What is a Fuel Surcharge? Pricing Component
A fuel surcharge is an additional fee added to a delivery price to account for the carrier's own fuel costs in transporting your order. As diesel prices rise, it costs more to operate the delivery truck — the fuel surcharge passes this variable cost through to the customer rather than building it into a fixed delivery rate.
How It Relates to Fuel Delivery
Fuel surcharges exist because carrier fuel costs are volatile and unpredictable. A delivery that costs a carrier $50 in truck fuel at $3.50/gallon diesel would cost $65 at $4.50/gallon. Rather than constantly adjusting base delivery rates, carriers add a surcharge that fluctuates with the DOE (Department of Energy) weekly diesel price index.
Most fuel surcharges are calculated as a percentage of the freight rate, pegged to the DOE national average diesel price. For example, a carrier might charge a 15% surcharge when diesel is $3.50-$3.99/gallon, increasing by 1% for every $0.10 increase. Some carriers use a flat CPG surcharge instead.
BettyJet includes all surcharges in your quoted price — we don't surprise you with add-ons after delivery. When we quote 15 CPG above rack, that includes carrier freight, surcharges, and our margin. What we quote is what you pay.
Why It Matters for BettyJet Customers
Hidden fuel surcharges can inflate your delivery cost unexpectedly. BettyJet provides all-inclusive pricing — our quotes include any applicable surcharges so you know exactly what you'll pay before delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does BettyJet charge a fuel surcharge?
BettyJet includes all delivery costs — including any carrier fuel surcharges — in your quoted price. We don't add hidden surcharges after delivery. The price we quote is the price you pay.
Why do fuel surcharges change?
Fuel surcharges track the cost of diesel used by the delivery truck itself. As the DOE weekly diesel price index rises or falls, surcharges adjust accordingly. BettyJet absorbs this complexity by providing stable, all-inclusive pricing.
Related Terms
ULSD stands for Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel — a cleaner-burning diesel fuel containing no more than 15 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur. Since 2006, the EPA has required all on-road diesel sold in the United States to meet the ULSD standard, replacing Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) which contained up to 500 ppm of sulfur.
Dyed DieselDyed diesel — also called red diesel or off-road diesel — is standard ULSD fuel that has been dyed red to indicate it is exempt from federal and state road taxes. It is chemically identical to on-road diesel but costs significantly less because the tax (typically $0.40-0.60/gallon) is not applied.
Wet HosingWet hosing is the practice of fueling vehicles or equipment directly from a mobile fuel truck rather than from a stationary storage tank. The fuel truck pulls up to each vehicle and fills it on-site — no bulk tank, no pump, no infrastructure required.
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