Diesel Prices Are Rising Again. Are Your Fuel Surcharges Ready?

Diesel prices are back in the headlines. If your fuel surcharge program was “set and forgotten,” your transportation budget may be in for a rude awakening.

Mar 12, 2026

Look what’s back in the headlines: diesel prices!

“Diesel prices for U.S. truckers rose a record 96 cents a gallon this past week, an ominous sign for retailers and manufacturers juggling tariffs and bracing for higher shipping costs following the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran,” reported Paul Berger in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

According to the article:

The average on-highway price for diesel increased 25% for the week ended March 9 to $4.859, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Avery Vise, a trucking analyst at FTR Transportation Intelligence, said the rise was the largest ever weekly increase in both price a gallon and percentage terms since the government started tracking diesel prices in 1994.

Let’s roll the film back four years, when on-highway diesel fuel prices were $5.134 per gallon on March 22, 2022 — up $1.940 from the previous year.

At the time, since fuel costs ultimately get passed on to shippers via fuel surcharges, we asked members of our Indago supply chain research community — supply chain and logistics executives from manufacturing, retail, and distribution companies — the following question:

The Role of 3PLs in Shipper Decision-Making

In a previous Indago survey, we explored how supply chain leaders are strengthening decision-making amid ongoing uncertainty. In this follow-up survey, we turned the lens outward to examine the role Third-Party Logistics providers (3PLs) play in supporting — or limiting — better decision-making within shipper organizations.

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