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Fuel surcharge peg: how often is it hit?
A surcharge only pays when diesel is above the peg in your schedule. This page counts the weeks since 2019 in which the EIA weekly diesel price was above a peg you choose, the longest stretch above it and what that would have paid per mile at your fuel economy.
Weekly seriesEIA retail on-highway diesel, weekly, since Jan 7, 2019Data as of the week of Oct 5, 2026 (latest EIA week in this snapshot)Retrieved Oct 10, 2026, 06:59 UTCretrieved Oct 10, 2026
Read this first
This counts weeks against the EIA published average, not against the index, region or week named in your contract. The per-mile figure divides the excess by your miles per gallon and ignores steps, caps, minimums and lags. It describes the past and does not forecast diesel.
Try your own peg
Pick the region, the window and your peg. The chart below shows the U.S. price against a $3.50 peg.
Weekly U.S. retail diesel, dollars per gallon. Dashed line: a $3.50 peg.
Pre-filled values are Example data. Replace them with your own.
Weeks above the peg
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- Share of weeks
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- Longest run above
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- Latest week
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- Average excess
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- Surcharge per mile
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- Surcharge a year
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Enter a peg.
Formula: a week counts when the price is above the peg. Surcharge per mile = (price minus peg) / miles per gallon, averaged over every week in the window, weeks at or below the peg counting zero. Mills (tenths of a cent) and integer cents, rounded once. Nothing you type leaves this page.
How often each peg level was hit, U.S.
Weeks since Jan 7, 2019 with the price above each peg. Click a column heading to sort.
| Peg, dollars per gallon | Weeks above | Share of weeks | Longest run above, weeks | Current run above, weeks | Average excess when above | Surcharge per mile at 6.5 mpg, all weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.500 | 373 of 405 | 92.1% | 306 | 306 | $1.401 | $0.198 |
| $3.000 | 339 of 405 | 83.7% | 293 | 293 | $1.011 | $0.130 |
| $3.500 | 249 of 405 | 61.5% | 162 | 38 | $0.806 | $0.076 |
| $4.000 | 123 of 405 | 30.4% | 64 | 31 | $0.905 | $0.042 |
| $4.500 | 85 of 405 | 21.0% | 49 | 31 | $0.720 | $0.023 |
| $5.000 | 58 of 405 | 14.3% | 21 | 12 | $0.456 | $0.010 |
Source: EIA open data API v2, series EMD_EPD2D_PTE_NUS_DPG, retrieved Oct 10, 2026. Weeks strictly above the peg. Surcharge per mile uses 6.5 mpg and counts every week in the snapshot.
Year by year at a $3.50 peg
Weeks in each calendar year with the U.S. price above $3.50. The first and last years are partial.
| Year | Weeks in the snapshot | Weeks above $3.50 | Share of weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 52 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 52 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 52 | 12 | 23.1% |
| 2022 | 52 | 52 | 100.0% |
| 2023 | 52 | 52 | 100.0% |
| 2024 | 53 | 49 | 92.5% |
| 2025 | 52 | 46 | 88.5% |
| 2026 | 40 | 38 | 95.0% |
Source: EIA open data API v2, retrieved Oct 10, 2026.
By region at a $3.50 peg
The same count for each EIA region. Latest vs peg is in cents a gallon.
| Region | Latest price | Weeks above $3.50 | Share of weeks | Latest vs peg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | $6.199 | 249 of 405 | 61.5% | +270 c |
| New England | $6.476 | 260 of 405 | 64.2% | +298 c |
| Central Atlantic | $6.485 | 263 of 405 | 64.9% | +299 c |
| Lower Atlantic | $5.699 | 237 of 405 | 58.5% | +220 c |
| Midwest | $6.286 | 236 of 405 | 58.3% | +279 c |
| Gulf Coast | $5.819 | 154 of 405 | 38.0% | +232 c |
| Rocky Mountain | $6.267 | 239 of 405 | 59.0% | +277 c |
| West Coast except California | $6.490 | 275 of 405 | 67.9% | +299 c |
| California | $8.082 | 360 of 405 | 88.9% | +458 c |
Source: EIA open data API v2, retrieved Oct 10, 2026. Latest week Oct 5, 2026.
What it means for your fleet
- Read the peg in the contract. Find the price where the surcharge starts, the index and the week it uses.
- Count how often it applies. A peg that is below the price almost every week pays almost every week. A peg that is above it pays rarely.
- Compare pegs, not only rates. Two brokers with the same line-haul rate can differ by several cents a mile through the peg alone.
- Check a real load. Use the fuel surcharge check to test one settlement against the schedule.
- Revisit when diesel moves. A peg set when diesel was low can sit far below today's price. The schedule may be worth a talk.
Questions
What is a peg?
In a fuel surcharge schedule the peg is the diesel price at which the surcharge starts. Below it the surcharge is zero. Above it the carrier is paid something for each step, often (price minus peg) divided by the truck's miles per gallon. Schedules differ, so the contract is the authority.
Which price counts as above the peg?
This page counts a week when the EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel price is strictly above the peg. Your contract may use a different index, a different region, the week before, or a step table, and the result will differ.
Why look at weeks since 2019?
A longer history shows how often a peg set at one price level was actually reached, including the jump in 2022. A peg that was above the price in 2019 and 2020 and below it every week since is a different promise from one hit half the time.
Is the per-mile figure what I would be paid?
No. It is an average of (price minus peg) / mpg over all the weeks, with your miles per gallon. Real schedules use rounding steps, minimums and maximums, deadhead rules and a lag. Use it to size the order of magnitude and compare pegs, not to audit a settlement. Use the fuel surcharge check tool for a real load.
How current is it?
The snapshot was retrieved Oct 10, 2026 and runs through the EIA week of Oct 5, 2026. EIA publishes on Mondays, so a newer week may exist.
Related guides and tools
- Fuel surcharge check: verify one broker schedule
- Diesel budget buffer: how many cents to hold in reserve
- Diesel prices: weekly EIA series by region
- Fuel surcharge guide: how schedules work
- Cost per mile: your own cost per mile
- All tools: free calculators
See what your last 20 loads show.
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