Shipping giant Maersk has announced a new $140 Inland Fuel Surcharge (IFS) for all U.S. truck and rail transport, effective April 18, 2026.
This new fee is a mechanism for Maersk to quickly recover the sharply rising cost of fuel, separate from its base freight rates. The surcharge is triggered because the average price of diesel in the U.S. recently surged past $5 per gallon for the first time since 2022, making the surcharge's waiver condition—a 13-week average price below $2.52 per gallon—realistically impossible to meet in the short term.
The chain of events leading to this decision began with geopolitical instability. First, recent disruptions to shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil supply, created a supply shock. This immediately pushed up the prices of refined products like diesel fuel, which is the lifeblood of the trucking and rail industries.
Second, this U.S. surcharge is not an isolated action but an extension of Maersk's global strategy. In early March, the company first introduced a global Emergency Bunker Surcharge (EBS) for its ocean freight to cover rising ship fuel costs. This was followed by similar inland fuel fees in Europe. The U.S. IFS is the latest step in this worldwide effort to pass on volatile energy costs.
Finally, the groundwork for this was laid long before the current crisis. Maersk had established the policy framework for this type of surcharge back in 2024. Furthermore, underlying market conditions, such as chronically low distillate inventories and OPEC+ production cuts, had already made the energy market vulnerable to price shocks.
The real-world impact of the $140 fee is significant. While it may be a smaller part of a long-haul journey's cost, it can represent a substantial increase of 17% to 35% for essential, shorter-distance drayage services that move containers around ports. This cost pressure will be felt across the supply chain, from trucking companies to importers, and may ultimately contribute to broader consumer price inflation.
- Surcharge: An extra fee or tax added to the cost of a good or service, typically to cover a sudden increase in costs for the provider, like fuel.
- Drayage: The transport of goods over a short distance, especially from a ship's port to a nearby warehouse or railway terminal.
- Intermodal: A type of transportation that involves using multiple modes of freight, such as truck, rail, and ship, to move goods from shipper to consignee.