UPS Has Quietly Restructured Its Fuel Surcharge Index — Again
What shippers need to know about the April 13th change
UPS updated its Fuel Surcharge Index table effective April 13th, 2026 - the third change to the index since the start of this year. While the new table won’t increase fuel surcharges at current diesel prices, it’s structured to work against shippers if fuel costs fall.
Here’s what changed, and why it matters.
Three Changes in One Quarter
UPS has moved quickly in 2026:
January 5th: First index revision - a 1% increase in FSC rates.
March 9th: Second revision - another 1% increase.
April 13th: Third revision - a structural change to the per-gallon range intervals in the index table.
The pace alone is worth noting. Three adjustments in roughly 14 weeks signal that UPS is actively managing its surcharge structure, and based on what we’ve seen so far, we expect more changes throughout the year.
What the April 13th Change Actually Does
At first glance, the April revision looks neutral - with the national U.S. average on-highway diesel price currently sitting at $5.608 per gallon, shippers will not see a difference between the March table and the new April table.
The change becomes consequential if, or when, diesel prices fall.
Under the previous structure, per-gallon ranges in the index table began widening at $3.55 per gallon. The new April table pushes that threshold up to $4.45 per gallon. The practical effect: the index now declines more slowly as fuel prices drop, meaning shippers won’t see the FSC relief they would have received under the old structure.
The Numbers
To understand the real-world impact, here’s a direct comparison between the March and April tables at lower fuel price levels for a Ground shipment:
The divergence kicks in below $4.35 per gallon, with the gap widening as prices fall - up to a 1.50% increase at $3.72 per gallon.
That $3.72 figure is not hypothetical. The national diesel average was at or below that level for most of 2025 and didn’t climb back above it until the week ending February 16th, 2026. If prices return to where they spent much of last year, shippers on the new index will pay meaningfully more than they would have under the old one.
What Shippers Should Do
This kind of structural change is easy to miss - it doesn’t trigger an immediate increase, so there’s no obvious alarm, but it locks in a disadvantage for shippers if the fuel market softens.
A few action items worth considering:
Audit your current surcharge exposure. Know your baseline FSC rate and how it’s calculated across your carrier agreements.
Model downside scenarios. Run your freight spend against both the March and April tables at diesel prices between $3.50 and $4.35 per gallon to quantify your potential gap.
Watch for further changes. Given the frequency of adjustments already this year, this likely isn’t the last revision.
________
We have been helping shippers navigate the complexity of carrier pricing since 1975. Questions about your freight costs? Contact us.
This is the kind of quiet pricing tweak that doesn’t hurt today but definitely adds up when fuel drops