What is a Fuel Surcharge?

A fuel surcharge is what most trucking companies and some business charge for fuel useage, usually based on mileage. This rate is calculated using the DOE (Dept. of Energy) website. That gives national averages. I not sure on exactly how the weekly amount is figured. But as of this date, its around .52 cents give or take. This amount is what offsets fuel costs involved with shipping.

What is the Fuel surcharge formula?

First, decide how much your target price–the price you always want to pay out of pocket for fuel – is. Let’s say your target is $2.
Subtract that from the current national average diesel price. If it’s $5 per gallon (God forbid), the difference is $3 per gallon.

Then divide the difference by six because your truck is getting 6MPG on average. Right now you’ve got a 50 cents/mile fuel surcharge.

And finally multiply that figure by the run length–if the run’s 1000 miles, you’ll tack on $500 in fuel surcharge to the bill.

If you work for a trucking company, they normally fix the surcharge for a month–for June the rate is always going to be, say, 47 cents per mile no matter how high fuel gets.

Is there a standard for fuel surcharge it seems everyone has their own?

A fuel surcharge is just a way of recovering the loss of profit due to increased gasoline or diesel cost for transport that was not figured in to the purchase price of the product without raising the price of the product itself.
As far as I know there is no standard, it is based on the difference between what was projected as cost for the year weighed against what it actually cost.

Are fuel surcharges legal?

Yes they are. With the constant rising of fuel prices in the US, delivery companies are using fuel surcharges to help offset their fuel costs. If it costs more for them to deliver the product to or for you, then must pass that cost onto the consumer – they would go broke in a short time otherwise.

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