As a shipper, you’ve likely encountered the long list of accessorial fees and surcharges that major parcel carriers lean on for revenue. While this mountain of additional expenses may seem insurmountable, it’s one of the best areas to find savings on your shipping logistics each month, one of which is the FedEx and UPS address correction fee. In this article, we’ll detail what the fee is, when you can expect to see it applied to your invoice, and what you can do to avoid it and the unnecessary associated costs.
What is an Address Correction Fee?
UPS defines their address correction fee by stating “If any shipment has an incorrect or incomplete address, UPS will make reasonable efforts to secure the correct or complete address, and will make available to the shipper the correct address. UPS may also correct or complete an address based on information obtained from the shipper or consignee. An Address Correction charge will be assessed to the shipper for an address correction or completion.”
Both UPS and FedEx address correction fees are in place to pay for the cost of changing an address in order to properly deliver the related package. When either carrier sees that the ship-to address you provided doesn’t match the address they have in their system, they will update it and add that additional charge on your overall invoice as long as it is within the same country. If you’re a standard commercial shipper, this may not seem like an exorbitant cost, but high-volume shippers can expect to shell out thousands of additional dollars each year due to these typos or system errors.
How Much Does the Average Address Correction Fee Cost?
With UPS, the amount you’ll pay for an address correction fee varies based upon a number of factors, including which service you chose. For Package and UPS Worldwide Express Freight, you can expect an extra $13.40, while UPS Ground with Freight Pricing can vary from $13.40 to a maximum of $91.00 per applicable shipment.
On the other hand, FedEx has increased their address correction fee again in 2022 from $19.50 to $21.00 effective for 2023. This 7.7% increase applies only to select services, so others like U.S. Express Freight, and the Maximum Charge with FedEx Ground or Express Multiweight® have also increased a respective 10% and 7.14%.
How to Prevent this Additional Cost
While a certain level of human error–on both the customer and shipper–is understandable, there are a variety of systems you can put in place to help prevent these address correction costs from becoming a regular occurrence. If you have the room in your budget, you can look into address verification software, but there are a variety of other manual tasks your team can lean on to prevent UPS and FedEx address correction fees, as well. This can include:
- Use standard USPS abbreviations (i.e. St, Blvd., Apt., etc.)
- Ensure accurate spelling by eliminating any typos you may find in both the customer’s address and their name
- Use proper spacing by removing any additional spaces
How to Update Incorrect Addresses Online
If something does slip through the cracks, you may have time to update the address on your end to avoid a FedEx or UPS address correction fee. Once you receive a notification of the invalid address, you can log into the associated carrier’s shipper portal, find the appropriate package and choose the “correct my address” option to open an address modification window. Once there, you can often either select from the proper addresses provided by the parcel carrier, or enter the correct address manually. This way, you ensure the package gets to its intended destination and you avoid unnecessary surcharges.
Act to Sooner Rather Than Later
When your package leaves your hands with an incorrect address, it results in delivery delays that upset your customers and negate your ability to request a full refund should the carrier deliver your package later than the guaranteed-by delivery date. If you act quickly to update the address, you not only save yourself money, but you live up to promises made to your customers. With more prompt shipping comes the likelihood for that first-time buyer to become a return customer.
If you’re tired of getting stuck with a mountain of address correction fees and other costly surcharges and fees by UPS, FedEx, or other parcel carriers, it’s time to introduce your logistics management to the Reveel business and shipping intelligence platform. We have the only platform that identifies the actual costs of recurring address corrections, gives you the correct address to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and enables you to save on unnecessary surcharges. Reach out to sign up for a free account or schedule a free demo with the Reveel Group team today.
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