It’s only August, but already the holiday shipping wars are heating up: After UPS announced recently that it would be tacking on new surcharges during the busiest time of the year, FedEx says it won’t be adding extra fees on most packages shipped near the holidays.

On Thursday, FedEx noted that it won’t add on special charges for most packages shipped between Nov. 20 and Dec. 24.

That means that Standard FedEx Express and FedEx Ground residential shipments won’t be subject to any extra surcharges. Instead, FedEx will only tack on surcharges for packages that require additional handling or are oversized.

In contrast, UPS will be charging “Peak” rates during certain periods: Between Nov. 19 and Dec. 2., it’ll cost $0.27 per package for all ground shipments sent to residential addresses.

The surcharges then go away during the early December lull, but return with a vengeance for last-minute shoppers: Between Dec. 17-23, there’s a $.27 surcharge for ground shipments, $.81 for Next-Day Air, and a $.97 fee for two- or three-day delivery.

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