Free tools Truckload
Fuel surcharge calculator
A fuel surcharge per mile is the diesel price minus the base price the contract sets, divided by the miles per gallon it assumes. Multiply that by the trip's miles for the surcharge on the load. The diesel price is usually the U.S. EIA's weekly on-highway average, and many contracts use a table instead of the division: $0.01 a mile for every $0.05 or $0.06 diesel is over the base.
- $0.420/mi
- Per mile
- 5.6%
- Of the linehaul
- $2.520/gal
- Over the base
How a fuel surcharge is worked out
Over the base = diesel price (index) − base price, per gallon
Surcharge per mile = over the base ÷ miles per gallon
Surcharge on the trip = surcharge per mile × trip miles
Share of the linehaul = surcharge on the trip ÷ linehaul
- The index is usually the U.S. EIA's national average on-highway diesel price, published weekly; some contracts use a regional (PADD) average instead. The contract names the index and which week's price applies to a load.
- The base price (the peg) is where the program is neutral: at or below it there's no surcharge, and some programs pay a rebate below it. C.H. Robinson writes that pegs have long been set close to $1.20 a gallon.
- Miles per gallon is the program's assumption, not a truck's reading. C.H. Robinson puts trucks at 5 to 7 mpg; the lower the figure in the contract, the bigger the surcharge.
- Rounding is to a tenth of a cent a mile on this page, and the trip's surcharge is worked out from that rate, so the figures multiply out. Your contract may round to the cent.
Worked example
Load 48213's miles at an example diesel price.
Load 48213 runs 488 miles from Mississauga ON to Joliet IL on a $3,655.00 linehaul. At an example diesel price of $3.720 a gallon (an illustration, not this week's EIA price), a $1.200 base price and 6.0 mpg, diesel is $2.520 over the base: $2.520 ÷ 6.0 = $0.420 a mile. Over 488 miles that's $204.96, 5.6% of the linehaul.
On a table instead, the same price is 42 six-cent steps, so $0.420 a mile and $204.96 for the trip; a five-cent table gives $0.500 a mile, $244.00.
48213's own invoice carries fuel as a separate $560.00 line from its quote, so it doesn't move with the index. This example is a separate illustration of a per-mile program on the same miles, not a recalculation of that line.
The table method
- A $0.06 step works out the same as dividing by 6 mpg, rounded down to a whole cent. It's often called a six-cent ratio.
- A $0.05 step is the same as 5 mpg, so it pays more: in C.H. Robinson's white paper, a $3.00 rise over the peg is $0.50 a mile on a six-cent ratio and $0.60 on a five-cent one.
- Both methods start from the same index and base price. Only the step, or the miles per gallon, changes the answer.
Surcharge per mile at a glance
| Diesel price | ÷ 6.0 mpg | ÷ 6.5 mpg | ÷ 7.0 mpg | Table, $0.06 step | Table, $0.05 step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3.000 | $0.300 | $0.277 | $0.257 | $0.300 | $0.360 |
| $3.250 | $0.342 | $0.315 | $0.293 | $0.340 | $0.410 |
| $3.500 | $0.383 | $0.354 | $0.329 | $0.380 | $0.460 |
| $3.750 | $0.425 | $0.392 | $0.364 | $0.420 | $0.510 |
| $4.000 | $0.467 | $0.431 | $0.400 | $0.460 | $0.560 |
| $4.250 | $0.508 | $0.469 | $0.436 | $0.500 | $0.610 |
| $4.500 | $0.550 | $0.508 | $0.471 | $0.550 | $0.660 |
Tables add $0.01 a mile for each full step over the base.
Where the numbers come from
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update (weekly on-highway diesel prices)eia.gov
- C.H. Robinson: Truckload Fuel Surcharges, How They Work and What They Cost (white paper)supplychainbrain.com
- C.H. Robinson: Making Sense of Truckload Surcharges: Index, Peg, & Escalatorchrobinson.com
Free tool
Fuel surcharge questions
What is a fuel surcharge in trucking?
A charge on top of the linehaul that moves with the price of diesel, so the carrier doesn't carry the fuel price risk alone. It's usually worked out per mile from a published diesel index, a base price and an assumed miles per gallon, and shown as its own line on the invoice.
Which diesel price do fuel surcharges use?
Most use the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly national average on-highway diesel price, often still called the DOE price since the EIA is part of the Department of Energy. Some use a regional (PADD) average. The contract says which index and which week's price applies.
What base price should a fuel surcharge use?
Whatever the contract sets. The base, or peg, is the diesel price at which the surcharge is zero. A lower base or a lower miles-per-gallon figure means a bigger surcharge, so both are negotiated along with the linehaul rate.
What does "a cent a mile for every 6 cents" mean?
It's a table-based surcharge: each full $0.06 the diesel price is over the base adds $0.01 a mile. That works out the same as dividing by 6 mpg, rounded down to a whole cent. A five-cent table works like 5 mpg and pays more.
Can a fuel surcharge be a percentage of the linehaul?
Yes, some programs charge a percentage of the linehaul instead of a rate per mile. The calculator shows the per-mile surcharge as a share of the linehaul, so the two can be compared on the same load.
Why doesn't this page show today's diesel price?
Because it changes every week, and a stale price would give a wrong surcharge. The EIA publishes the national and regional averages weekly; enter the one your contract names for the week of the load.
In Roadmark, the fuel surcharge is its own line on the invoice and on an owner-operator's settlement.
Settlements are drafted from the same loads as the invoice, with each load's fuel surcharge beside its revenue.
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Let Roadmark work it out on every load.
Bring a week of your own loads. We'll show you the detention, weights, classes and free-time charges Roadmark would have worked out from your ELD times, dimensions and terminal dates.
- Worked from your own loads, not a script
- Every figure shown with where it came from
- Runs beside the TMS you have today