Fuel surcharges (FSC) are widely used in American truck transportation to compensate carriers for fuel price volatility. Current FSC schedules, however, typically rely on a single national average diesel price, even for lanes traversing regions with widely differing fuel costs. This introduces systemic unfairness: carriers may refuel in markets where diesel is cheaper or more expensive than the national average, yet reimbursement remains unchanged, distorting true cost recovery.
Trucks account for over 68% of domestic freight tonnage and 73% of shipment value in the United States (Commodity Flow Survey, 2022). Given the geographic diversity of freight movement, FSC reimbursement based on national averages often misaligns with actual regional fuel costs. Diesel prices used in this study are derived from U.S. Department of Energy weekly publications, which provide transparent regional benchmarks.
This study extends regional FSC modeling by addressing a second structural limitation of current practice: the assumption of constant fuel economy. Heavy-duty vehicle fuel consumption varies with gross vehicle weight, yet conventional FSC schedules apply a single fuel-efficiency parameter to all shipments. By incorporating a payload-dependent fuel economy relationship into the FSC formula, the model evaluates reimbursement differences across shipments of varying weights in addition to regional price exposure.
The proposed framework integrates regional fuel price variation and weight-dependent fuel consumption within the existing surcharge structure. The approach provides a transparent and operationally implementable method to better align fuel reimbursement with actual fuel usage and improve cost allocation between shippers and carriers.