Published: April 2026
Last Updated: August 4th, 2026
Executive Summary
Many trucking companies believe they’re growing because revenue is up—but rising diesel prices can create a misleading picture. If you don’t separate fuel surcharge from revenue, you may be overpaying drivers, misjudging margins, and making poor pricing decisions. This article explains a simple, practical way to back fuel out of revenue so you can measure real performance and make better decisions.
Who This Is For
- Trucking companies with 1–50 trucks
- Owners paying drivers a percentage of revenue
- Recruiters or operations leaders trying to understand margin pressure
- Anyone comparing year-over-year growth
The Situation Most Owners Miss
On the surface, everything can look like it’s working.
Revenue is up.
Loads are moving.
Drivers are getting paid.
But margins feel tighter than they should.
I had someone call me this week after meeting at the Mid-America Trucking Show with exactly this issue.
She runs a small trucking company and pays her drivers a percentage of revenue. Something didn’t feel right.
When she dug in, the issue became clear:
She’s paying for fuel…
and then paying drivers a percentage on top of that inflated number.
Nothing changed operationally.
Fuel just went up.
The Problem Most Trucking Companies Don’t See
Many owners don’t realize they may be overpaying truck drivers simply because fuel surcharge is being included in revenue.
If you don’t separate fuel surcharge from revenue, your numbers are lying to you.
When diesel prices rise:
- Revenue goes up
- Driver pay (percentage-based) goes up
- Profit does not necessarily go up
When diesel prices fall:
- Revenue drops
- Driver pay drops
- It looks like the business is struggling—even if it’s not
This creates two major problems:
- You can’t accurately compare this year to last year
- You may be overpaying (or inconsistently paying) drivers
The Simple Way to Back Fuel Out of Revenue
Years ago, when I was a CFO for a trucking company, we ran into this exact issue. We had to separate fuel from revenue just to understand if we were actually making money.
Here’s a simple way to do it.
Step 1: Set a Baseline
- Fuel at $1.10 per gallon = no fuel surcharge
- Trucks average about 5 miles per gallon
Step 2: Calculate the Fuel Surcharge Impact
👉 Every $1.00 increase in diesel = $0.20 per mile
You can find current diesel prices from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Example: What Your Revenue Actually Looks Like
Let’s say:
- Diesel = $5.40 per gallon
- Increase above baseline = $4.30
Fuel surcharge per mile:
- $4.30 × 0.20 = $0.86 per mile
Now take a load:
- 1,000 miles
- $3,500 total revenue
Fuel portion:
- 1,000 × $0.86 = $860
Actual, comparable revenue:
- $3,500 – $860 = $2,640
That’s the number you should be analyzing.
Why This Matters for Driver Pay
If you’re paying drivers a percentage of revenue, most companies are paying on the full $3,500.
But that includes fuel.
Fuel is a pass-through cost, not performance.
If you instead pay on $2,640:
- Pay reflects actual operations
- It stops fluctuating with fuel prices
- It becomes more predictable
Now, you may need to adjust the percentage so drivers aren’t taking a pay cut—that’s a separate conversation.
But at least now, you’re working with the right number.
The Bigger Insight: Are You Really Growing?
This is where it gets critical.
Let’s say diesel is $1.87 higher than last year.
Using the same math:
- $1.87 × 0.20 = $0.37 per mile
If you ran:
- 50,000 miles this week
For a 20-truck fleet, this is a very normal weekly mileage range—which is why this issue is bigger than most owners realize.
That’s:
- $0.37 × 50,000 = $18,500 of additional revenue
But that’s not growth.
That’s fuel.
What This Means for Your Business
If your revenue is up $18,500…
…and fuel explains all of it…
👉 You didn’t grow
👉 You passed through higher fuel costs
If you don’t separate that out, you can’t:
- Accurately measure performance
- Make smart pricing decisions
- Understand your true margins
The Bottom Line
If you don’t strip out fuel surcharge, you don’t actually know if your trucking company is growing.
And if you’re paying drivers on total revenue without adjusting for fuel, you may be creating margin problems without realizing it.
This isn’t about perfect accounting.
FAQ’s
If your revenue moves up and down with diesel prices but your operations (miles, loads, rates) haven’t changed much, fuel is likely distorting your numbers. A quick test is to calculate fuel surcharge per mile and back it out—if your “growth” disappears, it wasn’t real growth.
In many cases, yes. Fuel is a pass-through cost and not tied to driver performance. Paying on revenue minus fuel creates more consistency and aligns pay with actual operational results. However, you may need to adjust the percentage so total driver compensation remains competitive
The biggest risks are:
Overpaying drivers when fuel rises
Underpaying drivers when fuel falls
Misjudging profitability
Making poor pricing decisions
Over time, this can quietly erode margins without being obvious
You need to normalize fuel. Calculate the fuel surcharge component for both periods and remove it. Once you compare revenue without fuel, you’ll see whether your rates, utilization, and operations actually improved.
The most commonly used source is the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which publishes weekly national and regional diesel prices. Many fuel surcharge programs are based on this data.
The key is transparency. Drivers don’t push back on this when they can clearly see the math.
A simple way to explain it is to show the calculation step by step.
For example, a pay stub or breakdown might look like:
👉 (Insert graphic here: “Driver Pay Calculation – Revenue Minus Fuel”)
This is what drivers need to see—clear steps showing how fuel is separated and how their pay is calculated.
The most effective way to handle this is to include this breakdown directly on the pay stub or settlement. That way, drivers don’t have to guess how their pay was calculated—it’s right in front of them every time.
At Superior Trucking Payroll Service, this is something we build directly into driver pay reporting so both the company and the driver are always looking at the same numbers.
It’s about making better decisions with clearer numbers.
Want Help Thinking This Through?
If you’re trying to figure out:
- How to structure driver pay
- How to compare performance year over year
- Or how to clean up the numbers you’re using to make decisions
This is exactly the kind of thing we help trucking companies work through every day at Superior Trucking Payroll Service.
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Confusion creates conflict—clarity builds trust.
Written by
Mike Ritzema
Mike Ritzema founded Superior Trucking Payroll Service after years as a trucking CFO — so he knows the industry from the inside out. He writes about payroll, per diem, and driver pay with one goal: making life easier for trucking families. When he’s not solving payroll problems, you’ll find him crossing another MLB stadium off his bucket list.