UPS Air Cargo, the UPS unit aimed at freight supplied from outside forwarders, said it was raising its fuel surcharge to a record 65 cents a kilogram for U.S.-origin freight, effective June 26.

In a letter posted to its Web site, UPS Vice President-Cargo James Owens said jet fuel prices "continued to steadily climb" in the period before June 7 when the company made its decision. "Because jet fuel is one of the largest cost drivers for our airline, UPS Air Cargo has recognized that we cannot continue to maintain our current fuel surcharge," he wrote.

UPS last raised the fuel surcharge on forwarder-provided freight in May to 60 cents, which topped by five cents the highest surcharge level UPS used last fall in the wake of hurricane-related spikes in jet fuel prices.

Earlier this spring, the UPS Air Cargo unit led the way as major airlines around the world hiked their fuel fees on freight shipments for the first time since February.

Separately, UPS and rivals FedEx and DHL Express all said they were keeping their July monthly fuel surcharges on air packages at the same levels as in June - 16 percent for UPS and FedEx, 18 percent for DHL.

However, all three raised their U.S. fuel surcharges on ground package shipments based on recent moves in diesel prices. UPS and FedEx both pegged their trucking fuel fees at 4.75 percent in July, up from 4.25 percent in June. DHL's ground fee will rise to 4.8 percent from 4.3 percent.

John D. Boyd