Investigation of Methodologies Used by Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Motor Carriers to Determine Fuel Surcharges

Fuel surcharge policies are utilized by transportation companies to transfer the expense associated with fuel prices to their customers. As fuel surcharges have become a significant portion of the expenses on transportation invoices, an increasing number of shippers are expressing more interest in these policies. The objective of this study is to discover how less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers develop and utilize fuel surcharge policies to recover their fuel expenses. Thirty-nine top LTL carriers were called on to explain their perspectives and methodologies with regard to fuel surcharge policies. Part-to-whole qualitative analysis was conducted to summarize responses from a standardized interview protocol. In addition, 25 published fuel surcharge policies were obtained and analyzed to explore the disparities among LTL fuel surcharge policies. Findings show that, while carriers were reluctant to discuss their fuel surcharge development, in practice there were two primary methodologies that left all carriers with very similar fuel surcharge policies.

• Record URL:
  http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/reports/ltlcarriers.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Missouri State University, Springfield

  Department of Marketing
  Springfield, MO  United States 

  Midwest Transportation Consortium

  Iowa State University, 2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, IA  United States  50010-8664

  Research and Special Programs Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Grant, Keith B
  • Kent, John L
• Publication Date: 2007-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References;
• Pagination: 34p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Interviewing; Less than truckload traffic; Motor carriers; Policy
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fuel costs; Fuel prices; Fuel surcharges
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Motor Carriers; Policy; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01080532
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MTC Project 2006-03
• Files: UTC, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 8 2007 11:18AM