Methodology, sources and editorial standards
Every rate on this site is either confirmed from the carrier’s own publication, or calculated from the carrier’s published table and the official EIA fuel price. Each value carries a status label, and calculated values are checked against the carrier’s rate once it is posted.
Who publishes this site
ParcelFuelSurcharge.com is researched, published and maintained by Logistics Contract Optimizer, an independent parcel, LTL and truckload contract consulting firm in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The data is maintained by the firm’s pricing team. The site is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by UPS, FedEx, DHL, OnTrac, Amazon or USPS. Because the publisher sells contract-review services, every page separates rate data from commentary, and calculators that model carrier economics are labeled as illustrative.
Status labels
- Carrier published: Confirmed from the carrier’s own publication.
- Calculated: Derived from the carrier’s published table and the applicable EIA fuel price. Subject to confirmation against the carrier’s published rate.
- Estimated: Based on incomplete information, such as an averaging window the carrier does not fully publish.
- Stale: Not verified within its expected update window. The last known value is shown with its date.
- Unavailable: A reliable rate cannot be determined right now.
A value’s verification date is set only when the value is actually read from the carrier or entered from the carrier’s publication. Loading or refreshing a page never changes it. If a source fails, the last valid rate is kept with its real date, and the failure is logged and reported to the operator.
Sources
- Fuel prices: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly retail on-highway diesel, U.S. average; weekly U.S. Gulf Coast kerosene-type jet fuel spot price; and the EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook for forecasts.
- Carrier rates and tables: the fuel surcharge pages, tables and service guides of UPS, FedEx, DHL Express, DHL eCommerce, OnTrac, Amazon Shipping and Amazon Air Cargo; USPS newsroom announcements and price filings; Amazon Seller Central for FBA.
How carriers differ
| Carrier | Index | Which week’s price | Rounding | Steps | Our verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground | EIA U.S. on-highway diesel | The EIA price released the week before | Rounds the price to the nearest cent | 0.25 percentage points per $0.09 of diesel; wider $0.27 steps below the table’s lower range | Matched every published week Jul–Oct 2026 |
| FedEx Ground | EIA U.S. on-highway diesel | The price reported for the Monday one week earlier; FedEx may use a longer lag if EIA is delayed | Compares the unrounded price | 0.25 percentage points per $0.09 of diesel | Matched every published week Jul–Oct 2026 |
| OnTrac | EIA U.S. on-highway diesel | Prior week’s EIA price | Compares the unrounded price | 0.25 percentage points per $0.09 of diesel; wider steps at low prices | Matched every published week Jul–Oct 2026 |
| Amazon Shipping | EIA U.S. on-highway diesel | Per Amazon’s service guide; weekly timing assumed to match the others | Not stated by Amazon; unrounded price assumed | Amazon’s own table (different from UPS and FedEx) | Not independently checked against weekly published rates |
Air services use jet fuel instead: UPS and FedEx use the EIA U.S. Gulf Coast kerosene-type jet fuel price on their own lags. Each carrier also publishes which accessorial charges carry fuel. These rules can change without notice; every change we detect is logged on the rule change page.
Source checks
Every source is checked about every six hours. A failed check never overwrites the time a source last worked.
| Source | Latest check | Last attempted (UTC) | Last successful (UTC) | Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EIA on-highway diesel | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | The operation was aborted |
| EIA Gulf Coast jet fuel | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | The operation was aborted |
| OnTrac surcharge page | OK | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | |
| DHL Express surcharge page | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | HTTP 520 |
| DHL eCommerce surcharge page | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | HTTP 520 |
| Amazon Air Cargo FSC page | OK | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | |
| FedEx fuel surcharge pages | OK | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | |
| UPS fuel surcharge page | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | UPS table is rendered in the browser; using UPS index tables |
| EIA regional diesel | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | No regional diesel prices parsed |
| EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook | Failed | 2026-10-28 15:44 | never | Add an EIA_API_KEY secret for the monthly forecast; showing EIA’s published annual figures |
Several carrier sites block or do not serve automated requests. When that happens, rates are calculated from the carrier’s published table (and labeled Calculated) or entered by hand from the carrier’s page (labeled Carrier published, with the date entered).
Calculated vs. carrier-published track record
For every week where the carrier’s published rate is on file, the rate our table calculation would have produced.
| Carrier and service | Weeks compared | Exact matches | Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground and Ground Saver | 17 | 17 | None |
| FedEx Ground and Home Delivery | 20 | 20 | None |
| OnTrac Ground, national index | 26 | 26 | None |
| UPS Domestic Air | 1 | 1 | None |
| FedEx Express package, domestic | 1 | 1 | None |
| Amazon Air Cargo Air cargo, per shipment | 1 | 1 | None |
| DHL Express Export | 1 | 0 | Oct 26: published 37.25%, calculated 37.75% |
| DHL Express Import | 1 | 0 | Oct 26: published 41.00%, calculated 41.50% |
Differences on air services are expected where the carrier averages jet fuel over a window it does not fully publish; those values are labeled Estimated. A difference on a ground service usually means the carrier changed its table, and it is logged on the rule change page.
Editorial standards
- Rates come from primary sources: the carrier’s own publication or the EIA. Third-party articles are cited only for context, never as the source of a rate.
- We do not invent rates, forecasts or financial figures. A forecast is labeled with the source and release date it comes from, and a scenario is labeled as a scenario.
- Differences between surcharge percentages are given in percentage points. A move from 29.50% to 30.25% is 0.75 percentage points.
- Statements about carrier finances are labeled by type: company disclosure, third-party analysis, modeled scenario or editorial commentary. Surcharge revenue is not profit.
- Business figures about Logistics Contract Optimizer are as reported by the firm.
Corrections policy
If a rate on this site differs from the carrier’s published rate for the same ship date, the carrier’s rate is correct. We correct errors as soon as they are confirmed, keep the historical record (we do not silently overwrite past weeks), and note material corrections on the rule change page. To report an error, email sales@contractoptimizer.com or call (920) 401-6815.
Your invoice
Your invoice uses the rate in effect on the ship date under your agreement, which may include a negotiated fuel discount or cap. This site shows published list percentages.
Data reuse
Rate data and charts may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with a link to ParcelFuelSurcharge.com. Machine-readable data: rate records with provenance, latest rates, history (CSV). Carrier names are trademarks of their owners.
The percentage is published. What you pay is negotiable.
Fuel discounts, caps, accessorial exclusions and table protection are common contract terms. Logistics Contract Optimizer, the publisher of this site, reviews parcel agreements at no cost.