Diesel is the swing cost
Packer trucks often get somewhere around 3 to 5 miles per gallon on a route, and they burn fuel while idling and compacting, not just while driving. On-highway diesel averaged $3.68 a gallon in October 2025 and $6.25 in October 2026 in EIA data — a $2.57 rise. That makes fuel the most visible increase for haulers, and the one customers most readily understand.
Route density: the per-stop math
A residential route can run well over a hundred stops a day. The drive from the yard to the route is shared by every stop. Example: a 40-mile depot round trip shared by 120 stops is 0.33 miles per stop, plus about 0.15 miles between stops — 0.48 miles. At 4 mpg that’s 0.12 gallons, so a $2.57 diesel increase adds about $0.31 per pickup, or about $1.35 a month for weekly service.
The mistake to avoid: charging every stop as if the truck drove from the yard and back. That would make the surcharge dozens of times too high. Commercial roll-off and dumpster work is different — each haul often is a separate trip, so price it per haul.
Diesel-indexed surcharges
Many commercial waste contracts tie the fuel surcharge to a published diesel index, often the EIA weekly retail diesel price, with a base price and a step schedule (for example, a set amount for every 10 cents above the base). It’s transparent, adjusts automatically, and comes off when diesel falls. For residential customers, a monthly surcharge reviewed each month is easier to explain.
Beyond fuel: labor, tipping fees and trucks
Driver wages, landfill and transfer-station tipping fees, insurance and truck maintenance have all risen. Those belong in the base monthly rate, not in a fuel surcharge. If you raise only the surcharge, you’ll still lose margin.
Monthly rates
Quote the change the way customers are billed: “Your monthly rate of $38.00 will change to $39.50, and a fuel surcharge of $1.35 a month will apply while diesel stays above $4.00 a gallon.”
How to tell customers
- Give notice on the invoice or by letter, typically 30 days ahead; follow any franchise or municipal contract rules.
- Cite the EIA diesel average and say when the surcharge comes off.
- Separate the surcharge line from the base rate so customers see what is temporary.
Fuel figures are U.S. Energy Information Administration monthly averages (regular gasoline $3.06 → $4.31 and on-highway diesel $3.68 → $6.25 a gallon, October 2025 → October 2026). Inflation is BLS CPI-U, up about 4.0% over the same year. Worked examples use illustrative costs — use your own.