Fuel Recovery Program

Challenger’s Zero Base Fuel Recovery Program offers our customers more accurate estimates of the fuel costs for their freight. Updated weekly and tailored to specific regional routes, this fuel cost model provides up to date, regionally structured estimates of fuel expenses, with calculated rates beneficial to both Challenger and our valued customers.

This program is geared towards recovering full fuel costs for freight transportation so that Challenger and its customers experience fuel costs as pass-through costs. This program is not a surcharge program, and there is no base amount for fuel per mile. Instead, we calculate a total fuel cost that is region specific and up to date.

To view a PDF, printable version of this map, please click HERE.

Fuel prices will be updated online every Wednesday by midnight (Eastern Time). They will be effective Thursday each week. The customer will be billed each week the “per-mile fuel recovery amount” matching the regions of the origin/destination pairing.

You can subscribe to our weekly email updates of Challenger’s Zero Base Fuel Recovery Program by contacting traffic@challenger.com or click the button below to see the current rate.

Please view our Fuel Rate Archives for previous weeks’ rates.

Winter Fuel Recovery Adjustments

During the colder months, fuel consumption naturally rises as fuel efficiency drops. Many factors contribute to this “Winter Effect” in fuel economy. For instance, fuel is blended differently for colder weather, which results in a 3% reduction in miles per gallon (MPG) efficiency. Colder air increases aerodynamic drag because of increased ambient air density. This results in a 1% MPG reduction for every 10° F drop in temperature. Consequently, around 0° F, (just above -20° C), there is a 10% MPG reduction. In addition, more severe weather, including snow, rain and heavier winds also strongly impact fuel consumption. Generally, Winter Effect contributes to an 8% – 15% reduction in MPG efficiency.

Not every route will experience the same severity of winter conditions, which translates to different impacts on fuel economy. This is why our Winter Fuel Recovery Adjustments are a tiered system. The Winter Fuel Recovery Adjustments will be effective November 1st to March 31st, and each route combination has been assigned a specific winter fuel adjustment rate.

The Three Winter Fuel Recovery Tiers are as follows:

Heavy Loads

A heavy load is a specialized service that is available on some of Challenger’s routes. It can carry more weight than a tandem load (Tri-axle or Quad services, where applicable). Due to the extra weight, heavy loads are not as fuel efficient as tandem loads. A heavy load fuel rate is calculated with the same weighted average fuel costs as the standard route, but typically performs at 1 mile per gallon less.

For information, including how these rates are calculated, please view our DEFINITIONS document to learn more about the Zero Base Fuel Recovery Program.