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Fuel surcharge
A fuel surcharge is an extra charge that moves the freight price with diesel, so rates need not be renegotiated every time fuel moves. US surcharges usually follow the EIA's weekly on-highway diesel price — truckload as cents a mile, LTL as a percentage of the linehaul. At USD 6.199 a gallon, FedEx Freight's table adds 57.7%.
The index
Most US contracts tie the surcharge to the US Energy Information Administration's weekly average on-highway diesel price — Monday's price, published on Tuesday. For the week of 5 October 2026 it was USD 6.199 a gallon. DAT describes the surcharge as a standardized add-on covering diesel costs, usually tied to that national average; the contract or tariff sets how much is added.
Two ways to charge it
| Truckload: cents a mile | LTL: a percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is set | A step table, or (price − base) ÷ miles per gallon | A percentage read off a table by the diesel price |
| Published example | Union Pacific: USD 1.20 base, a cent a mile for every 7 cents | FedEx Freight, Item 570: 57.70% at an index of 619 |
| Applied to | Linehaul miles only (Union Pacific) | Linehaul and other services that use fuel (FedEx Freight) |
Worked example: the week of 5 October 2026
Truckload, 975 miles: diesel USD 6.199 falls in Union Pacific's USD 6.171–6.240 band → USD 0.72 a mile × 975 = USD 702 · LTL: a USD 1,000 linehaul charge at FedEx Freight's 57.70% → USD 577 of fuelUnion Pacific's van table; FedEx Freight's table as revised on 1 October 2026.
In Europe: the diesel floater
European road carriers more often move the whole freight price with fuel's share of it. Girteka, for example, multiplies the contracted price by 1 + 32% × the change in diesel against a fixed base, reading the price from the European Commission's Weekly Oil Bulletin. France writes the method into its transport code: the fuel part of a road haulage price is revised by the change in the diesel index.
The mistake people make
Assuming two surcharges apply to the same thing. Union Pacific's applies to linehaul only; FedEx Freight's to linehaul and every other service that consumes fuel. Check what the rate or percentage multiplies before comparing two carriers' quotes.
FAQ
Fuel surcharge: common questions
- How is a trucking fuel surcharge calculated?
- By a table or formula in the contract or tariff. Truckload surcharges are usually cents a mile — the diesel price above a base, divided by miles per gallon — and LTL surcharges a percentage of the linehaul charge.
- Which diesel price do fuel surcharges use?
- In the US, usually the EIA's weekly on-highway diesel average, Monday's price published on Tuesday. European floaters often use the European Commission's Weekly Oil Bulletin.
- Is the fuel surcharge included in a spot rate?
- Sometimes. DAT's all-in spot rates include fuel with no separate surcharge; its linehaul rates exclude it. Van fuel surcharges averaged USD 0.70 a mile in August 2026.
Sources
- Gasoline and diesel fuel update — US Energy Information Administration
- Trucking industry glossary — DAT
- Truckload fuel surcharge matrix — Union Pacific Railroad Supply, January 2024
- FedEx Freight 100-Y Rules Tariff, effective 5 January 2026
- Fuel floater — Girteka
- Weekly Oil Bulletin — European Commission, DG Energy
- Indexation carburant: Code des transports, articles L3222-1 and L3222-2 — DREAL Normandie, April 2022
- DAT, truckload rates for August 2026 — news release, 15 September 2026
Related terms
On Traqo: Fuel Surcharge Calculator works out a surcharge per mile, per km or as a diesel floater.
On Traqo: Freight Settlement matches each invoice to its LR and POD and raises mismatches as exceptions.