Ocean Oct 17, 2026 · 7 min read

Maersk raises its US and Canada intermodal fuel surcharge and changes how it invoices

Maersk lifts its inland fuel charge to $350 a box on US and Canada imports. From 16 November, Maersk will charge $350 per dry container and $400 per reefer on imports moving by rail ramp or inland yard in the US or Canada. In June it listed $200 and $250. Exports rise to $125 and $175. Maersk cites “recent increases in diesel fuel prices.” In our view this is a charge to price into Q1 quotes now, not a blip. The same week, a system change will delay Maersk invoices in Canada from 13 to 15 November. Our call: the import level stays at $350 or higher until at least end of January 2027.

Maersk’s “emergency” fuel charge has become a fixture of US and Canada inland freight
From 16 November 2026, Maersk will charge $350 per dry container and $400 per reefer container on imports moved by rail or through an inland container yard in the US or Canada. Exports will pay $125 dry and $175 reefer. The carrier announced the rise on 16 October.
Our view is simple. An “emergency” surcharge that has sat at the same level since June, and is now going up, is no longer an emergency. It is part of the price of moving a box inland in North America. Forwarders should build it into quotes for the rest of the year and into early 2027, and stop treating it as a temporary add-on that might disappear.
The same date brings a second change that matters just as much to anyone who pays Maersk invoices. The carrier is switching its finance system, and invoices will be delayed and look different.

What Maersk is charging, and what it charged before

The October notice says: “Effective November 16, 2026, we will increase the Emergency Intermodal Fuel Surcharge in response to recent increases in diesel fuel prices.”
It applies to cargo moving between an inland rail ramp or container yard and an ocean terminal in the United States or Canada. That covers CY cargo (container yard, where the customer collects the box) and SD cargo (store door, where Maersk delivers to the customer’s premises). For store-door moves, Maersk says the charge is separate from any inland fuel charge for the truck pickup or delivery. So a door-delivered import can carry both.
The October notice does not say what the current level is. But Maersk’s earlier notices do.
The current level dates from 1 June 2026. A Maersk notice dated 12 May raised the temporary surcharge to $200 per dry container and $250 per reefer, for imports only. It did not state the earlier level. Maersk said fuel expenses had kept rising and the temporary surcharge needed adjusting, following a review process it described in an advisory on 1 April.
A further notice on 29 June renamed the charge from 10 July, to separate it from the Ocean Emergency Bunker Surcharge on the same invoices. That notice listed imports at $200 dry and $250 reefer, and exports at $100 dry and $150 reefer. Maersk said there was no change to pricing. It said the renaming was meant to give “clearer visibility of applicable fuel charges.”
Against those June levels, the November rise works out as follows (our arithmetic):

Imports, dry: $200 to $350, up 75%.

Imports, reefer: $250 to $400, up 60%.

Exports, dry: $100 to $125, up 25%.

Exports, reefer: $150 to $175, up about 17%.

Imports take most of the increase, in dollars and in percentage terms. In our reading, that is where Maersk sees the most inland cost to recover.
On the invoice, nothing changes in name. Imports will still be billed as “Emergency Operational Cost Recovery” and exports as “Emergency Operational Cost Exports”, according to the October notice. If your team checks invoices against quotes, those are the lines to watch.

Why diesel is driving this

Maersk gives one reason: diesel. The wider data shows why a fuel charge set in May is now too low in Maersk’s view.
Commercial Carrier Journal reported in June that the US average retail diesel price peaked at $5.643 a gallon on 6 April 2026. By mid-May it was $5.60, up 58.3% on a year earlier. The same report said prices “jumped more than 40% in less than two months” earlier in the year.
Prices eased by July, then rose again. Supply Chain 24/7 reported in August that “Diesel averaged $4.96 per gallon in July, up 31.1% from last year, before climbing above $5.45 in August.” It cited the US Energy Information Administration for the $5.45 national average in the week of 17 August. Those are summer figures, not current ones. Maersk’s October notice cites “recent increases in diesel fuel prices” but gives no number.
Rail and drayage costs follow diesel. Drayage is the short truck move between a port or rail ramp and the customer. When diesel stays above $5, railroads and truckers pass on more through their own fuel schedules, and carriers that sell door-to-door or rail-inclusive rates either absorb it or charge for it. Maersk is choosing to charge.
The Commercial Carrier Journal report also shows the cost of being slow. It cited a model from Magnus Technologies in which a 55-truck fleet on monthly fuel surcharge resets “would fail to recover approximately $168,000 in fuel costs.” On quarterly resets, “the unrecovered losses ballooned to more than $400,000.” That was about trucking fleets, not ocean carriers. But the lesson carries over. Anyone who quotes fixed inland rates in a volatile fuel market loses money. Forwarders quoting all-in door rates on long validity are in the same position.

The invoice changes from 13 November

The second half of the news is operational, and easy to miss.
Maersk is moving to SAP S/4HANA, a widely used corporate finance system. A notice for Canadian customers says “there will be delays in the invoice creation process” between 13 and 15 November 2026. Maersk says standard invoice information will stay available in that period.
From 16 November, invoice PDFs change. They add a tax point date (the date that decides when tax is due) and a tax specification table showing how tax was applied. Maersk says invoices may look different depending on local requirements. Maersk says: “Customers may need to update the system or EDI setup to receive and handle the updated invoice PDF template.” EDI, or electronic data interchange, is the automated link that feeds supplier invoices straight into a company’s accounts system. Maersk has published sample templates for ground freight, air and LCL (less than container load), supply chain management and contract logistics invoices.
There is also a change to currency conversion on Logistics & Services invoices. That is Maersk’s non-ocean business, such as customs, warehousing, trucking and air. From 16 November, one exchange rate will apply per service, “aligned with the first invoice creation date for the service provided.” Later or reissued invoices for that service use the same rate. The rate comes from LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), which Maersk calls an independent third-party provider. Maersk also says it “may apply, at its discretion, a conversion adjustment,” calculated as a percentage of the converted sum. The percentages sit in a separate document linked from the notice.
Maersk says it will keep customers informed of any updates or changes to the transition.

What it means for forwarders

Three practical points follow.
First, re-quote inland US and Canada business now. Any rail-inclusive or inland-yard import moving on or after 16 November carries $150 more per dry box than the June level, and $150 more per reefer. A customer moving 20 dry boxes a month inland pays $3,000 more a month on this line alone. If your quotes to shippers run past mid-November with this charge fixed at the old level, you will carry the gap.
Second, check what “subject to” clauses cover. Most forwarder quotes pass carrier surcharges through at cost. But some all-in contracts do not. Read them before the first November invoices arrive, not after.
Third, get finance and IT ready. If your accounts system reads Maersk invoices automatically, test the new template before 16 November. Expect a short gap in invoices from 13 to 15 November, then a catch-up. Charges for that weekend may land on later statements than usual. If you rebill customers from carrier invoices, warn them now that some November bills may run late.
On currency: the single-rate rule makes the rate more predictable across reissued invoices, which helps. But the discretionary conversion adjustment is a cost line worth tracking. Compare it with what your bank charges for the same conversion.
One more thing. In our view, a system changeover is a time to take extra care with payments. As a general rule, any change in a supplier’s bank details, from any carrier or forwarder, should be confirmed by phone with a contact you already know before money moves. Fake notices often copy the look of real ones.

What we expect next

Our prediction: Maersk keeps the import intermodal fuel surcharge at $350 per dry container or higher until at least the end of January 2027. Reported US diesel averages sat near or above $5 a gallon from the spring through August. Maersk points to “recent increases” since. And it has not cut this charge since setting the June level.
We also expect the invoice switchover to cause a visible but short disruption. Our call is that forwarders on automated invoice feeds who do not test the new template will see rejected or mis-coded Maersk invoices in the second half of November, and most will have cleared the backlog by mid-December.

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