Picture two invoices for the same pallet moving the same lane. Same weight, same freight class, same pickup address. One is from last October and one is from this week, and the second one is far higher. Nobody changed the shipment. Two things moved underneath it, and most shippers only notice one of them.
The first is a wave of general rate increases from the biggest LTL carriers. The second is diesel, which crossed $6 a gallon for the first time in September and has stayed close to that level since. Together they turn a line most people skim past, the fuel surcharge, into the biggest driver of your total, and understanding how the two stack is the fastest way to stop being surprised by your own freight bill.
Three carriers raised rates, and they did it early
ArcBest’s ABF Freight put a 5.9% general rate increase into effect on June 22, roughly six weeks ahead of the already shortened 11-month cycle the industry had been following. Saia came next in July with 7.1%, which was 1.2 points larger than its previous increase and arrived three months sooner. Old Dominion announced 4.9% on September 21, and it takes effect October 5, a full month earlier than last year’s. It also nudges up minimum charges on intrastate, interstate and cross-border lanes.
Carriers have good reason to move quickly. Truckload prices have climbed sharply this year, so freight that spent three years riding on cheap truckload capacity is drifting back into LTL networks. XPO, Saia and ArcBest are all reporting tonnage growth, and more freight per terminal gives them more confidence to price. The market also has fewer carriers than it did before Yellow shut down, which leaves the survivors with little pressure to discount.
A general rate increase changes a carrier’s published tariff, and what lands on your invoice depends on your lane, your distance and whatever discount you negotiated. Old Dominion says as much in its own announcement. Shippers without a contract tend to feel these increases closest to face value, which is why small accounts often see the jump first.
Diesel did the rest of the damage
The national on-highway average hit $5.967 a gallon in the week of September 7, passing the June 2022 record of $5.810. A week later it reached $6.285, the first time diesel ever crossed $6, and the week of September 28 came in at $6.382 against $3.754 for the same week a year ago.
Analysts trace the spike to a refining shortage instead of expensive crude, and the EIA expects U.S. distillate inventories to stay below their five-year low through much of 2027. That makes waiting for relief a weak plan. Even the agency’s September outlook has diesel averaging $4.40 a gallon in 2027, well above where this year began.
How the two multiply each other
Fuel surcharges are percentages applied to your linehaul charge, which means a higher base rate also raises the fuel dollars sitting on top of it. Old Dominion’s published LTL surcharge for the week of September 28 was 54.32%, compared with 28.32% a year earlier.
Take a $1,000 linehaul charge as an illustration. Last year, with fuel added, it came to $1,283.20. Apply a 4.9% increase to the base this year and the same shipment is $1,049 plus 54.32% fuel, for a total of $1,618.82. That is roughly 26% more for an identical pallet, and about 80% of the increase comes from the fuel percentage rather than the rate increase itself. Your numbers will shift with your lane and contract, but the pattern holds everywhere carriers publish a fuel table.
The surcharge also resets weekly off the Monday diesel price from the Department of Energy and typically takes effect midweek, so two pickups on the same lane a week apart can carry different totals even when the base rate never moves.
What to check on your next invoice
Start with three things. First, the fuel surcharge percentage and the week it was set, since your pickup date changes the number. Second, the base rate compared with your last invoice on the same lane, because a jump of five to seven percent points straight at a general rate increase. Third, the accessorial charges like liftgate or residential delivery, which are the part most shippers never question until the total surprises them.
Keep one older invoice on hand as a benchmark. Seeing the same lane priced a year apart makes it obvious which part of the bill moved, and it gives you a concrete number to bring into any carrier conversation.
Compare carriers on total cost
Every carrier publishes its own increase timing, fuel table and minimum charges, so the carrier with the lowest base rate is not always the one with the lowest invoice. Price the total, base plus fuel plus accessorials, and look across more than one network before you commit.
That comparison is what GoShip was built for. It works like a flight search for freight: you enter the shipment once, see LTL carrier options side by side, and book the one that fits your budget and timeline without waiting on a broker callback. More than 36,000 satisfied customers already ship this way, from small business shipping accounts moving a few pallets a month to operations spread across the industries GoShip serves.
If your last few invoices left you wondering where the extra money went, pull one up next to a fresh quote and compare them line by line. Put your lanes in, see what they cost this week, and keep that old invoice close as your yardstick.