UPS Over Maximum Limits (Overmax) Charge

What is the UPS Over Maximum Limits (Overmax) Charge?

The UPS Over Max­i­mum Lim­its (Over­max) charge is a sur­charge or fee applied to ship­ments larg­er than UPS would like to be ser­vic­ing.  This charge is near­ly iden­ti­cal to FedEx’s Ground Unau­tho­rized Pack­age Charge.

What is the Peak – Over Maximum Limits Charge?

Dur­ing peak sea­son, UPS has an addi­tion­al peak sur­charge for ship­ments that meet the cri­te­ria for an Over Max­i­mum Lim­its charge.  At the time that this arti­cle was writ­ten, UPS had not announced peak charges for the 2022 hol­i­day season.

 

What are the parameters of the UPS Over Maximum Limits Charge Charge? 

As of 2022, UPS charges $1,025 per pack­age on top of the line­haul charge and any oth­er fees, includ­ing a Large Pack­age Sur­charge fee.  The bill­able weight is also estab­lished at a min­i­mum of 90 lbs.  So even if the shipment’s actu­al and dimen­sion­al weight is low­er, it is billed as if it weighs 90 lbs.  If the shipment’s actu­al or dimen­sion­al weight is above 90 pounds, it is billed at that weight.

The cri­te­ria for the ground unau­tho­rized pack­age charge are:

  • A pack­age with the longest side mea­sur­ing more than 108 inch­es (9 feet)
  • A pack­age with a length + girth of more than 165 inches
  • A pack­age with an actu­al weight of 150 pounds or more

UPS reserves the right not to accept these pack­ages or return them to the sender at the sender’s expense if they have already been picked up. How­ev­er, if they do agree to deliv­er the pack­age, they will assess this charge.

How much has the fee for UPS Over Maximum Charge increased over time?

UPS has increased the charge rapid­ly in recent years to deter com­pa­nies from ship­ping pack­ages that do not belong in their small par­cel net­work and has come to increas­ing­ly rec­og­nize the dis­rup­tion these pack­ages cause.

His­tor­i­cal pric­ing for the fee is as follows:

  • 2022 — $1025
  • 2021 — $920
  • 2020 — $875
  • 2019 — $850
  • 2018 — $650
  • 2017 — $150
  • 2016 — $110
  • 2015 — $57.50
  • 2014 — $51.65

What to do if you get hit with a UPS Over Maximum Charge?

The Over Max­i­mum Lim­its Charge is almost always far more expen­sive than the cost of ship­ping a pack­age via LTL .  If you find your­self get­ting hit with this charge, check whether your ship­ments meet the cri­te­ria, as the car­ri­ers can make a mis­take.  If you are ship­ping pack­ages that are this size or weight, con­sid­er ship­ping them via LTL or anoth­er ship­ping mode.

 

2022 UPS Ser­vice Guide
2022 UPS Tariff/Terms & Con­di­tions of Service
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