What is the movers fuel surcharge?
Why am I being charged a "fuel surcharge" by my mover?
The New York State DOT…
The New York State DOT regulates household moves which take place within New York State (these are called INTRAstate moves).
The Federal DOT regulates household moves which cross state lines (which are called INTERstate moves).
Presently (this was written on 10/8/15) the NYS DOT mandates that no fuel surcharge will be applied to New York State intrastate household moves.
The Federal DOT has no such mandate for interstate moves and -- to the best of my knowledge -- every large household carrier in the United States is presently charging a fuel surcharge (these companies include but may not be limited to Atlas, Allied, Mayflower, Bekins, United, Arpin, Wheaton and North American).
The fuel surcharge ameliorates the volatile price of the carrier's use of diesel fuel, the cost of which is higher than gasoline.
Fuel surcharge calculations are usually based upon the national weekly average price of diesel fuel as reported by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy ("EIA/DOE") in its Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices Index. This index is objective, publicly available, and widely recognized in the trucking and transportation industries.
And this is all I know about fuel surcharges in the household moving industry.