UPS to charge extra during peak holiday shipping

ATLANTA — UPS said Monday it will begin levying surcharges for packages shipped to homes during the busiest periods of the holiday shipping season. It will add 97 cents per package shipped via second-day air residential service Dec. 17-23.

For next-day air residential service, there will be an 81 cent surcharge per package Dec. 17-23.

And packages sent via ground to residences will cost an extra 27 cents if shipped Nov. 19-Dec. 2 or Dec. 17-23.

UPS, based outside Atlanta, said the peak surcharges are aimed at covering extra costs it incurs during volume surges, including the cost of adding air and truck cargo capacity, temporary facilities and staff.

“UPS flexes its delivery network to process near double our already massive regular daily volume, and that creates exceptional demands,” Alan Gershenhorn, chief commercial officer at UPS, said in a written statement.

The shipping giant is also adding peak surcharges for larger, heavier or unusually shaped packages that “create even greater operational complexity during high-demand periods,” with UPS encouraging customers shipping such items to use UPS Freight instead of its package shipping service.