The Basics: The FedEx Meter Number—What It Is and How to Locate It

A FedEx meter number is a secondary identifier tied to a specific shipping location or software installation—distinct from your 9-digit account number. Shippo and most modern FedEx integrations don’t require it; they use OAuth 2.0 authentication instead. FedEx Ship Manager Server users and some freight partners still rely on it. The old Web Services process for generating one was retired in 2026.

In this article

• What is a FedEx meter number?
• FedEx account number vs. FedEx meter number
• How to find your FedEx meter number in 2026
• How to connect your FedEx account to Shippo
• Do you still need a FedEx meter number?
• What happened to FedEx Web Services?
• FAQ

What Is a FedEx Meter Number?

A FedEx meter number is a secondary identifier assigned to a FedEx account, tied to a specific physical location, device, or software integration. Its original job was twofold: authenticate third-party integrations with FedEx’s shipping infrastructure, and link your negotiated contract rates to a particular platform or installation. Up to 50 meter numbers can be assigned to a single FedEx account.

If you’ve searched for how to get a FedEx meter number and found a wall of outdated instructions, you’re not imagining things. The old process is gone. FedEx retired its legacy SOAP-based Web Services API in 2026 and replaced it with a modern REST API that uses OAuth 2.0 authentication. The old “Developer Resource Center > Web Services > Move to Production” workflow—the one that generated a meter number as a production credential—no longer works. The page still exists at fedex.com/en-us/developer, but it now redirects users to migrate to developer.fedex.com.

The meter number itself still exists. FedEx still assigns them. But for most shippers in 2026, you’ll never be asked for one.

FedEx Account Number vs. FedEx Meter Number

This is the most commonly confused distinction in FedEx shipping setup. Short answer: your account number is your primary identity with FedEx; your meter number is a secondary credential for a specific integration or location. They are not interchangeable.

When you connect a FedEx account to Shippo or another modern shipping platform, the field you’ll be asked for is your account number—the 9-digit one. The meter number is not part of that flow.

How to Find Your FedEx Meter Number in 2026

There is no longer a standalone process to “generate” a meter number for most shippers. A meter number gets automatically associated with your account when you open it; you don’t need to request or create one separately.

If you genuinely need to locate yours—for FedEx Ship Manager Server, for a logistics partner, or for an older integration—here are three places to look:

1. FedEx Ship Manager software

Navigate to the Admin tab, then select Meter Management. Your meter number is displayed at the top of that screen. If you manage multiple installations, each one will have its own meter number listed here.

2. FedEx billing statements and invoices

Your meter number appears on recent FedEx billing documents alongside your account number. Pull a recent invoice from your FedEx account portal and look for the meter identifier.

3. FedEx Customer Service

Call or chat with FedEx support at 1-800-463-3339. After they verify your account, they can provide your meter number. Have your account number and the shipping address on file ready to confirm your identity.

Note for new accounts: If you just opened a FedEx account at fedex.com/en-us/open-account.html, a meter number is automatically assigned—you didn’t miss a step. The old workflow where you had to explicitly generate a production meter number through the FedEx Developer Resource Center is retired.

How to Connect Your FedEx Account to Shippo

You do not need a meter number to connect FedEx to Shippo. Here is the current 2026 process:

1. In your Shippo dashboard, go to Settings > Carriers > + Connect Carrier Account > FedEx
2. Enter your 9-digit FedEx account number and the exact shipping address on file with FedEx
3. Complete FedEx’s four-factor authentication—you’ll verify via SMS, phone, email, or invoice PIN
4. Your negotiated rates activate automatically once the connection is confirmed

That’s it. No meter number required.

The most common reason connections fail: The shipping address you enter must match FedEx’s records exactly—including abbreviations, suite numbers, and zip code format. Even a small discrepancy will cause the authentication to fail. If you run into trouble, log into your FedEx account at fedex.com and check what address is actually on file before trying again.

One important heads-up for existing Shippo-FedEx connections: FedEx required all third-party integrations, including Shippo, to migrate to this MFA-based REST API flow by early 2026. If you connected your FedEx account to Shippo before that transition and haven’t re-verified, you may need to go through this process again. You’ll see a prompt in your Shippo carrier settings if re-verification is needed.

For more on what Shippo’s FedEx integration supports—including label printing, tracking, and rate access—check the carrier page.

Do You Still Need a FedEx Meter Number?

Honest answer: it depends on how you ship. Here is a use-case breakdown:

The practical summary for most readers: If you ship through Shippo, a modern e-commerce platform, or any integration updated after mid-2024, you will likely never be asked for a meter number. If you use FedEx Ship Manager Server at a high-volume facility, or work with a 3PL that explicitly asks for it, it still matters.

On rates: FedEx’s 2026 General Rate Increase averaged 5.9 percent (effective January 5, 2026). High-volume shippers with direct FedEx contracts can negotiate custom rates below standard list pricing. For most small and mid-size businesses, platforms like Shippo provide pre-negotiated commercial rates without requiring a direct FedEx contract or a meter number—FedEx Ground Economy and FedEx International Connect Plus (for US-origin shipments) are both available through Shippo at discounted rates.

For context on how FedEx compares to other carriers on weekend deliveries, see this breakdown of weekend shipping costs and options. And if you’re shipping specialized products, the guide to shipping electronics walks through carrier selection and packaging considerations in detail.

What Happened to FedEx Web Services?

FedEx Web Services was the SOAP-based API platform that businesses and developers used for decades to integrate FedEx shipping capabilities into their systems. The original version of this post was written around it—including the workflow where you’d log into the FedEx Developer Resource Center, navigate to Web Services, click “Move to Production,” receive a production key, and generate a meter number in the process.

That entire system is now retired.

Here is the timeline:

• August 31, 2024: FedEx retired specific SOAP WSDLs, including Tracking, Address Validation, and Postal Codes
• January 30, 2026: FedEx officially announced full Web Services retirement
• May–June 1, 2026: Complete SOAP API retirement—the deadline for all customer migrations

The replacement is FedEx’s REST API, available at developer.fedex.com. It uses OAuth 2.0 authentication: instead of a meter number as a credential, integrations now use a Client ID and Client Secret to obtain bearer tokens (which expire every 60 minutes and must be refreshed). FedEx has confirmed that all future features and enhancements will be built on the REST API only.

For shippers using enterprise software like FedEx Ship Manager Server, the meter number still plays a role internally—but even that software’s underlying integration with FedEx is migrating toward REST. As a developer credential for building integrations, the meter number is effectively obsolete.

If you’re maintaining a legacy integration that still calls SOAP endpoints, those calls are now failing. The path forward is migration to the REST API at developer.fedex.com. And if you’d rather not manage that yourself, a platform like Shippo handles the FedEx API integration on your behalf—you just connect your account number and address.

For a broader look at how UPS Ground fits into a multi-carrier shipping strategy alongside FedEx, the UPS Ground shipping guide for e-commerce is worth a read.

FAQ

What is a FedEx meter number?

A FedEx meter number is a unique identifier assigned to a specific shipping location or software installation on your FedEx account. It is separate from your 9-digit FedEx account number. Its original purpose was to authenticate third-party integrations and link negotiated rates to a specific platform. In 2026, FedEx Ship Manager Server and some freight partners still use it, but most modern shipping integrations don’t require it.

Is the FedEx meter number the same as the account number?

No. Your FedEx account number is the 9-digit primary identifier tied to your billing and customer record. Your meter number is a secondary identifier for a specific location or integration. They appear in different places and serve different functions. Shippo requires your account number to connect; it does not require your meter number.

Do I need a FedEx meter number for Shippo?

No. As confirmed in Shippo’s support documentation, you do not need a FedEx meter number to use FedEx in Shippo. You need your 9-digit FedEx account number and the shipping address on file with FedEx. Shippo connects to FedEx through the REST API using OAuth 2.0, which does not use meter numbers as credentials.

How do I find my FedEx meter number?

Three options: (1) In FedEx Ship Manager software, go to Admin > Meter Management—it is listed at the top. (2) Check a recent FedEx billing statement or invoice. (3) Contact FedEx Customer Service at 1-800-463-3339 and they can provide it after verifying your account.

What happened to the old FedEx Web Services meter number process?

FedEx retired its legacy SOAP-based Web Services API in 2026. The old process—logging into the FedEx Developer Resource Center, navigating to Web Services, clicking “Move to Production,” and receiving a meter number as a production credential—no longer works. FedEx now uses a REST API with OAuth 2.0 authentication at developer.fedex.com. A meter number is still assigned to your account automatically, but it is no longer generated through a developer workflow.

Bottom Line

The FedEx meter number is not gone—it still exists, it still gets assigned to your account, and it still matters if you use FedEx Ship Manager Server or work with a freight partner who needs it. But the process most people searched for (generating one through FedEx Web Services) is retired, and the credential itself is no longer central to how most FedEx integrations work in 2026.

If you ship through Shippo, you need your account number and address—nothing else. If you’re building or maintaining a direct FedEx integration, the path forward is the REST API at developer.fedex.com. And if you’re managing a high-volume operation through FedEx Ship Manager Server, your meter numbers are still in the Admin > Meter Management tab, right where they’ve always been.