Current LTL fuel surcharge: this week’s diesel price and what carriers charge

Fuel is often the second-biggest number on an LTL invoice after the linehaul itself, and it moves every week. Here is this week’s diesel index, what five carriers’ published tables say at that price, and how to check the fuel line on your own freight bill.

By Ryan Poynter, SVP of LTL, Armstrong Transport Group · Updated September 24, 2026

This week’s U.S. diesel price (DOE/EIA)

$6.382 per gallon, week of September 28, 2026. That is 14.7¢ lower than the prior week ($6.529) and 158.6¢ above where it stood the week of Jul 13, 2026. This is the U.S. national average retail price for No. 2 on-highway diesel from the Energy Information Administration, the index nearly every LTL carrier’s fuel table is built on. This page refreshes it automatically once a day.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, weekly U.S. No. 2 diesel retail price (series EPD2D, U.S. average), via the EIA open-data API. *Range across the carrier rules in the next section that cover that price; a carrier whose rule doesn’t reach that price is left out of that week’s range.

What carriers’ published tables say at this price

We read each carrier’s own fuel surcharge table or rules tariff and stored the rule that covers today’s diesel range. The percentages below are computed on this page from those rules and the EIA price above, so they move when diesel moves. Tables as of September 2026; always check the carrier’s current tariff, because carriers reissue them.

How each rule reads in today’s range: Old Dominion (ODFL) 27.82% at 370¢; +0.5 pt per 5¢; XPO 31.25% at $3.70; +0.5 pt per 5¢; Estes 30.7% at $3.66; +0.1 pt per 1¢; FedEx Freight 41.5% at $4.57; +0.1 pt per 1¢; ABF Freight 42.6% at $5.00; +0.1 pt per 1¢. ODFL notes that two additional percentage points may apply in some cases under its 128 series tariff. XPO’s volume table (shipments of 15,000 lb or more) is a separate, higher schedule. FedEx Freight’s rule is taken from its published weekly table. Saia and R+L publish their fuel schedules on the pages linked; we didn’t compute a number for them. Check the carrier’s current tariff before relying on any figure here.

At $6.382, the spread between the lowest table (Old Dominion (ODFL), 54.32%) and the highest (FedEx Freight, 59.6%) is 5.28 points. On a $500.00 net linehaul that is $26.40 of difference on the fuel line alone. That gap is real, but it says nothing about the base rate each carrier charges you, which is why the fuel percentage is a poor way to pick a carrier on its own.

How an LTL fuel surcharge works

A fuel surcharge (FSC) is how LTL carriers pass changing diesel costs through without reissuing their base rates every week. The mechanics are close to identical across the industry:

1. The index. Every Monday, EIA surveys retail diesel stations and publishes the U.S. average, usually on Tuesday. Carriers key their tables to that national number, not to what they paid at the pump.
2. The table. Each carrier publishes a table that maps diesel price bands to a percentage. ODFL and XPO move in half-point steps for every 5¢; Estes, FedEx Freight and ABF move 0.1 point for every 1¢ in the current range. Tables differ in their base percentage, so two carriers can sit several points apart at the same price.
3. The effective date. The new percentage takes effect on the carrier’s reset day, commonly the Wednesday or Monday after EIA publishes, and holds for a week. Your shipment gets the percentage in effect on its pickup date.
4. The base it applies to. The percentage is multiplied by the linehaul charge after your discount. Carrier tariffs generally exclude accessorials such as liftgate, residential or inside delivery from that base. ABF’s fuel page, for example, says the surcharge applies to linehaul charges with discounts applied but not to special service charges (as of September 2026).

For how the linehaul itself is built from freight class, weight, the carrier’s base rate and your discount, see how LTL rates are calculated. For the charges fuel does not apply to, see the LTL accessorial charges guide.

A rule of thumb for this diesel range

In today’s range, every published rule above works out to about one percentage point of fuel surcharge for every 10¢ change in diesel: ODFL and XPO add 0.5 point per 5¢, and Estes, FedEx Freight and ABF add 0.1 point per 1¢. On a $500.00 net linehaul, a 10¢ move in diesel changes the fuel charge by about $5.00. A 50¢ run-up adds about $25.00 to that same shipment, with no change to your rate or discount.

Worked example: fuel on a $500.00 linehaul

Say a two-pallet shipment rates at a tariff linehaul of $2,000, and your pricing agreement carries a 75% discount. The discounted linehaul is $2,000 × (1 − 0.75) = $500.00. Fuel is figured on that $500.00, not on the $2,000.

At this week’s $6.382 diesel price:

Take Old Dominion (ODFL) as the example: $500.00 × 54.32% = $271.60 in fuel, for $771.60 before accessorials. Add a liftgate at delivery and that fee is typically added on top without fuel applied to it (varies by carrier tariff).

Why the discount matters twice

Keep the same $2,000 tariff linehaul, but compare a 70% discount with an 80% discount. The net linehauls are $600 and $400. At a 54.32% fuel surcharge the fuel charges are $325.92 and $217.28. The bigger discount saves $200 on the linehaul and another $108.64 on fuel. When diesel is high, the fuel line magnifies every point of discount you win or lose.

How to check the fuel line on an LTL invoice

1. Find the pickup date on the freight bill and the carrier’s fuel percentage in effect that week (most carriers post a weekly history next to their table).
2. Find the net linehaul: the rated charge after discount and after any minimum charge, before accessorials.
3. Multiply. Net linehaul × FSC % should match the fuel line to within rounding. Some tariffs also set a small minimum fuel charge; ODFL’s 128-CC tariff, for instance, names a $1.50 minimum on the percentage increase (as of September 2026; check the carrier’s current tariff).
4. Check the base. If the fuel charge is higher than your math, see whether fuel was applied to accessorials, or whether a reweigh or reclass raised the linehaul first. See freight reweighs and reclasses.

The most common fuel error isn’t the percentage; it’s the base. A reclass from class 70 to class 100 raises the linehaul, and the fuel line rises with it. Getting the estimated density-based freight class right before pickup, with the freight density calculator, protects both numbers.

Why the fuel percentage isn’t the number to shop on

A carrier with a high fuel table can still be the cheapest all-in if its base rate or your discount is better, and the reverse is also true. Compare the total: linehaul after discount, plus fuel, plus the accessorials your shipment actually needs.

That is also how we report pricing on this site. The paid-rate ranges on the pallet shipping cost guide and the lane pages are all-in rates Armstrong customers paid, including fuel and any accessorials, for the middle 50% of 97,351 LTL shipments (September 2025 – August 2026). A typical single-pallet shipment in that data ran $255–$525 all-in. See how we calculate these figures. Those figures are history, not quotes, and diesel has moved since some of those loads shipped.

Ways shippers keep fuel costs down

• Compare all-in quotes across carriers. The fuel table is one of several levers each carrier prices with. Rating the same shipment across many carriers at once shows who is actually cheapest this week.
• Negotiate the table, not just the discount. Shippers with steady volume often get a custom fuel table, a cap, or a reduced percentage written into their pricing agreement.
• Consolidate. Two shipments to the same consignee in one week pay two minimum charges and two fuel lines. One larger shipment usually costs less per pound in both.
• Know when LTL stops making sense. Big shipments can move cheaper as volume LTL or partial truckload, which price fuel differently. See LTL vs. truckload.