{"id":14683,"date":"2022-09-26T02:48:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T09:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/?p=14683"},"modified":"2023-11-30T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T19:22:07","slug":"what-are-fuel-surcharges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/what-are-fuel-surcharges\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Fuel Surcharges and How Do They Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fuel cost has been a big topic of discussion in the shipping industry this year. As many ecommerce brands know, fuel rates and fuel surcharges can be expensive and contribute to a large portion of your <\/span>overall shipping costs<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While fuel surcharges may not be completely avoidable, understanding how they work can help you navigate this potentially costly aspect of your transportation cost. Each carrier calculates fuel rates and fuel surcharges differently, so it\u2019s a big factor when choosing a carrier and shipping service. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is everything you need to know about fuel surcharges, how they work, and how to make sure you\u2019re not paying more than you should. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are Fuel Surcharges? <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Surcharges<\/span><\/a> are additional fees that shipping carriers add on top of their base rates. Fuel surcharges are calculated from the carrier\u2019s base fuel rate and applied to some shipping services but not others.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The carriers that apply fuel surcharges are mostly the bigger companies like UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Some regional carriers might also have fuel surcharges, but not all. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What many ecommerce brands may not know is that these fuel charges are calculated differently at each carrier and applied to shipping services differently as well. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How are Fuel Surcharges Calculated?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most fuel surcharges are calculated as a <\/span>percentage of the base fuel rate<\/span><\/a>. Although in some instances it is a flat fee, like with DHL for example.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you know what fuel surcharges you are charged for? That requires a bit of explaining and some simple math. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carriers calculate their surcharges through an index-based system. There are three variables to a fuel surcharge index.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n