How Does the Surge Stop Charge Work on a FedEx Ground Settlement?

Updated October 20, 2026: rewritten around how the publicly filed ISP Agreement defines the charge. It's paid only on stops above your Daily Stop Threshold, so a week inside Peak can show none. The earlier version told you to expect peak lines on the first statement of the window.

The surge stop charge is extra pay during Peak for each stop above your Daily Stop Threshold, paid on top of the regular stop charge at the rate in your Schedule C. Stops up to the threshold earn no surge pay, and outside the Peak window, or another period FedEx sets by notice, none do. In a FedEx Independent Service Provider Agreement (version 2024.06.01) filed publicly with the SEC, the window runs from the Saturday before Thanksgiving through the Friday on or right after December 31. For the 2026 dates, see how to prepare for Peak season.

Where the terms are in your contract

Everything below is from the filed agreement. Your own agreement, and any notice FedEx has sent you, are what count.

• The window: Schedule C. Its surge stop charge section sets the Peak period, and lets FedEx set "additional or different periods" by written notice. Its examples are Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.
• The rate: Attachment C-1. The surge stop charge is listed there as activity based, a rate per stop, beside your stop charge and package charge. See how to read Schedule C.
• The threshold: Schedule F. Your Daily Stop Threshold counts pickup and delivery stops together. In the filed version, it can reset on the first Saturday of February and of August by a formula based on your own stop counts, so check the number in force before Peak.
• What counts as a stop: Schedule C. A pickup and a delivery made in one visit to a location count as one stop, and so does one visit to a mailroom with packages for many recipients.
• Your right to decline: Attachment A-2. Above the threshold, you may decline stops. If you do, FedEx may exercise its Right to Ensure Service.
• Schedule K, Enhanced Peak Service. A separate schedule. If you sign one, its own terms apply to Peak, so read it alongside the rest. See what Schedule K is and whether to sign it.

How the surge stop charge is worked out, step by step

1. Check the day is inside the Peak window, or inside another period FedEx set by notice. If it isn't, there's no surge pay.
2. Count the day's stops, pickup and delivery together.
3. Subtract your Daily Stop Threshold. If the result is zero or less, that day earns no surge pay.
4. Multiply the stops above the threshold by your surge stop charge rate. That's the day's surge pay.
5. On the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, count Saturday, Sunday and Monday together. In the filed Schedule F, the three days' stops are added up, the threshold comes off that total once, and the surge stop charge is paid once on each stop above it.
6. Add it on top. Those stops still earn their normal stop pay. The filed Schedule C says the surge stop charge is paid "in addition to the Stop Charge."

A worked example

These are made-up numbers, an example, not typical figures. They show stop counts only. Your surge rate is in your own Attachment C-1.

• Daily Stop Threshold: 2,000 stops.
• A Tuesday in Peak, 2,300 stops: 300 stops earn the surge stop charge.
• A Wednesday in Peak, 1,900 stops: none do.
• A weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas: Saturday 900, Sunday 600 and Monday 2,100, a three-day total of 3,600 stops. Take the threshold off once and 1,600 stops earn the surge stop charge. Counted day by day, only Monday's 100 would have.
• A Tuesday two weeks before Thanksgiving, 2,300 stops: none, because the window hasn't opened.

Check those weekends day by day and the surge pay will look too high. Look for the weekend rule in your own Schedule F.

Where it shows on your settlement

Surge has its own column in the pickup and delivery table, beside fuel: one row per day and a weekly total. See how to read a settlement statement. A day with no surge pay in that column isn't missing anything if your stops were at or under the threshold, and the threshold itself is in your Schedule F.

How to check your surge pay each Peak week

1. Write down the three numbers before Peak: your threshold, your surge rate, and the window, including any FedEx notice or Schedule K.
2. Mark the days over the threshold. Use each day's total stops from the pickup and delivery table, and group the Saturday–Monday weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
3. Work out what each day should pay and hold it against the surge column.
4. Check the edges of the window. Days before the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and after the Friday on or after December 31, should show no surge pay unless FedEx set another period.
5. Ask, don't conclude. If a number doesn't match, take it to your FedEx contact as a question. A threshold reset, a notice or how stops were counted can explain it.
6. Keep the record. Daily stops and surge pay for every Peak week are the starting point for next year's Schedule K decision.

Common questions

What is the surge stop charge on a FedEx settlement?

Extra pay during Peak for each stop above your Daily Stop Threshold, paid on top of the stop charge, at the rate in your Schedule C.

When does the surge stop charge apply in 2026?

Under the filed agreement's definition, from Saturday, November 21, 2026 through Friday, January 1, 2027. FedEx can set other periods by written notice, and your own agreement is what counts. See the 2026 Peak calendar.

Why didn't I get any surge pay during Peak?

Surge pay needs a day, or a Thanksgiving-to-Christmas weekend, over your Daily Stop Threshold. If none went over, there's none to pay. Check the threshold in force, which in the filed version can reset in August, and whether you signed a Schedule K that changed the terms.

Does the surge stop charge replace the stop charge?

No. In the filed agreement it's paid in addition to the stop charge.

Is the surge stop charge the same as FedEx's peak surcharge?

No. FedEx's demand surcharges are what shippers pay, on their own calendar. The surge stop charge is contractor pay, set in your ISP Agreement.

Can I decline stops during Peak?

Under the filed agreement, above your Daily Stop Threshold, yes, and FedEx may then exercise its Right to Ensure Service. If you sign a Schedule K, read what its terms say about Peak.

Peak pay, week by week

Route Impact exists to make FedEx Ground operations more profitable. Your AI staff finds the profit in the contract you sign, the routes you run, the drivers you pay, the trucks you keep and the books you close. Your AI settlement auditor shows what each week paid, with the surge stop charge broken out from the rest, so last Peak is in one place instead of a stack of statements. It checks the stop and package rates, the service charge and brand promotion against your Schedule C and flags differences for your review. It doesn't check the surge stop charge, so the steps above are still yours to run. We're operators too, and the margins are too tight to run this business the old way.