Annual Freight Budget
Roll one lane up to a real number. Enter the base rate per shipment, the fuel surcharge percent, any typical accessorials, and how many shipments you run a year — and get the monthly and annual freight spend for the lane.
Annual freight spend
Budgeting a single lane
A freight budget is built one lane at a time. Nail the per-shipment cost — base rate, fuel, and the accessorials that lane reliably picks up — then scale it by the annual volume. Get one lane right and the same shape repeats for the rest of your network.
Per shipment = base × (1 + FSC% ÷ 100) + accessorials · Annual = per shipment × shipments per year
Why fuel belongs in the budget
The fuel surcharge floats with the diesel index and can run well into double-digit percentages of the linehaul. Left out, a budget looks tidy and then blows through by exactly the amount you didn’t plan for. Use an average surcharge for the planning period so the number holds up.