The panel does not know how far it is traveling, but the rate table does. We quoted the identical 43-inch factory-boxed TV to two destinations on 2026-08-18: $75.06 on UPS Ground to Chicago and $113.21 to Seattle, a gap of about thirty-eight dollars and five extra transit days on the same carton. Bigger sets moved further still, and lost carrier competition along the way. Four boxes, one long lane, quoted live below.
Same 43-inch box, same day, two destinations. The zone did all of the moving in this pair.
The same 45 × 28 × 8 in, 35 lb factory box for a 43-inch TV went to two ZIP codes in the same capture run on 2026-08-18: Chicago, a middle-distance lane, and Seattle, a true coast-to-coast one from northern New Jersey. Nothing about the box changed between the two quotes.
| Service | To Chicago (mid-country) | To Seattle (coast to coast) |
|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground | $75.06 2-3 business days | $113.21 7-8 business days |
| UPS Ground Saver | $76.81 4 business days | $116.14 7 business days |
| FedEx Ground Economy | $99.20 5-6 business days | $144.90 8-9 business days |
| UPS 3 Day Select | $109.10 3-4 business days | $183.48 5-6 business days |
| FedEx Ground | $146.68 2-3 business days | $187.73 7-8 business days |
UPS Ground led both lanes, but the gap between the two Ground prices, about thirty-eight dollars, is entirely a distance effect on one unchanged box. Transit stretched more than the price did: 2-3 business days to Chicago against 7-8 to Seattle. FedEx Ground actually undercut UPS 3 Day Select to Chicago while running the same 2-3 day window, which is the kind of lane-specific flip a flat rule can't predict.
The 43-inch box drew rates from both UPS and FedEx to Seattle. The two larger sets in the same capture, still headed to the same Seattle ZIP, told a narrower story.
| Service | 55-inch box 55 × 33 × 6 in, 44 lb | 65-inch box 63 × 39 × 8 in, 44 lb |
|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground | $208.43 7-8 business days | $236.40 7-8 business days |
| UPS 3 Day Select | $318.98 5-6 business days | $384.21 5-6 business days |
| UPS 2nd Day Air | $418.71 2-3 business days | $522.51 2-3 business days |
| UPS 2nd Day Air A.M. | $478.92 2-3 business days | $604.27 2-3 business days |
| UPS Next Day Air Saver | $549.17 1 business day | not returned |
| FedEx Ground | not returned | $628.77 7-8 business days |
USPS did not appear for either box on this lane, and FedEx surfaced only once, on FedEx Ground for the 65-inch set, at more than double UPS's price for the same window. UPS Ground carried both boxes alone as the cheapest option, which means a big-screen coast-to-coast shipment on this lane comes down to one carrier's pricing rather than a real comparison across three.
A cross-country quote this large invites the question of whether a TV should route to freight instead of parcel. UPS's own package size and weight page, read 2026-08-18, states a maximum of 150 lb, a maximum length of 108 inches, and a combined length and girth of 165 inches for a domestic package — and a separate page, also read 2026-08-18, sets a lower 130-inch length-plus-girth line for its Large Package category, which carries its own 90 lb minimum billed weight.
| Carton | Length plus girth | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| 45 × 28 × 8 in (43-inch) | 117 in | Under both the 130 in and 165 in lines |
| 55 × 33 × 6 in (55-inch) | 133 in | Over the 130 in Large Package line, under the 165 in parcel ceiling |
| 63 × 39 × 8 in (65-inch) | 157 in | Over the 130 in Large Package line, under the 165 in ceiling with little room left |
Neither the 55-inch nor the 65-inch box reaches UPS's outright parcel ceiling, so a coast-to-coast TV this size is nowhere near freight territory. But both clear the lower, separate Large Package line at 130 inches, which is consistent with why the price per pound on those two boxes ran well above the 43-inch box's: a rate quote does not print which threshold applied, so this is what the finished prices did on boxes that clear one line and not the other, not a claim that we saw an itemized surcharge. Our bike shipping by UPS page works through the same 130-inch rule on a different long carton.
The gap between Chicago and Seattle on Ground ran five extra business days on top of the price difference. Anyone timing a move-in date around a TV delivery needs the calendar math as much as the price.
UPS Ground led every lane tested here, but on the mid-country Chicago run FedEx Ground matched a faster UPS tier's speed at a lower price — a comparison worth running fresh rather than assumed from one lane.
A coast-to-coast Ground shipment spends roughly three times longer in transit than a mid-country one on the same box, which is more time for handling. The full packing order — face protection, corner blocks, double-boxing — lives on our TV packing guide and matters more the longer the trip runs.
Price your own coast-to-coast TV Flat-screen TV cost, every size
UPS moves both its rates and its size ceilings without announcement. Treat this page as one capture set against one reading of UPS's own page, both dated — pull a fresh quote before the box ships.
Yes, on the same box. A 43-inch factory-boxed TV quoted $113.21 on UPS Ground from northern New Jersey to Seattle and $75.06 to Chicago on 2026-08-18, a gap of about thirty-eight dollars on the identical carton. Transit stretched from 2-3 business days to 7-8 across the same distance.
In this capture, yes. The 43-inch box to Seattle returned UPS and FedEx rates, but the 55-inch and 65-inch boxes to the same Seattle ZIP returned UPS only for most services, with FedEx Ground appearing just once, on the 65-inch box. Fewer carriers were competing for the largest boxes on the longest lane tested.
On 2026-08-18, a boxed 55-inch set quoted $208.43 on UPS Ground from northern New Jersey to Seattle, and a boxed 65-inch set quoted $236.40 on the same service and lane. Both were quoted well within UPS's own published size ceilings for a standard parcel, not freight.
Not on the boxes captured for this page. UPS's own package size page, read 2026-08-18, sets a domestic parcel ceiling of 150 lb, 108 inches of length, and 165 inches of length plus girth. The largest box quoted here, 63 by 39 by 8 inches at 44 lb, works out to about 157 inches of length plus girth, under that line but with little room left.
Most airlines treat a boxed TV as an oversize or overweight checked item with its own fee, on top of the risk of a screen riding in the belly of the plane with everyone else's bags stacked on top. A ground shipment in a double-boxed, cushioned carton is slower but keeps the panel flat, upright and off an airline's oversize counter entirely.