"This was our Katrina"

Some official or other uttered those words in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the recent past, in reference to the flooding they endured. Having passed through the middle of town today I can tell you he or she is full of it. Yes, some low-lying houses and such were flooded, some railroad tracks under water and the like but the town itself is up and running, people going about their business. In other words, not so much.

I awoke at 0300 and couldn't get back to sleep so I moved out. I was back in Omaha, Nebraska after having dropped my trailer, filled up the reefer fuel, did some shopping and fueled up my truck by about 1530. Tomorrow's preplan is a simple run from Council Bluffs, Iowa down to Carthage, Missouri then to take a few days off at the house.

MPG on the trip back was 7.7 according to the trip computer. Fuel at the yard was $4.37 which was about thirty cents cheaper than that available in Wisconsin. Naturally, I filled up the tanks to the very top.

I got some questions about the Fuel Surcharge (FSC), how it works and the like. Basically, it is designed to give trucks averaging 6.0 MPG fuel at $1.20 cents no matter what the actual fuel cost is. Each week, the US Department of Energy determines the average diesel fuel price across the nation, subtracts that $1.20 from it then divides the remainder by six to get the FSC.

For instance, suppose the average cost of diesel is $4.20 across the USA last week. Subtracting $1.20 from that leaves $3.00, and dividing that by six gives a FSC of 50 cents. If a shipper is charged that FSC on each mile from their location to the destination, and assuming the entire amount is given to the truck, then the fuel for that truck will cost $1.20 per gallon, assuming the truck gets 6.0 MPG. If you get more, as I have so far, then my actual cost of fuel is lower. If you get less than 6.0 MPG then the cost of your fuel is higher.