Glossary
Fuel surcharge
A fuel surcharge is an adjustable fee added to freight rates that rises and falls with fuel prices, protecting carriers from volatility without renegotiating every contract.
Because fuel is a large, fluctuating share of transport cost, carriers apply a surcharge tied to a published fuel price index. When fuel rises, the surcharge rises automatically; when it falls, so does the charge — keeping base rates stable.
A TMS pricing engine can manage fuel surcharges as a dynamic price index that auto-updates across all affected calculations, so a single index change flows through to every relevant quote and invoice.
Frequently asked questions
How is a fuel surcharge calculated?
Typically as a percentage of the base rate or a per-kilometre amount tied to a fuel price index. When the index crosses defined thresholds, the surcharge adjusts. A pricing engine can automate this across all calculations.
See Fuel surcharge in a real TMS
Transportial puts these concepts to work in one operational platform — planning, tracking, documents, and finance.