About the Author

Livia Brannan

Marketing at Terminal Industries

Livia contributes to Terminal Industries’ marketing efforts by developing content that highlights the company’s role in advancing logistics technology. She focuses on creating clear, engaging stories that connect industry innovation with Terminal’s broader vision for the future of the yard.

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Amazon just announced a 3.5% “fuel and logistics” surcharge on third-party sellers.

It goes into effect April 17.
It applies to fulfillment fees, not checkout prices.
And notably, there’s no end date.

The reasoning is straightforward:
Operating costs are up. Fuel is expensive. Logistics is getting harder.

And Amazon isn’t alone.
UPS, FedEx, USPS, airlines, even chemical companies are all introducing similar surcharges.

So the industry narrative is clear:

Fuel costs are rising → logistics gets more expensive → fees go up.

But that explanation is only half the story.

The Cost Everyone Accepts

Fuel is getting more expensive.

But here’s the part no one questions:

How much of that fuel is actually being used productively?

Because inside the supply chain, there’s a massive blind spot:

Truck drivers lose 30–40% of their usable driving time sitting idle in yards.

Not moving freight.
Not generating value.
Just waiting.

The Most Expensive Place a Truck Can Be

A truck doesn’t burn the most fuel when it’s driving.

It burns the most waste when it’s not.

  • idling in line to check in

  • waiting for a dock assignment

  • searching for a trailer

  • sitting while manual processes catch up

Every minute:

  • fuel is consumed

  • hours-of-service are lost

  • throughput slows down

  • cost per load increases

And this isn’t an edge case.

It’s standard operating procedure.

Zoom Out: What Amazon Is Really Pricing In

Amazon says:

“Elevated costs in fulfillment and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry.”

That’s true.

But those “elevated costs” aren’t just coming from fuel prices.

They’re coming from how inefficiently that fuel is being used across the network.

When trucks spend hours stuck in yards across thousands of facilities, every day…

That inefficiency compounds into:

  • higher fulfillment costs

  • longer cycle times

  • reduced network capacity

  • and ultimately… surcharges

So yes, oil prices matter.

But so does everything happening before and after the highway.

The Part No One Is Fixing

The yard is where:

  • trucks enter the system

  • trailers get assigned

  • goods transition between modes

It’s the control point for flow.

And yet, it’s still run on:

  • clipboards

  • radios

  • spreadsheets

  • manual coordination

So trucks pile up.
Time gets lost.
Fuel gets burned.

And then the cost shows up somewhere else.

A Different Way to Think About This

If 30–40% of driver time wasn’t lost in the yard:

  • fewer trucks would be needed to move the same volume

  • less fuel would be wasted sitting idle

  • fulfillment costs would drop at the source

  • networks would absorb shocks more efficiently

In that world, a 3.5% surcharge looks… less necessary.

The Real Question

This isn’t about whether Amazon should or shouldn’t add a fee.

It’s about something deeper:

Why is the system so inefficient that it needs one in the first place?

Because until that changes, this won’t be the last surcharge.

It’ll just be the next one.

Final Thought

Fuel prices may fluctuate.

But inefficiency is constant.

And in today’s supply chain, the yard is where that inefficiency quietly lives…
and where the biggest opportunity still sits.

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