Welcome to our dedicated page on rail Fuel Surcharges, brought to you by the rate experts at RSI Logistics. As the pulse of what’s happening both at the railroads and rail shippers, as well as the broader rail industry, we’re here to shed light on critical insights that shape the rail transportation landscape.
What is Rail Fuel Surcharge?
Fuel Surcharge is a tool that was designed for railroads to recover the cost of fuel that is consumed when they move railcars. Moving railcars takes a lot of fuel, and freight engines use a significant amount. Although rail is one of the most cost-effective methods of long-distance transportation, locomotive engines still consume a lot of fuel.
Fuel Surcharge was first developed when the cost of fuel increased to a point where the railroads decided to pass the additional fuel costs onto those who ship with them. The railroads decided to apply a Fuel Surcharge to each railcar shipped on either a mileage or percentage basis, which can be found in their published Fuel Surcharge provisions.
This fuel surcharge is published monthly by the railroads and is in addition to the private and/or tariff rates that you pay when shipping by rail. For more information on rail fuel surcharges, click here or reach out to our rail rate experts.
About This Page
Previously, the raw data behind fuel surcharges were made available directly on this page. However, to serve you better and offer more detailed analysis, this information has now moved to Rail Info, RSI Logistics’ Data as a Service. Rail Info translates the complexity of rail industry data into clear, intuitive insights, and includes resources for optimizing rates. understanding rail performance, determining options, and measuring economic activity. We invite you to explore Rail Info for comprehensive insights that were once readily available here – empower your logistics decisions with the most up-to-date information.
Are you a current client of RSI Logistics’ Rail Command® or Rail Impact®? The raw data behind fuel surcharges is available in both tools, courtesy of RSI Logistics rail logistics experts. Please reach out to your appropriate Client Success representative for assistance.
Fuel Trends
Looking for a sense of where rates will be over the next couple of months? Rail carrier fuel surcharge rates are indexed to the 2 months prior price of West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) or the On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price (U.S. Monthly Average) (HDF). The rates below are in U.S. dollars.
