charge for packages over 150 lb, 108 in long or 165 in length + girth. More →

P

Peak-of-peak

The highest-priced demand period, around Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Pending verification

A figure whose UPS or FedEx source document is linked but has not yet been compared line by line.

Percentage point (pp)

The arithmetic difference between two percentages. 29.25% to 30.50% is +1.25 pp.

R

Remote area

A ZIP code on a carrier’s remote list in the contiguous U.S., Alaska or Hawaii. More →

Residential surcharge

A per-package fee for delivery to a home. More →

S

Shipping charge correction

A re-bill when the carrier’s measurement of size or weight differs from the shipper’s data.

Stale

A figure older than its period (for example, last week’s fuel percentage shown when no new figure has arrived). Never presented as current.

U

Unauthorized Package Charge

FedEx Ground’s charge for packages over its size or weight limits. More →

V

Verified

Confirmed against the carrier’s own published document on the date shown.

Z

Zone

The distance band between origin and destination ZIPs that sets the base rate and some surcharges.