'Off the charts': Iran war drives near-record fuel surcharges
The effect of the Iran war on oil prices is now costing you more not just at the pump. Diesel prices are driving near-record ground-shipment surcharges due to the Iran war, including first-ever package surcharges from the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Shippers on the East Coast say they are now charging 30 to 40 cents more per mile in diesel surcharges since the start of the war, according to companies that spoke with ABC News, representing roughly a 50% to 93% jump in per-mile surcharge rates.
One company’s oil analyst called it an “off-the-charts increase,” saying that these levels have not been seen since the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
ABC News reviewed weekly surcharge indices from two companies, both of which specialize in shipping lumber, construction materials, gardening supplies and heavy machinery. To protect their pricing structures and customers, both requested anonymity.
Shippers vary in how they apply fuel surcharges. Some, like those who spoke with ABC News, charge per mile, while others apply a percentage of total shipping costs. USPS, for example, is preparing to introduce an approximately 8% surcharge on packages for the first time in its history, which will be based on the total shipping cost, according to their surcharge announcement.
The surcharge on certain products will start April 26 and last until Jan. 17, 2027, USPS said.
“Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges,” USPS said in a statement on March 25 announcing the surcharges. “We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone.”
Martha Johnson, a spokesperson for the USPS, disagreed that the price hike was a “fuel surcharge,” saying in a statement to ABC News that it is "the reality of overall transportation related costs (which is inclusive of fuel)."
USPS delivered approximately 6.8 billion packages in fiscal year 2025, according to their records.
Iran has mounted a near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime trading route along the coast of Iran that facilitates the transport of about 20% of the global oil supply. That in turn has driven fuel costs higher globally.
The average price of a gallon of diesel as of April 1 stood at $5.46, jumping over a dollar since the beginning of March, GasBuddy data shows.
Emily Stausbøll, a senior shipping analyst at freight intelligence platform Xeneta, told ABC News that the Iran war is causing freight shipments to become much more expensive across the globe.
“Average spot rates from the Far East to North Europe and Mediterranean have increased 28% and 30% respectively since 28 February. Further increases are expected in April,” Stausbøll said.
“No trade is completely insulated from the ripple effects of this conflict, with shippers across the globe managing the financial and operational cost on supply chains,” she added.
This increase in per-mile surcharges aligns with what experts are seeing at FreightWaves, a global freight market price reporting agency. Most shipping companies base their fuel surcharges on weekly diesel price data from the Department of Energy, rather than day-to-day indicators, according to FreightWaves editor John Kingston.
"The basic number that the most fuel surcharges use is the Energy Information Administration average, Kingston told ABC News. "That's overwhelmingly the number that gets used."
