Fuel surcharges have evolved from straightforward cost pass-throughs into strategic revenue tools for carriers.
Surcharges are tied to weekly EIA fuel price data, but carriers can modify their pricing tables at will, and increasingly do just that, now adjusting them nearly every quarter rather than annually, according to findings from Reveel’s latest report.
Based on analysis, across hundreds of shippers, every $0.09 increase in diesel raises total ground shipping costs by ~0.16% and every $0.05 increase in jet fuel raises total air shipping costs by ~0.15%.
Since the start of the Iran conflict, ground shipping costs have increased ~2.88% and air shipping costs have increased ~4.5%.
For a shipper spending $40 million annually ($20 million ground and $20 million air), that translates to an additional $576,000 in ground shipping costs and $900,000 in air shipping costs.
Key takeaways:
· A shipment in the $3.75–$3.82 per gallon diesel range that carried a 15% surcharge in March 2024 now carries a 22% surcharge. That is a 46.7% cost increase over two years, far outpacing actual fuel price changes.
· Carriers have also used geopolitical crises like the Iran conflict and Russia’s Ukraine invasion as cover to quietly restructure their tables in ways that lock in higher rates even after energy prices fall.
· Shippers should begin to treat fuel surcharges as just one part of a broader accessorial charge landscape that has grown 27% over five years.
