In the world of small parcel shipping, accessorial fees – those extra charges quietly tacked onto invoices – have become a major source of profit for freight and parcel carriers, particularly industry giants UPS and FedEx. Among the most common and costly of these is the Address Correction Fee, a charge many shippers are familiar with but often feel powerless to avoid. It may seem like a small oversight, but every time a package is shipped with an incomplete or incorrect address, carriers like FedEx and UPS charge a costly fee to fix it.
That fee? Anywhere from $23.50 to $24.00 per correction per package. And if you’re shipping in volume, those minor errors can lead to thousands in monthly preventable charges.
For many businesses, these fees are seen as an unavoidable cost of doing business, buried in complex, line-by-line invoices that are difficult to analyze without dedicated tools or expertise. However, with the right insight and approach, these hidden costs can be identified, managed, and significantly reduced.
In this article, we’ll focus on address correction fees – what they are, how they impact your bottom line, and most importantly, how you can avoid them to keep your shipping operations more cost – effective and efficient.
What is an Address Correction Fee?
When a shipment can’t be delivered due to an incorrect or incomplete address, the carrier will attempt to correct it using available data, often by referencing:
- The original shipping label
- Details from the recipient (consignee)
- Or carrier-validated systems
Once updated, they’ll complete the delivery and bill the shipper an Address Correction Fee, regardless of how minor the change was.
Examples of Current Address Correction Fees
| Carrier | Service Type | Fee (Per Correction) |
|---|---|---|
| UPS | Package & Express Freight | $23.50 |
| Ground with Freight Pricing | $23.50 per package (max $164.50) | |
| FedEx | U.S. & International Package Services | $24.00 |
| U.S. Express Freight Services | $130.00 | |
| Ground/ Home Delivery (Multiweight) | $24.00 per package (max $72) |
Why It Happens Even with “Validated” Addresses?
Carriers reserve the right to correct addresses even if they were pre-validated through their own systems. Common triggers include:
- Missing apartment or suite numbers
- Incomplete ZIP codes
- PO Boxes or rural address gaps
- Address format errors (e.g., “St.” vs. “Street”)
How to Avoid These Fees?
1. Audit your shipping address database regularly: Flag recurring correction charges and trace them back to your CRM or ERP system.
2. Require full address fields for order entry: Include apartment/suite, ZIP+4 codes, and clear formatting.
3. Use real-time address validation tools: Many TMS and e-commerce platforms integrate with USPS, FedEx, or UPS validation APIs.
4. Monitor your invoices: Use reporting tools or auditing services to identify which packages were flagged and corrected, and at what cost.
Address Corrections = Hidden Margin Killers
A few dollars here and there might not sound like much – until you’re shipping hundreds or thousands of packages per week.
That’s why nVision Global helps shippers monitor and control address correction fees as part of a broader parcel optimization strategy. Tired of paying $24 to fix a typo? Let’s change that.
Talk to a Parcel Audit Expert!