Fuel surcharge calculator

What a fuel surcharge is for

A fuel surcharge, often shortened to FSC, is an extra payment that rises and falls with the price of diesel. It exists because fuel prices can swing a lot within the life of a contract. Instead of renegotiating the rate every time diesel moves, the shipper and carrier agree on a base rate and a formula that adds more when fuel is expensive and less when it's cheap.

You'll see fuel surcharges most often on contract freight and dedicated lanes, and in shipper rate tables. Spot loads from brokers are usually quoted all-in, with fuel built into a single rate, though some rate confirmations list linehaul and fuel separately. This fuel surcharge calculator applies the standard formula to your schedule's numbers.

How to calculate FSC

Most schedules use the same three numbers. The current price is the diesel price the schedule names, usually the weekly average published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the nation or a region. The base price, sometimes called the peg, is the diesel price already covered by the base rate. The schedule mpg is a fixed miles-per-gallon figure written into the schedule, not your truck's actual mileage.

Subtract the base price from the current price to see how far fuel is above the base. Divide by the schedule mpg for the surcharge per mile. Multiply by the miles, usually loaded miles, for the surcharge on the load. If the current price is at or below the base, the surcharge is zero.

• EXAMPLE

  EXAMPLE SCHEDULE

  Base $1.25, 6 mpg, 1,000 miles

  Say the current price is an EXAMPLE $3.75 a gallon. That's $2.50 above the base. Divided by 6 mpg, the surcharge is about 41.7 cents a mile. On 1,000 loaded miles, that's about $417. These are EXAMPLE inputs, not any shipper's real schedule or this week's price.

Where to find the current diesel price

The EIA publishes retail on-highway diesel prices every week, for the US as a whole and for several regions. Most fuel surcharge schedules point to one of those series and say which day's release applies. Check your schedule for the exact series, and use the price for the week the schedule names, not today's pump price at your stop.

We don't fill in a current price here, because a price that's a week out of date would make the result wrong. When we cite fuel prices elsewhere on the site, they come with the source and the week.

Two numbers that decide what the surcharge is worth

The base price and the schedule mpg do most of the work, and both are negotiated, not fixed by law. A higher base price means the surcharge starts paying later, after fuel has already risen. A higher schedule mpg means each dollar of fuel increase is divided by a bigger number, so the surcharge per mile is smaller. Two schedules with the same current price can pay quite different surcharges.

If you're offered contract or dedicated freight with a fuel surcharge, run the schedule through this calculator at a few different diesel prices. Compare the surcharge per mile with your own extra fuel cost per mile at those prices: the price difference divided by your truck's real mpg. If the schedule pays noticeably less, ask about the base price or the mpg before you sign.

Reading your result

• +The surcharge covers most of the fuel increase. Your schedule mpg is close to your truck's real mpg, and the base price is fair.
• +The surcharge looks low. Check the schedule mpg. A schedule that assumes better mpg than your truck gets pays you less than your extra fuel cost.
• +Your own table gives a different number. Many schedules round to the cent or use price brackets. Use the table in your contract when they differ.

To see what the fuel actually costs on a trip, use the trip fuel cost calculator. For how fuel surcharges show up in posted rates, see truckload spot rates and freight rate software.

Fuel terms on the loads we book

Our dispatchers read the fuel terms on every rate confirmation: whether the rate is all-in or split, and how any surcharge is worked out. You say yes or no to each load, and the rate con, fuel line and all, comes to you. See how we work with owner-operators, and check the cost of our service with the dispatcher fee calculator.