Fuel surcharge calculator

A fuel surcharge protects your margin when diesel climbs. This free calculator gives you your fuel surcharge per mile from three inputs: the current diesel price, your baseline peg, and your truck’s MPG. The diesel field pre-fills with the live national average so you are working from a current number.

The formula

Fuel surcharge per mile = (current diesel price – baseline peg price) / truck MPG. The peg is the diesel price your contract surcharge starts from; when diesel is at or below the peg, the surcharge is $0. The diesel benchmark is the EIA weekly U.S. on-highway average (EIA, also on FRED series GASDESW).

Inputs

Current diesel price

$/gal

Baseline / peg price

$/gal

The diesel price your contract fuel surcharge starts from.

Truck MPG

mpg

Fuel surcharge per mile$0.000

Fuel surcharge per mile = (current diesel price - baseline peg) / truck MPG. When diesel is at or below the peg, the surcharge is $0. Estimates only.

How to use it

Enter the current diesel price (auto-filled to the live average – adjust to your region), your peg, and your real loaded MPG. The result is the per-mile surcharge you should add on top of your line-haul rate. Lower MPG means a higher surcharge, because you burn more fuel per mile – which is exactly why a heavy or hard-pulling truck needs a bigger surcharge.

Next steps

For the full explanation – pegs, spot vs contract surcharges, and how brokers shortchange it – read fuel surcharge: how to calculate yours. Then confirm the load clears your cost per mile with the surcharge included, and watch diesel on the rates dashboard. Estimates only.