This week's UPS and FedEx Ground fuel surcharges, worked out from the U.S. EIA national average on-highway diesel price, with eight weeks of history, a cost calculator and a check for the surcharge on your own invoice.
How it works: UPS updates surcharges every Monday based on the prior week's EIA diesel price. FedEx updates every Wednesday. Both use the U.S. national average on-highway diesel price published by the Energy Information Administration — not a regional price.
Want just one carrier? See this week's UPS fuel surcharge or FedEx fuel surcharge on its own page.
EIA week of Oct 12, 2026 · national diesel $6.18/gal
| Carrier / service | This week |
|---|---|
| UPS Ground estimate This page | 24.00% → unchanged from last week |
| FedEx Ground estimate This page | 24.50% → unchanged from last week |
| LTL dry van (composite) View → | 50.00% → unchanged from last week |
| Reefer LTL (composite) View → | 56.50% → unchanged from last week |
| Reefer FTL ($/loaded mile) View → | $0.91 → unchanged from last week |
UPS and FedEx rows are the carriers' published Ground tables where we have loaded them, otherwise marked estimate. LTL and reefer figures are CargoTools composites derived from the same EIA diesel price — see each page for the method.
Enter your average base rate, monthly shipments and carrier to see this week's fuel surcharge in dollars.
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Shipping a lot?
| Week of | Diesel | UPS Ground | FedEx Ground | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 2026 NOW | $6.18 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▼0.020 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $6.20 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▼0.183 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | $6.38 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▼0.147 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | $6.53 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▲0.244 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | $6.29 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▲0.318 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | $5.97 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▲0.368 |
| Aug 31, 2026 | $5.60 | 24.00% | 24.50% | ▼0.053 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | $5.65 | 24.00% | 24.50% | — |
Data: U.S. EIA National Average On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price. Surcharge columns marked "est." above are CargoTools estimates until the carrier table is loaded. UPS surcharges effective Monday following EIA release. FedEx effective Wednesday.
Many LTL carriers price fuel off a table that starts at a diesel "peg" and adds 1% for every few cents above it. A common benchmark is a $1.20/gal peg with 1% per $0.06 — at this week's diesel of $6.18 that is 82%. Your carrier's own table governs what you owe; this tells you whether it is far from the common benchmark.
Refrigerated freight?
Reefer Fuel Surcharge Tracker →
Reefer LTL composite + FTL spot $/loaded mile, both tied to live EIA diesel.
A fuel surcharge is a percentage of your base shipping rate added to every invoice by UPS and FedEx to offset the cost of diesel and jet fuel. It's not a flat fee — it scales with your shipping spend. A $200 base rate with a 22% surcharge adds $44 to the bill. On 500 shipments a month that's $22,000 a month in fuel surcharges alone.
Two things move the percentage. The weekly diesel price moves you up or down the carrier's table, one band at a time. And from time to time the carrier republishes the table itself, shifting every band — so a surcharge can rise even when diesel is flat. That second kind of change is announced by the carrier, which is why this page shows which table each number comes from and when it was last checked.
This week diesel is $6.18 a gallon. UPS Ground is 24.00% and FedEx Ground 24.50% (estimates where marked). A shipper with $20,000 a month of UPS base charges pays $20,000 × 24.00% = $4,800.00 a month in fuel surcharge, or $57,600 a year.
| Monthly base spend | Fuel surcharge at 24.00% | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $1,200.00 | $14,400 |
| $20,000 | $4,800.00 | $57,600 |
| $100,000 | $24,000.00 | $288,000 |
This week (Oct 12, 2026), the UPS Ground fuel surcharge is 24.00% and FedEx Ground is 24.50% (estimates where marked), based on EIA diesel at $6.18/gallon. The current rate is shown at the top of this page and updates automatically from the EIA diesel price.
UPS uses the prior week's EIA national average on-highway diesel price. Each diesel price band maps to a surcharge percentage in UPS's published table. Surcharges update every Monday and apply through Sunday.
Carriers periodically republish their surcharge tables — the bands that convert diesel prices into percentages. When a table moves up, the surcharge rises at the same diesel price. Compare the table effective date on the carrier's page with the date of your invoice.
They use the same EIA diesel index but different tables, and they update on different days (UPS on Monday, FedEx on Wednesday). This week UPS Ground is 24.00% and FedEx Ground is 24.50%.
On most parcel contracts the percentage is applied to the transportation charge and to many accessorials (residential, additional handling). Your contract decides which charges are exempt — check it before disputing.