North Europe–US PSS Compared: CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd

CMA CGM’s updated PSS03 from North Europe to the United States takes effect on September 20, 2026, at US$1,000 per 20-foot and US$2,000 per 40-foot container. On a dry 40-foot box, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and MSC each publish PSS levels that work out to 1,000, while CMA CGM’s PSS03 component alone moves to US$2,000. CMA CGM has also published other PSS codes on this lane in 2026, however, so PSS03 should not be read as the carrier’s total surcharge exposure without checking the applicable tariff or contract.

The date that prices the box is not uniform either. For US-bound cargo, Maersk and MSC key their published PSS to the container’s gate-in date and Hapag-Lloyd keys it to the sailing date. CMA CGM’s September PSS03 notice does not state a date basis. Any CMA CGM box that gates in before the 20th and sails after it is exposed to that gap.

Below are the four published surcharge notices side by side, the date each carrier uses with a worked example, what moves on September 20, and the separate Canada and Mexico notices. The amounts are surcharge add-ons: base freight, bunker, terminal handling and local charges apply on top, and service contract terms can set different levels.

Published North Europe to US peak season surcharges by carrier

As of September 16, 2026, these are the published PSS levels on North Europe to US cargo, taken from each carrier’s own notice. CMA CGM’s figure is specifically its PSS03 component and should not be treated as an all-in CMA CGM PSS total.

Carrier	20-foot dry	40-foot dry / high-cube	Reefer	Effective	Date that prices the box
CMA CGM (PSS03 update)	US$1,000	US$2,000 (also 45-foot)	US$1,000 / US$2,000	September 20, 2026	Not stated in notice
Hapag-Lloyd	US$500 per TEU	US$1,000 (2 TEU)	US$500 per TEU	Sailings from August 10, 2026	Sailing date
Maersk	1,000	1,000	1,000	August 19, 2026	Last container gate-in date (FMC trades, non-spot)
MSC	US$600	US$1,000	US$1,200 (reefer and special equipment)	August 15, 2026	Gate-in date

Published PSS amounts only, excluding base freight, bunker, security, terminal handling, local and contingency charges. CMA CGM’s row is PSS03 only; the carrier separately published other PSS codes on this trade earlier in 2026. Hapag-Lloyd charges per TEU; its 40-foot figure applies US$500 per TEU to a two-TEU box. Maersk’s July 20 notice lists 1,000 per container without restating the currency; its April notice on the same scope was in US dollars.

Scope details that change who pays:

CMA CGM: all North European ports including North France, the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Poland and the Baltic, plus Bilbao, Gijón and Vigo, with Portugal excluded. Dry and reefer cargo to US East, West and Gulf Coast ports and inland points via those ports; out-of-gauge cargo is excluded.
Maersk: origins from the UK, Ireland, the Benelux countries, Germany, the Nordics, Poland and the Baltics, along with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Le Havre is the only French origin listed. The PSS does not apply to Maersk Spot bookings.
MSC: North Europe including the UK and Scandinavia/Baltic, to the US, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Hapag-Lloyd: dry, reefer and special containers on sailings to the US, charged per TEU across all container types.

What date decides the peak season surcharge you pay

On this lane the published PSS is priced on a container event, and the carriers do not use the same event. Maersk’s notice defines its Price Calculation Date for FMC trades as the last container gate-in date on non-spot bookings, and MSC prices US cargo on gate-in date. Hapag-Lloyd applies its PSS to sailings commencing from August 10. CMA CGM’s September PSS03 notice gives an effective date without saying which event it measures, although several of its other 2026 surcharge notices name the loading date.

Two consequences follow for anyone booking across carriers. A box that rolls to a later vessel keeps its gate-in date, so a Maersk or MSC surcharge stays where it was set, while a Hapag-Lloyd surcharge follows the new sailing. Because Maersk uses the last container’s gate-in, the latest box to arrive on a multi-container booking sets the date for that booking.

Worked example: one 40-foot box, gated in September 18, sailing September 22

Take a 40-foot dry container gated in at Rotterdam on September 18 for a vessel sailing to New York on September 22.

MSC: the September 18 gate-in prices the PSS at US$1,000.
Maersk: the September 18 gate-in prices the PSS at 1,000, provided it is the last box on the booking to gate in.
Hapag-Lloyd: the September 22 sailing prices the PSS at US$500 per TEU, or US$1,000 for the box.
CMA CGM: if CMA CGM measures PSS03 by gate-in, the box is priced before the September 20 update. If it measures loading or sailing, PSS03 is US$2,000. The notice does not settle the date basis, and this figure covers PSS03 only rather than any other CMA CGM surcharge code that may apply.

For a forwarder with boxes spread across all four carriers, checking the PSS line on each invoice means matching it to a different container event per carrier: gate-in for Maersk and MSC, sailing for Hapag-Lloyd, and whatever CMA CGM confirms for PSS03. If your team is pulling those gate-in and sailing dates from separate carrier portals to check surcharge lines, walk through how ops teams track container milestones across carriers in one view.

What changes on September 20

CMA CGM’s PSS03 is the only published US surcharge in this four-notice comparison with a scheduled change before October. Its notice, dated August 25 on CMA CGM’s site, sets US$1,000 per 20-foot and US$2,000 per 40-foot, 40-foot high-cube or 45-foot container from September 20.

CMA CGM had also published other PSS codes on the trade earlier in 2026. PSS02 was announced at US$500 per 20-foot and US$1,000 per 40-foot from April 3 until further notice. A separate PSS notice dated April 2 set US$300 and US$600 from May 1 and also covered the Mexico East Coast. Those notices use distinct surcharge labels, and no public cancellation notice tying them off before September 20 was identified at the time of writing. The US$2,000 PSS03 figure therefore should not be treated on its own as CMA CGM’s total PSS exposure. The PSS03 level immediately before September 20 was also not available in CMA CGM’s public notices at the time of writing.

Looking only at the surcharge notices in the table, the difference is still significant. On a 40-foot dry box, CMA CGM’s PSS03 component alone is US$2,000, compared with a published US$1,000 PSS at MSC and Hapag-Lloyd and 1,000 at Maersk. On a 20-foot box, CMA CGM’s PSS03 and Maersk’s published PSS are both 1,000, while MSC charges US$600 and Hapag-Lloyd US$500. These are individual published surcharge lines, not an all-in carrier cost comparison.

How far North Europe to US pricing has moved since April

The PSS is one layer of a broader repricing on this trade. Maersk set its PSS at US$500 per container from April 8 on North Europe to US and Canada cargo, then revised it to 1,000 per container on US cargo from August 19.

CMA CGM’s timeline is not a single straight-line increase. It published PSS02 at US$500 per 20-foot and US$1,000 per 40-foot from April 3, a separate PSS at US$300 and US$600 from May 1, and then the September update to PSS03 at US$1,000 and US$2,000. Because those notices use different surcharge codes, they should be tracked as separate lines unless the applicable tariff or contract confirms that one replaced another.

Base rates are moving too. Hapag-Lloyd raises its published ocean tariff rates from North Europe to North America and Mexico by US$500 per 20-foot and US$800 per 40-foot dry container, for containers gated in full from October 1. That puts two clocks on one Hapag-Lloyd invoice: a box gated in on September 30 that sails in October stays on the current tariff rate, while its PSS is set by the October sailing. CMA CGM has also published separate Rate Restoration Initiatives on North Europe to US cargo from June 15 and July 2. Those are rate actions and sit outside the PSS table above.

For southern European origins, CMA CGM’s West Mediterranean to US and Canada rate restoration is covered in CMA CGM Changes Rates Across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East, and the East Mediterranean to US move in Drewry WCI Rises 1% as Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM Reprice Three Off-Index Trades.

Canada and Mexico run on separate notices

The US table does not carry over to the rest of North America, and the date basis can change at the border.

MSC charges the same US$600, US$1,000 and US$1,200 from North Europe to Canada and Mexico, from September 1 on the sailed date. Its US cargo prices on gate-in, so the same MSC levels run on two different clocks depending on destination.
Hapag-Lloyd has a separate North Europe to Mexico PSS of US$500 per TEU on sailings from September 1. Its August update on this lane names only the United States.
Maersk set a US$500-per-container PSS for Canada from April 8 until further notice. Its August 19 revision to 1,000 names only the United States, so the published Canada level remains US$500 unless superseded by the applicable tariff or service contract.
CMA CGM‘s September PSS03 update names only US destinations. Separate earlier 2026 CMA CGM notices covered Canada and Mexico under other PSS codes, so destination-specific tariff checks remain necessary.

Checklist: North Europe to US PSS before September 20

Ask CMA CGM which date prices PSS03 on your bookings and which earlier PSS codes remain applicable before boxes gate in around September 20
On Maersk non-spot bookings, log the gate-in date of the last container on each booking
On Hapag-Lloyd bookings, recheck PSS exposure whenever a box rolls to a different sailing
Price reefer and special equipment separately, since MSC charges US$1,200 against US$1,000 on a 40-foot dry box
Check whether your service contract sets a different PSS level; Maersk states that surcharges varying from its tariff bind only if included in an FMC-filed service contract
For Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, pull each carrier’s specific notice instead of relying on the US table
For Hapag-Lloyd boxes gating in around October 1, check the ocean tariff rate against the gate-in date and the PSS against the sailing date

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