Fuel surcharges are an additional fees that shipping carriers add on top of their base fuel rates. Fuel surcharges are calculated from the carrier’s base fuel rate and applied to some shipping services but not others.
How are Fuel Surcharges Calculated?
Each carrier calculates fuel rates and fuel surcharges differently. DHL, for example, calculates its base fuel rate monthly, whereas FedEx and UPS calculate theirs on a weekly or biweekly basis.
While they all take cue from the market cost of crude oil, diesel fuel, and overall cost of transportation, each carrier starts with a different base fuel rate, and they all have a slightly different surcharge percentage. While most carriers try to remain in competition with the others (fuel surcharges don’t vary too widely between them), there are some services that may be affected more with one carrier and less with another.
A List of Updated Fuel Surcharge Charts
This list may be amended or augmented by the carrier without notice.
Carrier | Accessorial Services Affected by Fuel Surcharge | Rate Change Resource |
UPS | Delivery Charges Pickup Charges Remote/Extended Delivery and Pickup Charges Residential Surcharge Return Services w/ Pickup Saturday Delivery and Pickup Signature Required Services Additional Handling, Large Package and Over Maximum Limits Oversize Pallet Handling Surcharge Peak/Demand Surcharges | |
FedEx | Additional handling, Broker select option fee Courier pickup Delivery area surcharge Delivery reattempt Extended service area delivery/pickup Delivery Signature Options Metro service area delivery/pickup International out-of-delivery-area International out-of-pickup-area International Premium® pickup Oversize Residential delivery/pickup Return on-call pickup ExpressTag® Saturday delivery/pickup Any temporary surcharge(s) currently in effect | |
DHL eCommerce | N/A | |
OnTrac | N/A | |
Passport Shipping | N/A | |
OSM | N/A |
Note: USPS is the only carrier that doesn't charge fuel surcharge on shipments.