Say goodbye to long lags between fuel price dynamics and updated UPS fuel surcharges. Earlier this month, UPS announced plans to reduce the time it takes to adjust its fuel surcharges based on the federal government’s latest rates from two weeks to one.
The new turnaround time, which became effective March 21, means that as national fuel prices continue to rise, you’ll see those increases passed along sooner on your UPS invoices – even when you’ve only just gotten accustomed to seeing them passed along at FedEx, which already applies the seven-day turnaround time to its fuel surcharge adjustments.
According to UPS, the change was made in order to allow the company “to more quickly align the costs we incur for fuel to service our customers.”
Both FedEx and UPS adjust their fuel surcharges based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) reported weekly average prices per gallon for on-highway diesel fuel and U.S. Gulf Coast Kerosene-type jet fuel spot rates. These prices have increased dramatically since December 31, 2021. The March 2022 averages reflect increases of 57% and 41% for Air and Ground respectively.
