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When to use this

You have fuel surcharges based on an index price (e.g. your surcharge rate depends on the latest diesel prices published on the EIA Gulf Coast Index). Tread applies the right surcharge automatically once it’s configured. No manual invoice edits each time fuel prices change.

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How it works

A fuel surcharge has three parts, and all three are required:
  1. Fuel Price Index — the fuel price you’re tracking. Tread includes default indexes that update every week from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), or you can create your own.
  2. Fuel Surcharge Schedule — a table mapping fuel price tiers to a surcharge (a percentage of the freight total, a per-unit amount, or a flat amount per load).
  3. Add On — the piece that actually attaches the schedule to an order or project so it shows up on invoices and driver pay.

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Fuel price indexes

Find indexes in Settings → Fuel Surcharge, on the Fuel Surcharge Indexes tab. Default indexes — Tread has 10 default regional diesel indexes based on the US EIA. Tread automatically updates the price each week around 11am Eastern on Tuesday (Wednesday on holiday weeks). FSC Default Indexes Custom indexes — if you need a price the EIA doesn’t publish (a supplier’s rack price, a contract-specified price), create a custom index. You enter and maintain its prices yourself. See Create a custom index below.
Start with a default index unless your contract names a different price source. It’s one less thing to update every week.

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Setup

1

Create a Fuel Surcharge Schedule

In Settings, open Fuel Surcharge and stay on the Fuel Surcharge Schedule tab.1 FSC NavigationClick Add Schedule, give it a Schedule Name, and pick a Fuel Price Index .2 FSC Add ScheduleIndexes with “EIA” are automatically updated each week.3 FSC Set IndexPick a Rate Type:
  • Percentage (e.g. 1% of the freight total)
  • Per unit (e.g. $0.25 per ton, multiplied by the invoiced quantity)
  • Per load (e.g. $10 per load, multiplied by the number of loads on the invoice
Click Create to save the schedule.
2

Add Surcharges

Select the schedule and click Add Price to enter your surcharge rates.FSC Add RatesYou’ll enter 2 values:
  1. Price - At what fuel price should this rate be applied
  2. Surcharge - The rate
Click the check mark to save each rate.FSC Save RatesExample above - If the price of diesel reaches $4.50 in the EIA Midwest Index, then apply a 0.5% surcharge rate.
3

Create a Fuel Surcharge add-on

An add-on is required to apply a Fuel Surcharge to customers or vendors/drivers if you pass-through.
  1. In Settings, open Add-Ons and click Create Add On.
  2. Enter a Description your team will recognize (e.g. Fuel Surcharge – Gulf Coast).
  3. Set the Rate Type to Fuel Surcharge, then select one Schedule
  4. Click Create FSC Create Add On
4

Apply it to an order or project

Open an order from Dispatch or Projects and scroll to Freight Rates. Under the Customer Rate block (or Vendor Rate, if you pass the surcharge through to a vendor), click the ••• menu, choose Add On, and select the fuel surcharge add-on.FSC Apply Add OnYou’ll see add ons listed under the rates.FSC Applied Add On
That’s it for a default index — Tread adds each week’s price for you and recalculates the surcharge on every open invoice that uses the schedule.

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Create a custom index

Only needed if you’re not using a default index.
1

Create the index

In Settings → Fuel Surcharge, open the Fuel Surcharge Indexes tab. Click Create Index and name it (e.g. Acme Rack Price). Avoid names that start with “EIA” — they’re easy to confuse with the default indexes, which update on their own.
2

Add prices

Select the index, click Add Price, and enter the fuel price with its date. Tread matches each job to the price entry dated closest to (without exceeding) the job’s start date, so add a new entry — don’t edit the old one — each time the price changes.
3

Keep the price current

Add a new entry every week (or on whatever cadence your surcharge schedule assumes). Tread automatically recalculates the surcharge on every invoice that uses that schedule and isn’t locked — no need to touch individual orders.

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How the surcharge is calculated

Tread takes the index price dated on or before the job’s start date, then applies the highest schedule rate at or below that price. With tiers at 3.50, 3.60, and 3.70, an index price of 3.65 uses the 3.60 tier.

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Switch a schedule to a different index

If you built your schedule on a custom index and want Tread to keep the price current for you, point the schedule at a default index. Your rates, rate type, and add-ons stay as they are.
1

Open your schedules

In Settings → Fuel Surcharge, stay on the Fuel Surcharge Schedule tab.
2

Edit the schedule

Hover over the schedule and click the pencil icon.
3

Change the index and save

Pick the new Fuel Price Index — default indexes are marked Synced weekly from the EIA — and click Save.FSC Edit A Schedule Index