do brokers give you a fuel surcharge? i mean when it says like 1400 dollars to haul from austin tx to birginham al is the fuel surcharge inc or do they give to you ontop of the 1400?

 

I have had some who have broken the fsc separated out from the rate. Most include the fsc in with the rate that they quote.

 

hey gman what is the average percentage for fuel surcharge like the 1400 dollars what would be fuel surcharge

 

The fuel surcharge changes weekly when the national fuel prices post. Some charge a percentage of the rate, others use a per mile rate. I usually don't worry too much about the fsc. If the rate is high enough, I don't worry about the fsc. The rate can also vary according to the base rate. Some use $1.10, others may use $1.19. Each company is different. Some companies pay a different rate than others. The government now uses $2.50, as I recall. When I quote a rate, I just give the broker or shipper my rate which is high enough to compensate for the fuel surcharge. The fuel surcharge was designed to offset the sudden spikes in fuel prices. It was not designed to do anything other than offset the increased price of fuel. Some companies use the fsc as a crutch because they don't have the intestinal fortitude to raise their prices.

 

When I was dealing with this, I would have the broker break it out for my leased trucks so that I could pass 100% to them, most will.

When the freight was going on my truck, I didn't worry about a breakout. I just took the rate, which I always convert to mileage using my own miles, and subtracted that weeks' fsc rate to see if the load itself was paying enough. If they quoted 1.80 on a week that fsc was .35 (suggested), that would leave the freight at 1.45... not quite enough out of most areas for an entire load. Normally I could squeeze another .05 out of them if I thought the load was worth running and feel like I wasn't taking a beating on it.

 

Say right now, the load I am running says includes feul surcharge, but I would bet my bottom dollar he kept it cuz the rate is too low.......say G-Man...what exact process do I use to ask the rate breakdown?
You say that we as the carrier have the power, but I always feel the brokers are holding cards up their sleeves I cant see.

 

You don't hold any cards. If you want the load, this is what it pays. If not, they will hang up on you in a millisecond and go on to the next available truck.

The only people I know that tack on the FSC is Pittsburgh Logistics. It's always nice to see the check from them. I billed $1200 and the check came in as $1400.

 

I would just ask them if they would break down the fsc. Most probably won't do that for you, but some will. They usually quote a rate as all inclusive. If you get a good enough rate, the fsc isn't all that important.

Brokers need us as much as we need them. We can always find shippers for whom to haul freight. A broker MUST have a truck to haul freight. He can either find a truck or buy his own.