FREIGHT SURCHARGES
General Rate Increase (GRI)
Not a surcharge at all — an announced increase to the base rate itself. Loudly announced, first-of-month effective, and frequently smaller in practice than on paper.
THE MECHANISM
An announcement, not a cost
Every other line in the Surcharge Decoder passes through a specific cost — fuel, insurance, longer routings. A GRI is different: it’s a market-driven reset of the base ocean rate on a trade lane, announced by each carrier in advance for a set effective date. Nothing underneath it has to have gotten more expensive; it’s carriers moving the price because they believe the market will bear it.
First-of-month timing:GRIs conventionally take effect on the 1st of a month (mid-month increases exist but are less common). On U.S. trades the increase must be filed with notice, which is part of why the announcements come weeks ahead. The predictable rhythm means a spot quote late in the month often carries a warning that rates change on the 1st — that’s a GRI.
Announced ≠ stuck: a GRI is an opening position. If space is tight, it holds. If demand is soft, it erodes — carriers implement part of it, or roll it back within weeks, because an above-market rate on a sailing with empty slots loses the booking. Watching what stuck from the last few GRIs on your lane tells you more about the market than the size of the next announcement.
WHAT TO DO WITH ONE
Booking-timing considerations
If your cargo is ready near month-end, booking before the effective date can secure the pre-GRI rate — worth doing when the cargo is genuinely ready. Rushing freight that isn’t ready to beat an announcement is usually a mistake: an eroding GRI can leave you having paid rush costs to avoid an increase that shrank anyway.
If you can wait, the weeks after a soft GRI often reprice downward as carriers chase volume. And if you ship steady volume, contract rates insulate the base rate from GRIs entirely — the spot-vs-contract decision is covered in our market conditions briefing.
GRIs also stack with the seasonal calendar: a GRI landing at the start of peak season holds far better than one announced into a slack market, because the same demand that supports a PSS supports the increase.
Related: the quarterly fuel reset (the other calendar event on your invoice) · our ocean freight services · the full surcharge walkthrough.
A GRI was just announced on your lane.
We'll tell you whether it's likely to stick, and whether moving your booking makes sense — based on the lane, not the press release.