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Cost-line escalator: how much have your costs moved since you set your rate?
Diesel, driver pay, trucks, tires, parts and insurance have each followed their own path since the day you agreed a rate. Pick the base month, enter your cost mix, and the tool applies the published indexes line by line to give a new cost per mile and a rate review text you can edit and send.
Monthly seriesBLS producer prices, hourly earnings, CPI and EIA diesel, monthlyData as of Aug 2026 (latest month in this snapshot)Retrieved Oct 10, 2026, 05:30 UTCretrieved Oct 10, 2026
Read this first
Indexes are national and describe prices, not your costs. Each line uses a stand-in series (see the table). The latest BLS months are preliminary. The result is a calculation, not a market rate, a quote or advice. The cost mix is yours. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.
Run your own mix
Choose the month your rate or costs were set. Every line comes from a published index; every share comes from you.
Cost and price indexes since your base month, base = 100
- Diesel
- Truckload price index
- Hourly pay
- New heavy truck price
- Tires
- Parts
- Insurance
- Consumer prices
Lines are rebased to 100 at the base month you pick. Diesel is the EIA monthly average of weekly U.S. prices; the rest are BLS series. Latest month: Aug 2026.
Pre-filled values are Example data: the cost mix is not an industry average. Use your own books.
Your cost per mile now, from your mix and the indexes
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- Change per mile
- -
- Over a year
- -
- Truckload price index over the same months
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Enter your cost per mile and your mix.
Formula: for each line, change per mile = your cost per mile x its share x (index now / index at base month - 1). Lines are added; each is rounded to a tenth of a cent. Index values are used as published. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Effect by cost line
| Cost line | Index change | Your share | Effect per mile |
|---|
Rate review text
How each index has moved
Latest value and change over three windows. Click a heading to sort.
| Series | Latest month (Aug 2026) | Change over 12 months | Change since Jan 2021 | Change since Jan 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel (EIA, monthly average) | $5.462 /gal | +45.9% | +103.7% | +83.3% |
| Truckload price index (PPI) | 207.644 (preliminary) | +13.9% | +42.1% | +48.4% |
| Truck transportation hourly pay (BLS) | $33.74 /h (preliminary) | +4.1% | +25.7% | +35.8% |
| Heavy truck price (PPI) | 167.895 (preliminary) | +1.2% | +9.8% | +11.5% |
| Tire price (PPI) | 226.519 (preliminary) | +1.9% | +31.2% | +33.1% |
| Motor vehicle parts price (PPI) | 141.845 (preliminary) | +5.7% | +20.0% | +20.5% |
| Insurance carriers price (PPI) | 200.665 (preliminary) | +2.7% | +28.1% | +29.6% |
| Consumer prices, all items (CPI) | 334.980 | +3.4% | +28.1% | +33.1% |
Sources: BLS Public Data API (PCU series, CES4348400003, CUUR0000SA0) and EIA open data API v2 (weekly retail diesel, monthly average). Retrieved Oct 10, 2026. Preliminary: BLS revises recent months. CPI has no published value for Oct 2025; the previous month is carried forward there. Change = latest / earlier - 1, from the integer values shown.
What each stand-in series is
| Cost line | Series | Fits poorly when |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel fuel | EIA weekly U.S. retail diesel, monthly average | Your fuel card prices differ from the U.S. average or you buy in one region |
| Driver and shop pay | BLS CES4348400003, average hourly earnings of all employees, truck transportation | You pay per mile, or your pay differs from the industry average |
| Truck and trailer cost | BLS PPI PCU336120336120, heavy duty truck manufacturing | Your payment is fixed by a lease or loan |
| Tires | BLS PPI PCU326211326211, tire manufacturing (except retreading) | You run retreads or buy by contract |
| Parts and repair | BLS PPI PCU336390336390, other motor vehicle parts manufacturing | Shop labour is most of your bill |
| Insurance | BLS PPI PCU524126524126, direct property and casualty insurers | Your premium follows your own record and policy terms |
| Everything else | BLS CPI-U all items, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SA0) | Your other costs are mostly fixed |
What it means for your fleet
- Date your last rate change. The base month is the month your rate or your cost per mile was last set. Without it a review letter has nothing to stand on.
- Use your own cost mix. A fuel-heavy lane and a local lane have different shares. Open your books, not an industry guess.
- Read the truckload index next to your costs. If your costs moved more than the market index in the same months, the market has not passed it on yet. If less, expect a harder talk.
- Send facts, not a demand. The text lists each index, its change and its source. A broker can check every number.
- Re-run it each quarter. Re-run when a new month of data is out. Keep the letter and the date.
Questions
Is this a rate, or a rate suggestion?
No. It is arithmetic. The tool applies published price indexes to a cost mix you enter. The result shows how your own costs would have moved if each line followed its index. A lane rate depends on the market, the lane and the broker; no index here is a lane rate.
How good is each index as a match for my cost?
Rough at best. Hourly pay is for all employees in truck transportation, not drivers only. The heavy-truck price index is for new trucks, not your lease or loan rate. The insurance index covers direct property and casualty insurers, not commercial auto only. Tires and parts are for manufacturers. Diesel is the U.S. average at the pump. Each match is a stand-in and the table says which.
Why are the latest BLS values marked preliminary?
BLS revises the latest months of these series for several months. The page shows the latest values at the date retrieved, and the letter text states the retrieval date.
Where did the cost mix come from?
From you. The pre-filled mix is labelled Example data and is not an industry average. Replace it with shares from your own books.
How current is the data?
Snapshot retrieved Oct 10, 2026. BLS monthly data run to Aug 2026. Diesel is the EIA weekly series averaged by month, to the same month. One CPI month in the sample was not published; the previous value is carried forward and noted below the table.
Related guides and tools
- Freight cost indices: prices, volume and jobs next to diesel
- Trucking labor and prices: BLS jobs and pay
- Cost per mile: find your all-in cost per mile
- Minimum rate: the lowest rate that still pays
- Fuel surcharge check: verify a surcharge on one load
- Open data atlas: every source and its limits
See what your last 20 loads show.
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