What exactly is fsc and how is it calculated?

fuel surcharge is calculated on the mile if paid by the mile.
if you are paid by percentage it is a % of the gross over what your
your percentage is .
so if you haul 1000 dollar load gross and you get 75% you would
get 750 dollars plus the surcharge if it is 35% then that would be
350 dollars total to you before expense is 1100 dollars

 

It's just a way to try and fool you, so you think you're getting something extra. Know what you need/want a mile and just figure it that way.
When these brokers start talking miles andsurcharge and all I know they
are jsut sugar coating a crappy load. Know your REAL miles and what you want and the rest is irrelavent.
The pay I want is like 1000 miles = 2500-3000 dollars
what you end up with most of the time
of late seems like 1000 miles = 2150-2300 still ok if you reload close by.
Now there will be those that say they make lots more, some may but most lie.

 

When you are working off load boards/through brokers the fuel surcharge is useless, you just need to know the total amount coming to your truck.

The fuel surcharge is useful for when you have a long term contract. Say you contract with a shipper to haul their freight for $2 per mile plus fuel surcharge for fuel over $2 a gallon. The fuel surcharge rate will vary every week to compensate for the extra fuel expense because your rate only includes fuel at $2 per gallon. If this weeks fuel is $4 per gallon and is calulated at 5 MPG, you will charge an extra .40 cents per mile. ($2 over the base rate divided by 5)

 

Not one broker gives a #### about a fuel surcharge I'm at $.55 a mile in 2003 just as fuel started going up I was at $1.90+ a mile to the truck in 05-06 when everyone started talking fuel surcharge I started using it customers got pissed about it most wanted a flat rate so no I should be getting $2.45+ a mile but that don't always happen on load boards

 

This is the way I've seen it figured. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Say it's based on 6mpg and $1.25/gallon. Fuel is 4.00/gallon.

1.25/gallon subtracted from 4.00/gallon equals 2.75.

Take that 2.75 and divide by 6mpg. You get.458, or .46 cents per mile.

In another thread BigBadBill said he believed we'd see that fuel mileage start to be based off of 7mpg, rather than 6mpg, and I think he's right. As we continue to see the industry's fleet fuel mielage average rise, they'll adjust the numbers accordingly.

 

Fuel surcharge is a seperate charge intended to keep your fuel cost stable. Really it's based on an arbitrary number. But for discussion let's just use $1.25 per gallon. So let's say you'd haul a load and make adequate profit if fuel was at $1.25 and your line haul rate was $1.50 per mile. If fuel goes to $3.75 then USUALLY the fuel surcharge matrix would be .01 per mile fuel surcharge for every .05 increase in fuel. So at $3.75 you'd want to collect .50 per mile fuel surcharge to stay EVEN on your net fuel cost.

Now, reality is a little different. If your truck gets 6-7 miles to the gallon you could actually come out ahead if you were able to collect on 5 cent brackets for fuel surcharge. If you deadhead alot then you might get hosed. Also, as stated, brokers will try and screw you on fuel surcharge all the time and there are many different fuel surcharge programs in place - some based on percentage. I was just giving a simple example. Hope that answered your question.

 

Is that really fair though? There is a higher equipment cost associated with the increased average MPG that isn't necessarily being covered by increased per-mile rates. And are we factoring in the cost of DPF for the newer trucks that use it?

 

While there are standard formulas for FSC anyone is free to establish their own determined by their actual costs. Whether a shipper will accept it is another matter . There are companies that offer a service to shippers to calculate a FSC and tell the shipper they should be the ones determining what the FSC should be .

 

DPF isn't a factor worth worrying about. My trucks have a 23 gal. DEF tank and can go over 5,000 miles w/o refilling (roughly 2 weeks). This allows us to buy bulk containers of DEF and not buy it over the road. Although I'm not arguing with you, I'd like a couple CPM to compensate my DEF costs.