About and method

Fuel Surcharge Calculator is a free, independent tool for owner-operators, small fleets, dispatchers and brokers. It is built and maintained by one person and is not affiliated with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) or the Department of Energy.

Data

Diesel prices come from the EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel series (U.S. EIA, Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices), read through the EIA open data API. We store the last 52 weeks for the U.S. average, PADD 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3, 4, 5 and California. EIA records Monday's prices and publishes them on Tuesday (Wednesday after a holiday). Our job checks for new data on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the site rebuilds when it finds some. If EIA cannot be reached, the site keeps the last value and shows its date and a warning.

Formulas

Per mile: FSC per mile = max(0, (diesel price - base price) / MPG). Total = FSC per mile x miles. Percent: full steps = floor((diesel price - base price) / price step); FSC % = full steps x percent per step. See how fuel surcharge is calculated for examples.

Rounding

The per-mile figure is rounded to $0.001. The total is that rounded figure times the miles, rounded to cents, so the arithmetic on the screen always adds up. Dollar amounts on a percent surcharge are rounded to cents. The calculator and the table use the same code, so they always agree.

Limits

Results are estimates. Your signed rate confirmation or contract decides what you can bill: its base price, index, MPG, step and week definition may differ from the defaults here. Nothing on this site is legal, tax or financial advice.

Corrections

Found a wrong number or a confusing sentence? Write to [email protected].