When diesel climbs faster than the FSC table steps

A surcharge table pays 1¢ a mile for every fixed jump in diesel, and only on loaded miles. Fuel cost rises a little faster than that, empty miles earn nothing, and the carrier pays the fuel vendor weeks before customers pay the FSC. Move the sliders to see the cash that gets tied up.

Net fuel / mile
Total cash outlay, annual
Extra cash needed

Inputs

Net fuel per mile across diesel prices

Hover to read a price. Click or tap the chart to set the diesel slider.

View chart data

Baseline versus now

How the numbers are wired
  • FSC per loaded mile = floor((diesel − peg) ÷ step) × 1¢. Nothing is paid at or below the peg, and nothing is paid for a partial step.
  • FSC is collected on loaded miles only: FSC per fleet mile = FSC per loaded mile × (1 − deadhead %).
  • Fuel per mile = (diesel − fuel discount) ÷ MPG on every mile. Net fuel per mile = fuel per mile − FSC per fleet mile.
  • Fleet miles = trucks × miles per truck. Gallons = fleet miles ÷ MPG.
  • Total cash outlay = gallons × price paid (DOE diesel − fuel discount), annualized at that price.
  • Fuel floated = outlay × (days to collect − days to pay the vendor) ÷ 365. This is the fuel the carrier finances before customers pay.
  • Extra cash needed = change in annual net fuel + change in fuel floated, both measured against the baseline diesel price. The net fuel change is split into empty-mile fuel (what a perfect step table would still miss) and table step lag (the rest, including partial-step rounding).
  • Fuel is bought at the DOE national average less the fuel discount, a flat cents per gallon at both prices. The surcharge is still figured off the DOE price. Assumes the same deadhead share at both prices.

DOE national on-highway diesel: $6.127 per gallon (shown as $6.13), EIA survey of Nov 9, 2026. Source: EIA gasoline and diesel fuel update. The next print posts Tuesday. Past-week prices in the dropdowns are weekly DOE readings from January 2022 through Nov 9, 2026, compiled from the DOE weekly series; confirm against EIA before using them with a client.