Peak Season Surcharge (PSS)

A peak season surcharge (PSS) is an extra charge per container that an ocean carrier applies on a trade lane when space is tight. It sits on top of the base rate, like BAF, and stays in force until the carrier revises or withdraws it. Unlike a general rate increase, it does not change the base rate itself.

What an announcement looks like

A real example: on September 1, 2026 Maersk announced a revised PSS from the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East to the US and Canada East Coast and Gulf, effective October 1, 2026. The notice set the charge by container type, including reefers, and said:

• For US (FMC) trades the price calculation date is the last container's gate-in date for non-spot bookings
• The PSS does not apply to its spot bookings
• The charge is collected with the freight, prepaid or collect
• Quotations or surcharges that vary from the tariff are not binding unless included in a service contract filed with the FMC

The 30-day rule in US trades

The one-month gap in that example is not a coincidence. Common carriers and NVOCCs must publish their charges in a tariff (46 CFR 520.3), and a new charge or change that raises a shipper's cost cannot take effect earlier than 30 calendar days after publication; a decrease can take effect immediately (46 CFR 520.8). An NVOCC passing on a carrier's PSS in its own tariff is bound by the same notice rule. Cargo under a service contract or an NVOCC negotiated rate arrangement follows that agreement's terms on surcharges.

How to plan around it

• Ask whether a quote includes PSS or is subject to one, and until what date
• Find out which date sets the charge; if it is gate-in, delivering the container a day earlier can matter
• Book early in known busy periods, when space and equipment are also harder to get
• For LCL, ask how a PSS is passed on in the consolidator's rate

Our ocean freight quotes list PSS, BAF and terminal handling separately, and the transit-time estimator helps set the cargo-ready date.