Fuel surcharges

Rising costs prompt Amazon to impose its first-ever fuel and inflation surcharge on sellers.

While the early days of fuel surcharges were straightforward to calculate – although wholly unfair to shippers in many cases – that is no longer true. Many carriers struggle with explaining their fuel surcharge program to shippers, and more importantly, struggle with the budgeting aspect of a program that is historical in nature.

Fuel levies hit two weeks before other surcharges and eight days after 2022 rate increases.

Revenue is not the point in TuSimple’s partnership with UPS, which holds the autonomous trucking startup to its third-party shipper standards.

Fuel was a nonfactor for airlines and cargo customers during the early months of COVID. Not anymore.

Communications between the railroads about fuel surcharges can be included in legal proceedings pertaining to alleged price fixing that occurred in the early 2000s, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Federal agencies in a “friend of the court” filing say discussions among Class I railroads can be admissible as evidence in dozens of lawsuits involving alleged price fixing.

Shippers’ lawsuits on alleged price fixing on fuel surcharges see continued activity. A hearing is scheduled in August.

A U.S. judicial panel will hold a hearing in late January that will take up defendant Class I railroads’ request to move legal proceedings on fuel surcharge price fixing to one court.

Companies file a flurry of lawsuits against the big four U.S. Class I railroads, alleging their fuel surcharge programs violated antitrust laws.

Airline Garuda Indonesia has been ordered by an Australian court to pay A$19 million (US$13.14 million) in penalties for air cargo price fixing as part of a massive international cartel. Australian penalties of A$132.5 million (US$91.64 million) have so far been levied against 14 airlines.

Heather Mueller from Breakthrough Fuels will look at the best fuel strategies for the trucking industry.