Seasonal jobs at FedEx are already posted: seasonal courier and part-time package handler pages on its careers site carried October 2, 2026 posting dates. What you’ll earn and how many hours you’ll get depends more on the role than on the word “seasonal.”
FedEx hasn’t printed a 2026 hiring target that we could find, and Challenger’s September 23, 2026 holiday outlook said the same. So the useful question isn’t how many jobs exist. It’s which of the two or three kinds you can actually take, and what peak does to your week once you’re in.
Who hires for seasonal jobs at FedEx?
Federal Express Corporation hires them. FedEx’s fiscal 2024 Form 10-K says FedEx Ground and FedEx Services were merged into Federal Express on June 1, 2024, so the old Ground-versus-Express split no longer exists on the employer side.
You can see it on the careers site, where the company filter lists “Federal Express Corporation” for U.S. postings. The old warehouse jobs address, groundwarehousejobs.fedex.com, loaded the same careers portal when we checked. The work can still differ by site, but the application doesn’t.
One catch matters if you’re after a driving job. The same 10-K says FedEx’s U.S. pickup and delivery runs lean on vehicles owned or leased by independent service providers, more than 95,000 of them as of June 7, 2024.
Those contractors hire their own drivers. A ZipRecruiter listing for a FedEx Ground contractor in Pittsburg, Kansas, showed $180 to $200 a day in September 2026. You’d be working for a different employer, with its own pay, benefits and rules, even if the van says FedEx.
The seasonal roles and what each one asks of you
Among seasonal jobs at FedEx, two roles turned up on the careers site in early October 2026: part-time package handler and seasonal courier. Here’s how they compare, using FedEx’s own postings.
| Role | Pay in 2026 postings | Hours and length | Minimum age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Package handler, part-time | $17.65 to $22.25 an hour in September 2026 postings; a South Yarmouth, Massachusetts posting dated October 2 lists $21.30 to $22.80 | One shift a day, generally 3 to 6 hours; casual tier capped at 24 hours a week | Not printed on the role page or the posting we read; check yours |
| Seasonal courier (Non-DOT) | $24.21 to $35.96 an hour on a Los Angeles posting dated October 2, 2026 | Up to 12 weeks; that posting lists an 8:30 to 5:30 schedule | 21, printed in the posting |
| Driver or helper with a contractor | Set by the contractor; one Kansas listing showed $180 to $200 a day (ZipRecruiter, September 2026) | Set by the contractor | Contractor listings we saw said 21 |
The pay gap between handlers and couriers is the story of this table. Handlers are the volume hiring, the easiest to land and the most physical. Couriers drive a company vehicle that falls outside the federal commercial driver rules, which is what “Non-DOT” signals. You’ll need to lift 50 pounds and be licensed for the vehicle you’re assigned.
Looking for “customer service” or “warehouse” seasonal jobs? We didn’t find seasonal-titled postings for either on the careers site. The warehouse work shows up under package handler and material handler.
For the year-round version of the handler job, including how benefits kick in, see regular handler pay and shifts. To see how FedEx stacks up against Amazon, UPS and the retailers, use our seasonal employer comparison.
Does the “seasonal” label even show up on the page? Often it doesn’t. The South Yarmouth handler posting sits at a URL labeled seasonal, but its text just says immediate openings, so read the description for an end date before you assume one.
How peak season changes your week
Peak is short and heavy. FedEx’s September 14, 2020 hiring statement said it was raising hours for some existing employees and adding seasonal positions on top, with the majority going into the Ground network, which tells you who gets first call on extra shifts: the people already there.
Workers on r/Fedexers put the real start at Black Friday. A November 19, 2025 comment said peak “generally starts on Black Friday,” though others in the same thread said their stations began six-day weeks earlier.
A September 15, 2026 commenter described mandatory six-day weeks of about six hours a shift, with a one-dollar premium. Another said the week after Thanksgiving is the heaviest, with a roughly 25 percent jump in volume that eases before the week of Christmas. Those are worker accounts, not FedEx policy, and no FedEx page we found promises you a peak premium.
Pay incentives are where the stories split. On October 2, 2026, a commenter said bonuses for package handlers “more or less ended in 2024.” In a December 2025 thread some handlers said they had never seen a peak bonus, while one said such bonuses were dropped the year before.
Use your base rate only.
The guaranteed part for handlers is smaller than the surge suggests. FedEx’s package handler page says part-time handlers work generally 3 to 6 hours a shift.
The casual tier tops out at 24 hours a week with no benefits unless the law requires them. So a six-day peak week at six hours a shift is something your station may or may not offer you, not something the posting promises.
From application to first shift
FedEx describes five steps: browse, apply online, interview where the job calls for one, receive the offer, and onboarding with on-the-job training. Its hiring page says the steps differ by job, and that some jobs require an interview by phone, video or in person.
What gets screened is only partly public. The postings we read state that FedEx participates in E-Verify and complies with criminal history and security-screening rules for roles that need them, including federal rules for commercial driving jobs.
They don’t say what a handler’s background check covers, and they don’t mention a drug test for handlers or Non-DOT couriers. Ask the recruiter, because it can vary by building and state.
Drivers in DOT-regulated roles face a fixed rule. Under 49 CFR 382.301, an employer can’t let a driver perform safety-sensitive work until it has received a verified negative controlled-substances result. A seasonal courier posting labeled Non-DOT falls outside that rule. But the posting itself calls the job a “non-covered safety-sensitive position,” so don’t assume nothing applies to you.
Will it turn permanent, and what the first two weeks feel like
FedEx publishes no conversion rate that we could find, and that’s the main difference from UPS, which said in September 2023 that nearly 50,000 seasonal workers had earned permanent jobs over the previous two years.
The only official line is on the seasonal courier posting: the position lasts up to 12 weeks, and the employee “may be offered a permanent position.”
Workers sound more upbeat about handlers. In a December 17, 2025 r/Fedexers thread, one commenter said most stations have extra headcount allocated to keep seasonal handlers, because permanent ones quit and get hurt. Another said a good handler should be retained after peak.
A third said, “Yes, but you won’t stay that long.” Treat that as a pattern worth testing when you talk to your station, not a promise.
What does the start feel like? The one thread that spoke to it plainly was about part-time handler work, not seasonal specifically, but the physical load is the same job.
“I’m 20f and have been doing it for a month. The first two weeks were brutal, and I was covered in bruises too. But your body adjusts to it. I enjoy my job now, it’s a workout and I get tired but it’s not unmanageable.”
– r/Fedexers, May 2026 (26 upvotes)
Bruises come up in both the original post and this reply, and the reply’s point is that your body adjusts. If you land nights, dress for cold trailers, since commenters mention that too.
FedEx seasonal jobs FAQ
When does FedEx start hiring seasonal workers?
FedEx was posting seasonal courier and part-time handler jobs by October 2, 2026, weeks before the Black Friday start workers describe for peak. In 2020 FedEx said on September 14 that it expected to add more than 70,000 positions, but no 2026 target had appeared as of Challenger’s September 23, 2026 outlook.
How much do FedEx seasonal workers make?
FedEx package handler postings ranged from $17.65 to $22.25 an hour in September 2026, with one October 2 posting reaching $22.80. A Los Angeles seasonal courier posting dated October 2, 2026 lists $24.21 to $35.96, and pay varies by location.
Does FedEx seasonal turn into a permanent job?
Sometimes, but FedEx publishes no conversion rate. Its seasonal courier posting says the up-to-12-week role may lead to a permanent offer, and r/Fedexers commenters in December 2025 said good handlers are often kept on after peak.
Is FedEx or UPS better for seasonal work?
Neither wins everywhere. UPS postings in October 2026 showed $21 for handlers and $23 for seasonal drivers, while FedEx handler pay swung from $17.65 to $22.80 by location, so compare the posting near you. Our UPS seasonal jobs page lays out that side.