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Fuel surcharge check: did the broker pay the right amount?
Your rate confirmation names a diesel price and a schedule. Type the schedule in, pick the EIA price week, and see the surcharge to the cent for the week of pickup and for the week before. The gap between the two weeks is often where the dispute is.
Weekly seriesEIA retail on-highway diesel and spot prices, weeklyData as of the week of Oct 5, 2026 (latest EIA week in this snapshot)Retrieved Oct 10, 2026, 05:30 UTCretrieved Oct 10, 2026
Read this first
EIA publishes regional averages, not your pump price and not necessarily the index in your contract. The surcharge figures here are arithmetic on the schedule you type in. They are not a quote, a legal position or a statement of what a broker owes. Prices are in dollars per gallon, nominal.
Check one load
Pick the region and the EIA price week, enter the schedule from your rate confirmation, and add what the broker paid.
Diesel price by week, with your peg
Line: EIA weekly retail diesel for the region you pick, last 156 weeks. Dashed line: your peg. Dotted line and ring: the week you pick. The table below lists the numbers.
Pre-filled values are Example data. Replace them with the figures on your rate confirmation.
Surcharge for this load, selected week
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- Diesel price, selected week
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- Diesel price, week before
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- Surcharge, week before
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- Paid by the broker
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- Paid minus selected-week figure
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- Paid minus week-before figure
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- Same load at the latest week
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Enter the schedule and the load.
Formula: first method, surcharge = loaded miles x (price - peg) / miles per gallon. Step method, surcharge = loaded miles x cents per step x number of full steps above the peg. Each result is rounded once to the cent. Nothing you type leaves this page.
The last 26 weeks, all regions
Click a column heading to sort. The last column applies the example schedule (peg $3.50, 6.0 mpg) to the U.S. price and is Example data.
| Week (Monday) | U.S. | East Coast | Midwest | Gulf Coast | Rocky Mountain | West Coast | U.S. change vs prior week | Example surcharge per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2026 | $6.199 | $5.951 | $6.286 | $5.819 | $6.267 | $7.229 | -18.3 c | $0.450 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | $6.382 | $6.137 | $6.526 | $5.955 | $6.407 | $7.357 | -14.7 c | $0.480 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | $6.529 | $6.268 | $6.680 | $6.177 | $6.340 | $7.456 | +24.4 c | $0.505 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | $6.285 | $6.158 | $6.250 | $6.027 | $6.066 | $7.250 | +31.8 c | $0.464 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | $5.967 | $5.744 | $5.946 | $5.754 | $5.805 | $6.987 | +36.8 c | $0.411 |
| Aug 31, 2026 | $5.599 | $5.448 | $5.571 | $5.360 | $5.555 | $6.497 | -5.3 c | $0.350 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | $5.652 | $5.498 | $5.636 | $5.481 | $5.537 | $6.407 | +19.8 c | $0.359 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | $5.454 | $5.340 | $5.435 | $5.237 | $5.427 | $6.203 | +19.7 c | $0.326 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | $5.257 | $5.193 | $5.181 | $5.044 | $5.271 | $6.033 | -9.1 c | $0.293 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | $5.348 | $5.299 | $5.262 | $5.141 | $5.285 | $6.130 | +3.5 c | $0.308 |
| Jul 27, 2026 | $5.313 | $5.354 | $5.196 | $5.087 | $5.141 | $6.067 | +17.9 c | $0.302 |
| Jul 20, 2026 | $5.134 | $5.194 | $4.988 | $4.942 | $4.935 | $5.877 | +33.8 c | $0.272 |
| Jul 13, 2026 | $4.796 | $4.894 | $4.659 | $4.546 | $4.600 | $5.550 | +21.8 c | $0.216 |
| Jul 6, 2026 | $4.578 | $4.694 | $4.458 | $4.225 | $4.484 | $5.425 | -9.0 c | $0.180 |
| Jun 29, 2026 | $4.668 | $4.758 | $4.583 | $4.283 | $4.602 | $5.528 | -16.4 c | $0.195 |
| Jun 22, 2026 | $4.832 | $4.886 | $4.751 | $4.415 | $4.795 | $5.809 | -22.7 c | $0.222 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | $5.059 | $5.048 | $5.011 | $4.646 | $5.019 | $6.074 | -15.1 c | $0.260 |
| Jun 8, 2026 | $5.210 | $5.149 | $5.182 | $4.786 | $5.200 | $6.289 | -14.0 c | $0.285 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | $5.350 | $5.237 | $5.392 | $4.900 | $5.331 | $6.398 | -17.3 c | $0.308 |
| May 25, 2026 | $5.523 | $5.394 | $5.623 | $5.045 | $5.493 | $6.500 | -7.3 c | $0.337 |
| May 18, 2026 | $5.596 | $5.420 | $5.749 | $5.122 | $5.549 | $6.524 | -4.3 c | $0.349 |
| May 11, 2026 | $5.639 | $5.465 | $5.815 | $5.152 | $5.491 | $6.562 | -0.1 c | $0.357 |
| May 4, 2026 | $5.640 | $5.504 | $5.742 | $5.178 | $5.517 | $6.631 | +28.9 c | $0.357 |
| Apr 27, 2026 | $5.351 | $5.425 | $5.131 | $5.012 | $5.270 | $6.530 | -5.2 c | $0.309 |
| Apr 20, 2026 | $5.403 | $5.494 | $5.165 | $5.069 | $5.213 | $6.620 | -20.5 c | $0.317 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | $5.608 | $5.674 | $5.382 | $5.310 | $5.256 | $6.822 | -3.5 c | $0.351 |
Source: EIA open data API v2, series EMD_EPD2D_PTE_*_DPG, retrieved Oct 10, 2026. Example surcharge per mile = (U.S. price - $3.50) / 6.0, rounded to a tenth of a cent. It is Example data, not a real schedule.
Two kinds of surcharge table
Divide by miles per gallon
The surcharge per mile is the price above the peg divided by a fixed miles-per-gallon figure. At a price of $6.199 and a peg of $3.500 with 6.0 mpg that is $0.450 a mile.
Example data
Cents per step
The schedule adds a set number of cents per mile for every full price step above the peg, for example 1.0 cent a mile for each $0.05. A price that sits just below a step pays nothing for that step, so the week you pick matters more.
Example data
What it means for your fleet
- Write the week rule into the rate confirmation. "Price of the Monday on or before pickup" and "price of the week before pickup" are different numbers. Ask which one applies before you book.
- Check five recent loads. Enter each schedule and each pickup date. If the broker paid less than both figures on several loads, collect them before you raise it.
- Keep the region and the peg with the load. A surcharge table without a region is hard to verify later.
- Do not assume the gap is an error. A cap, a minimum haul length or a different index can explain it. Ask for the table in writing.
- Price your own fuel separately. The surcharge covers a share of fuel cost, not all of it. Compare it with your real cost per mile.
Questions
Which diesel price should I compare against?
The one written on your rate confirmation. This page uses the EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel price, which is published for the U.S. and five regions every Monday. Many surcharge tables name an EIA price; yours may name another index, another region or another day. If it does, this tool will not match it.
Why can the broker's number differ from mine?
The usual causes are a different region, a different week (the pickup week or the week before), a different peg or miles-per-gallon figure, rounding, or a cap in the contract. The calculator shows the week-of-pickup and the prior-week figures side by side so you can see which one the broker used.
Is the result what I am owed?
No. It is arithmetic on a schedule you type in, using a public price. Your signed rate confirmation and carrier agreement decide what is owed. Use the figure to ask a better question, not as a claim.
What is a peg?
A peg is the base diesel price in the schedule. Below it no surcharge is paid; above it the surcharge grows with the price. The peg is whatever the contract says. We do not suggest one, and the $3.50 in the form is an example.
How current is the data?
It is a snapshot, retrieved Oct 10, 2026, with the latest EIA week Oct 5, 2026. EIA updates its weekly price on Mondays, so the live price may be newer than this page. This is a reason to check the date, not a live feed.
Related guides and tools
- Diesel prices: the weekly EIA series by region
- Diesel sensitivity: what a price move does to your margin
- Spot to pump: how wholesale diesel moves ahead of the pump
- Cost per mile: your own cost per mile
- Minimum rate: the lowest rate that still pays
- Intelligence hub: all open-data pages
See what your last 20 loads show.
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