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When to use this

Use a fuel surcharge when your rate needs to move with diesel prices instead of staying fixed. Tread applies the right surcharge tier 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 — skip one and the surcharge silently drops off invoices. See Rates, Add-Ons & Fuel Surcharges for how this fits the broader pricing model.
  1. Fuel Price Index — the current price of fuel you’re tracking (e.g. a regional diesel average). You update this weekly.
  2. Fuel Surcharge Schedule — a table mapping fuel price tiers to a surcharge (a percentage of the freight total, or a per-unit amount).
  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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Setup

1

Set up a Fuel Price Index

In Settings, under Rates, open Fuel Surcharge Index. Click Create Index and name it (e.g. Gulf Coast PADD 3). Then click Add Price and enter the current fuel price with today’s 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.The Fuel Surcharge Index page with an index selected and dated price entries
2

Build a Fuel Surcharge Schedule

Under Rates, open Fuel Surcharge Schedule. Click Add Schedule and link it to the index from step 1. Pick a surcharge type — Percentage (e.g. 1% of the freight total) or Per Unit (e.g. $0.25 per ton, multiplied by the invoiced quantity) — then click Add Price to build the tiers: a fuel price paired with the billing surcharge that applies at that price (e.g. 3.50 = 0%, 3.60 = 1%, 3.70 = 2%). The highest tier at or below the current fuel price wins.A Fuel Surcharge Schedule mapping fuel prices to billing surcharge amounts
3

Create the Add On

Under Rates, open Add-Ons and click Create Add On. Set the Rate Type to Fuel Surcharge — a required Fuel Surcharge Schedule field appears; pick the schedule from step 2. Choose which Add On Types it applies to — most companies select all of them.The Create Add On dialog with Rate Type Fuel Surcharge and a Fuel Surcharge Schedule selected
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.
5

Keep the price current

Add a new Fuel Price Index 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

The surcharge applies on top of the base freight rate. If the customer rate is $31/ton and the current tier is 1%, the fuel surcharge add-on adds that 1% to the invoice and driver pay totals automatically — no manual line-item math. A per-unit tier multiplies its amount by the invoice’s total quantity instead.

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Common pitfalls

A locked invoice won’t pick up a new fuel price. Tread recalculates fuel surcharges automatically when you add a new Fuel Price Index entry — but only on invoices that are still open. Once an invoice is approved, paid, voided, customer-approved, or customer-paid, the surcharge is frozen. If a rate looks wrong, check the invoice’s lock status first — reopening or re-saving the order will not fix it.
Missing any one of the three pieces — index, schedule, or add-on — removes the surcharge with no error. Test on a sample order before go-live, and reconcile the result against your existing fuel matrix.