When diesel prices rise, trucking companies have less room to absorb unexpected expenses on each load. For fleets working with tight margins, higher fuel costs affect decisions about which freight to accept, how to price customer contracts, and where to spend money.
As fleets prepare their 2027 budgets, understanding those costs can help them protect driver earnings and make better operating decisions. Keep reading for seven expenses to watch when diesel prices remain high.
1. Fuel Spending Per Mile
Even a modest increase in diesel prices can add thousands of dollars to a truck’s annual operating costs. For a truck traveling 100,000 miles a year at 6.5 miles per gallon, a 50-cent increase would mean about $7,700 in additional fuel spending. Across several trucks, that can leave considerably less money available for maintenance, driver pay, and other expenses.
To understand what higher prices mean for your fleet, calculate fuel cost per mile using what you actually pay at the pump and how much fuel your trucks use. Review those figures by truck and route to see where costs are increasing and whether your rates still cover the expense. Fleets running refrigerated trailers should also account for the fuel needed to keep those units operating.
2. Unrecovered Fuel Costs on Customer Loads
Fuel surcharges can help carriers recover higher diesel expenses, although the amount collected depends on the customer agreement. If the surcharge does not keep pace with what your company pays for fuel, you may still be covering part of the increase.
Review how each agreement calculates the surcharge and how often it adjusts. Check whether the fuel price and miles-per-gallon figures used in the calculation reflect your actual costs, especially on routes where trucks consistently use more fuel.
Higher diesel prices also do not guarantee that customers will pay higher freight rates. When quoting a rate that includes fuel, work out the expected fuel bill before accepting the load to make sure the payment covers your costs and leaves enough profit.
3. Empty Miles and Out-of-Route Travel
Higher diesel prices make it harder to justify a load that leaves a driver traveling a long distance for the next pickup. Even when the outbound rate looks good, the fuel used getting to the shipper or finding freight after delivery can leave the company earning less than expected.
Before accepting a load, consider how far the truck will need to travel without freight and what backhaul options are available. If certain lanes regularly require long empty trips, always factor those miles into your pricing.
The same calculation applies to fuel stops. A cheaper station may offer little savings if reaching it requires a lengthy detour, particularly when that extra travel cuts into the driver’s available hours.
4. Driver Compensation and Turnover
Higher diesel prices do not automatically change a company driver’s pay rate. They can, however, affect take-home earnings if a carrier reduces miles, parks trucks, or changes bonuses to manage expenses.
Before adjusting compensation, calculate what drivers would actually earn under the proposed schedule or policy. Lower weekly earnings may prompt experienced drivers to look elsewhere, creating recruiting, onboarding, and truck vacancy costs.
For owner-operators responsible for buying fuel, consider reviewing how surcharge payments reach them. Explain payment terms clearly, and make sure recruiters accurately describe mileage expectations, compensation, and any fuel-related deductions.
5. Financing Fuel Before Customers Pay
Trucking companies often pay for fuel long before they receive payment for a delivery. When diesel prices rise, covering several weeks of fuel purchases can put pressure on the money needed for payroll, insurance, and truck payments.
Look at when customer payments are expected to arrive compared with when fuel bills are due. Following up on unpaid invoices and planning for customers with longer payment terms can help prevent a shortage.
If your company borrows money or uses invoice factoring to cover that gap, account for the interest or fees when reviewing what each load earns. Those expenses can take a larger share of the profit as fuel bills grow.
6. Idling and Customer Delays
When a driver spends hours waiting to load or unload, your company may be paying for fuel while losing time that could have been spent on another delivery. Higher diesel prices make those delays more expensive, especially at facilities where long waits happen regularly.
Try to talk with drivers about where they encounter delays and use detention records to bring specific examples to customers. Recurring problems may call for different appointment times or detention pay that better reflects the cost of waiting.
Reducing idle time also requires giving drivers a reasonable alternative to running the engine for heating or cooling. Consider whether auxiliary power units or bunk heaters would save enough fuel to justify the expense, particularly for drivers who regularly spend nights in their trucks.
7. Maintenance and Fuel-Saving Equipment
When fuel spending rises, delaying maintenance may seem like an easy way to free up cash. However, poorly maintained equipment can undermine that effort through reduced efficiency, breakdowns, and missed loads.
Keep tire pressure checks, alignment, and routine service on schedule, and look into unexplained drops in fuel economy. Addressing those problems early can help prevent extra fuel spending and repairs that take a truck off the road.
Before buying equipment to improve fuel efficiency, estimate how long the savings would take to cover the purchase and installation costs. Then, base that calculation on how your trucks are used, since equipment that saves fuel on long highway runs may offer less benefit on local routes.
For more ways to stay ahead of the curve in the transportation industry, be sure to check out the rest of our Employer Blog posts and connect with us on social media.
