Peak Season Surcharges: Why Your May Freight Bill Is Higher

If your May freight invoice is higher than the quote you agreed to weeks ago, it's probably not a billing error. Starting May 1, 2026, major container carriers updated their surcharge schedules on Asia-to-US trade lanes, adding hundreds of dollars per container on top of base freight rates. These charges were announced with the required notice, but they're typically buried in carrier rate bulletins that most importers don't monitor.

Here's what changed, what these surcharges actually are, and what you can do before your next shipment.

What Carriers Changed on May 1

MSC, the world's largest container carrier by fleet capacity, revised its Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) for Asia-to-North America routes effective May 1, 2026.1 The new rates break down by destination coast:

• Asia to US and Canada East Coast: $644 per 40ft dry container, up from $430

• Asia to US and Canada West Coast: $467 per 40ft dry container

• Reefer containers (East Coast): $966 per 40ft

CMA CGM, the third-largest carrier globally, introduced Peak Season Surcharges (PSS) of up to $2,000 per 40ft container on select trade lanes effective May 1, with additional PSS announcements extending to further routes from May 15.2

These are not isolated moves. May marks the traditional start of peak season, and carriers across the industry use this window to implement surcharges that apply regardless of whether you're on a spot booking or an annual contracted rate.

Three Surcharges Every Importer Should Know

Most importers focus on the base freight rate when reviewing quotes. It's the number your forwarder leads with and the one you budget against. But base rates don't reflect what you'll actually pay, especially between May and October. Three types of surcharges stack on top of base rates during this period:

• PSS (Peak Season Surcharge): Applied during periods of elevated cargo demand, typically May through October. Carriers announce PSS with 15 to 30 days' notice. Amounts vary by carrier and route, ranging from $200 to over $2,000 per 40ft container. PSS is charged on top of your contracted or spot base rate.

• EFS (Emergency Fuel Surcharge): Despite the name, EFS is no longer truly an emergency measure. It's a semi-permanent adjustment that carriers revise monthly or quarterly based on bunker fuel price movements. It applies year-round and is updated regardless of the season.

• GRI (General Rate Increase): A broad upward revision to base freight rates that carriers announce with 30 days' notice. Unlike PSS, GRI is not season-specific. Carriers use GRI to rebuild the rate floor after periods of competitive pricing, and GRI and PSS can be active at the same time.

The cumulative effect is that your all-in cost per container can run 25 to 50% above the base rate quote, depending on the route and carrier. That's a significant gap between what you budget and what you actually pay.4

Base Rates Are Soft. Surcharges Are Not.

Here's the part that confuses a lot of importers right now: base ocean freight rates have been declining. The Drewry World Container Index fell 1% the week of April 30, 2026, its third consecutive weekly drop, settling at $2,216 per 40ft container overall.3 On the transpacific, Shanghai-to-Los Angeles spot rates held at $2,930 per 40ft, while Shanghai-to-New York dipped 2% to $3,483.

The reason base rates are soft is structural: a major wave of new vessel deliveries that began in late 2023 and extended through 2025 added substantial capacity to the global container fleet. Carriers now have more ships than current cargo volumes require, which keeps base rate competition alive and downward pressure in place.5

But carriers have learned to protect revenue through surcharges. When base rates fall, EFS and PSS absorb the gap. The base rate is the headline number; the surcharge stack is where carriers actually recover margin. An importer watching the Drewry index ease week over week and assuming their freight costs are falling may be in for a real surprise when the invoice arrives.

What It Actually Costs: A Real Example

Say you're importing a 40ft container from Shenzhen to New York. Your forwarder quotes a base rate of $3,483, in line with current spot data. Here's what the all-in number looks like on a May 2026 booking:

• Base ocean freight: $3,483

• MSC EFS (Asia to US East Coast, May 2026): $644

• PSS (carrier-dependent, May 2026): $300 to $600

• AMS and documentation fees: $50 to $150

Total all-in estimate: approximately $4,480 to $4,880

That's 29 to 40% above the base rate quote before you've touched origin charges, destination trucking, customs clearance, or duties. If your landed cost model was built on the base rate alone, you're carrying a real budget gap on every shipment.

Five Things to Do Before Your Next Booking

Get all-in pricing, always

When your forwarder sends a quote, ask for every line item: base ocean rate, EFS, PSS, GRI if active, BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor), AMS filing, and any origin or destination surcharges. A quote showing only the base rate is not useful for planning. A good freight forwarder should give you the full cost stack in a single document before you confirm a booking.

Book now if you have June or July shipments planned

Carriers give 15 to 30 days' notice before new surcharges take effect. That window is your booking buffer. If you have shipments planned for June or July, confirming a booking now locks you into current surcharge levels. Additional carrier announcements for those months are likely, and waiting could add another $200 to $500 per container to your cost.

Split orders across different shipping windows

If you're consolidating several months of inventory into one peak-season container, consider splitting the order. Moving a first tranche in May or early June, before any additional PSS layers land, and a replenishment in late August or September when surcharge pressure typically eases, can reduce per-unit freight cost on a blended basis. Run the numbers with your forwarder to see if the split makes sense for your volume and product margins.

Ask about contract vs. spot surcharge treatment

If you're moving 10 or more containers per quarter, you have leverage to negotiate annual service contracts with carriers. Some contracts build PSS into a fixed all-in rate for the year, providing cost predictability. Others cap PSS at a negotiated ceiling. Either structure is more favorable than absorbing unlimited spot surcharges. Volume commitment is the variable carriers negotiate around, so the more you can commit, the better the terms you can typically lock in.4

Consider LCL for smaller loads

If you're not filling a full container, LCL (less than container load) shipping may reduce your effective surcharge exposure. PSS and EFS on LCL consolidation are typically charged per cubic meter, meaning the surcharge is proportional to your actual cargo size rather than a flat per-container fee. For shipments under 10 to 12 cubic meters, LCL often works out cheaper than a partially filled FCL during peak season.

The Pattern Worth Understanding

The May 2026 surcharge updates fit a pattern that has solidified over the past five years. Carriers now treat the surcharge layer as a structural revenue tool, not a temporary measure tied to a specific disruption. PSS, EFS, and GRI collectively give carriers pricing flexibility that the base rate alone doesn't provide. For importers, the practical consequence is that the gap between quoted freight rates and actual invoice amounts is a feature of the current market, not a bug that will go away.

The fix is not complicated. Insist on all-in pricing before you confirm any booking. Build landed cost models that include the full surcharge stack. If you've been planning Q3 shipments based on soft base rate trends, now is the time to verify those estimates still hold with the May surcharge updates factored in.

If you want a current all-in quote for your next shipment that includes every surcharge in effect right now, get in touch with Cubic. We pull live rates across all major carriers and give you the complete cost picture before you commit to a booking.