How does HaulProfit calculate if a load is profitable?

HaulProfit compares the load's rate per mile against your true cost per mile, which includes fuel, truck payment, insurance, maintenance, permits, and driver pay. If the rate exceeds your costs plus profit margin, you get green. If it covers variable costs but not fixed, you get yellow. If it loses money, you get red.

What is break-even RPM?

Break-even RPM (Rate Per Mile) is the minimum rate you need to cover all your operating costs. It's calculated from your true cost per mile including fuel, payments, insurance, maintenance, and other expenses. Any load paying below this rate loses you money.

How do service partners use HaulProfit?

Service partners provide HaulProfit free to their trucking clients. This helps clients make profitable decisions, survive their first year, and become long-term customers. Partners can white-label the platform with their branding.

Does HaulProfit work on load boards?

Yes. Our desktop app adds profitability badges directly into the major load boards you already use. You see green/yellow/red indicators next to each load without leaving the board.

What types of partners can use HaulProfit?

HaulProfit partners include service partners, fuel card providers, insurers, ELD providers, freight brokerages, and trucking associations. Any organization serving owner-operators can white-label HaulProfit as a value-add for their trucking clients.

What data products does HaulProfit offer?

HaulProfit offers trucking intelligence products including route profitability indexes, lane analytics, cost-per-mile benchmarks, and market signals for the US-Mexico-Canada corridor. Data is available via API or bulk licensing for freight platforms, insurers, and financial services.

How does HaulProfit data licensing work?

Data buyers can license HaulProfit's Intelligence Network data through APIs or bulk feeds. Products include cross-border lane profitability indexes, regional cost benchmarks, and freight market signals. Custom packages are available based on geography, data type, and volume.

What is the HaulProfit Intelligence Network?

The Intelligence Network aggregates anonymized cost and profitability data from thousands of owner-operators across the US-Mexico-Canada corridor. It powers lane-level market intelligence, cost benchmarks, and predictive freight signals used by partners and data buyers.

Fuel Surcharge Explained: How They Really Work and What to Watch For

Don’t take a fuel surcharge at face value. Learn how brokers and carriers calculate them, what to watch for on your rate con, and how to plug the numbers into per-load math before you accept a load.

You’re looking at a rate con and it says “FSC included” or lists a fuel surcharge percent. Do you accept it? Not yet.

I’ve sat in truck stops and passed on loads because the fuel number was fake. They slap a surcharge on there and act like it makes the run profitable. It doesn’t—unless you check the math.

Here’s how fuel surcharges actually work, what tricks to watch for, and how to run the numbers so you don’t get stuck with a dud load.

The simple truth

A fuel surcharge (FSC) is supposed to compensate you for fuel cost swings. But people use the term two different ways:

A stated dollar or percent on the rate con that’s meant to cover fuel. Fine. Check it. Don’t assume it’s accurate.
“Fuel included” or “fuel in all-in rate.” That often means they just jacked the base rate and call it inclusive. That’s where you get burned.

If the FSC is real, it should move with fuel price indexes or be a clear per-mile dollar. If it’s just marketing language, treat it like part of the rate.

Common ways carriers or brokers show FSCs

Percent of the linehaul (e.g., 3.5%). Sounds neat, but percent doesn’t tell you miles. If you don’t know how they apply it (total, per-mile, capped?) the number’s useless.
Cents per mile (e.g., $0.12/mile). This is the cleanest if it matches your real mpg and fuel price.
Flat dollar added to the invoice. Works for single trips but can be wrong if deadhead is long.
“Included” in the all-in rate. That’s not a surcharge. That’s a rate with fuel baked in.

Watch for these red flags

They quote a percent but don’t state the base. Percent of what? Linehaul? Total invoice? Ask.
FSC only applies one-way. Returns and deadhead aren’t counted. That’s common. That’s crap if your deadhead is heavy.
Caps and floors hidden in fine print. It might say 2–6% but only up to 500 miles or only when the truck is loaded.
Tied to an obscure index with a lag. Delayed adjustments mean you pay higher pump prices before the surcharge catches up.
Lump-sum “fuel” that’s less than what fuel will actually cost you for the trip. If they say $50 fuel and you burn $300, that’s your problem.

Use real fuel math — a worked example

You want to see the numbers before you bite. Here’s a clear hypothetical.

Load: 1,200 miles one way. Deadhead: 200 miles empty. Total miles: 1,400.

Your rig: 6.5 mpg loaded average, 7.5 mpg empty average. Weighted MPG for trip ≈ ((1,200 / 6.5) + (200 / 7.5)) miles-per-gallon math -> gallons ≈ 184.6 + 26.7 ≈ 211.3 gal.

Pump price you expect to pay: say you budget $5.00/gal. Fuel cost ≈ 211.3 * $5.00 =

,056.50.

Now the broker offers: $6,500 all-in rate with a 3% FSC on the linehaul. But they’re vague about what linehaul is. Assume linehaul = $6,300 (they tack on $200 accessorials). 3% of $6,300 =

89.

Compare: fuel needed ≈

,056.50. Fuel surcharge offered =

89. You’re short $867.50. That load’s junk unless the base already covered fuel, which you’ll only know if you break down the rate.

If they’d offered $0.50/mi FSC on loaded miles only: 1,200 * $0.50 = $600. Still short of

,056.50. You’d want at least ~$0.88/mi on loaded miles to cover fuel in this example.

That’s why a percent is dangerous: you need to translate it to dollars that match your actual gallons and pump price.

Plug in your own numbers every time

Don’t rely on a canned FSC chart. Your truck’s mpg, your route (mountains vs flat), trailer type, and how much deadhead you’ll run change the math. That’s why per-load math matters.

A per-load profitability calculator like HaulProfit helps here. It won’t guess market rates or pull lane averages. What it does is let you enter your truck’s mpg, expected miles (loaded and empty), and the climb of accessorials or surcharges on the rate con so you can see exactly whether the offered FSC covers your fuel bill before you say yes.

How to negotiate a better FSC on the spot

Ask for a cents-per-mile FSC, not a percent. It ties to miles and is easier to compare to your per-mile fuel burn.
If they insist on percent, make them show the base numbers so you can convert percent to cents per mile.
Insist FSC covers deadhead if you’ve got long empty miles, or get extra pay for the deadhead separately.
If fuel’s already baked into the base rate, ask for a split: a visible fuel line so you can audit the math later.
Get caps and floors in writing. If they say “index-linked,” get the index name and the lag time.

Sometimes you’ll get back a shrug and “that’s how we do it.” Fine. Walk away or demand higher base pay to cover anything fuzzy.

Handling weird situations

Detention and long layovers: fuel burns while you idle. If the rate con only covers driving miles, add an idle fuel estimate into your cost for that run and ask for detention pay or an extra per-hour reimbursement.
Short runs with high deadhead: cents-per-mile FSC on loaded miles won’t cut it. Push for a lump-sum that covers the trip’s total fuel, or a per-mile on total miles.
Reefer runs: add the reefer diesel burn to your fuel estimate. Don’t assume the same FSC covers refrigeration fuel.

Quick checklist before you accept a load

Break the rate into base, fuel line (show me the math), accessorials.
Convert any percent FSC into cents-per-mile and into dollars using your mpg and expected fuel price.
Include deadhead and idle fuel in your gallons estimate.
Ask where the FSC applies (loaded miles? total miles? capped?).
If anything’s fuzzy, get the number you need in the base rate instead.

Why this matters now

Gas is moving. The EIA's weekly number for on-highway diesel was $5.313/gal for the week of 2026-07-27, and it’s been rising. When pump prices climb, a stale or tiny FSC will leave you holding the bill.

Takeaway

Don’t treat a fuel surcharge as a magic fix. Treat it like part of the rate that needs to be translated into real dollars against your real gallons. Use your truck’s mpg, factor deadhead and idle time, and run the numbers before you commit. If you want to skip the algebra and still be accurate, plug your truck and the load’s numbers into a per-load profitability tool — it lets you see whether the FSC actually pays the pump or if that load’s junk.

Run the math. Say no to surprises. And if the broker can’t show the fuel math, walk.

Frequently asked questions

What’s better: cents-per-mile FSC or percent?

Cents-per-mile is easier to match to your mpg and miles. Percent is messier unless you know the base it’s applied to.

Should a fuel surcharge cover deadhead?

It should if your deadhead is significant. If the FSC only covers loaded miles, demand extra pay for the deadhead or a total-miles FSC.

How do I handle rising diesel prices mid-trip?

If prices rise, you usually eat it unless your FSC is index-linked with fast adjustments. For future runs, insist on clearer FSC wording or higher base pay.