Shipping Giant Maersk Raises UK and Ireland Inland Fuel Surcharge to 20%

A.P. Moller-Maersk, the Danish container shipping and logistics group headquartered in Copenhagen, announced on October 8, 2026 that it will raise its Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) on inland transport in the United Kingdom and Ireland to 20%. The new level takes effect on October 12, 2026 and applies to all export collections and import deliveries, which are the truck legs that move containers between ports and customer premises.

The measure concerns landside haulage only and does not change ocean freight rates. Maersk linked the decision to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the surge in fuel costs that has followed. The company said the surcharge will continue to be reviewed regularly and that it will share further updates when necessary.

How the surcharge has evolved in 2026

Maersk first introduced a temporary Intermodal Fuel Fee in the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 1, 2026, shortly after the war between the United States and Iran disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The fee is billed under the Export Fuel Surcharge and Import Fuel Surcharge codes and started at about 10.1% for truck and rail moves in the United Kingdom.

The rate fell during the summer as fuel prices eased. It dropped to 5.7% in the United Kingdom from July 1 and to 0.9% for truck moves in Ireland from August 1. It then climbed again to 8.3% in the United Kingdom and 5.1% in Ireland from September 1, and the United Kingdom rate stood at 10.6% from October 1 under an advisory dated September 18.

The 20% level announced on October 8 is close to double the rate that applied in the United Kingdom at the start of the month. The fee had been reviewed once a month until now, with new levels starting on the first day of each month, so a change in the middle of the month shows how quickly inland fuel costs have moved.

Record diesel prices behind the increase

Diesel is the main fuel for container trucks, and UK pump prices have reached levels never seen before. The average price of a litre of diesel stood at 199.18 pence on September 28, passing the previous record of 199.05 pence set in June 2022, according to RAC data. In early October the average crossed 2 pounds per litre for the first time, at 200.01 pence.

Crude oil has followed the same path. Brent averaged just over 101 dollars a barrel in September, up from 87.7 dollars in August, and it has traded above 100 dollars throughout the week of October 5. Prices rose again on October 8 after an increase in attacks on tankers and commercial vessels in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, while a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico forced cuts in US offshore output.

Part of a wider pattern across Europe

The UK and Ireland increase is one of many inland fuel adjustments Maersk has made this year. In the Nordic and Baltic markets, its emergency inland surcharge for door deliveries started at 4% in Denmark in July and stood at 14% in Denmark, 17% in Latvia and 24% in Estonia from September 30. In Italy the truck fuel fee rose to 18% from October 1. North Macedonia has carried a 20% truck surcharge and Cyprus a 12.5% surcharge since September 7.

On the ocean side, Maersk continues to apply emergency freight rates of 1,800 to 3,800 dollars per container on cargo to and from several Gulf ports, plus 1,000 dollars per container for vessels that transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to its Middle East operational update revised on October 8.

Other carriers are adjusting fuel charges as well. CMA CGM introduced a new ocean Emergency Fuel Surcharge on October 1, set at 265 dollars per TEU for dry cargo on head haul trades. Hapag-Lloyd applied a 13% inland emergency fuel surcharge in Great Britain and Ireland from March and withdrew it at the end of July, when diesel prices were lower than they are today.

What it means for shippers

From October 12, importers and exporters who use Maersk haulage in the United Kingdom and Ireland will pay one fifth more on the inland leg of each container move. For example, a haulage charge of 500 pounds will carry a surcharge of 100 pounds. The cost falls mainly on retailers, manufacturers and food importers that rely on door deliveries from ports such as Felixstowe, London Gateway, Southampton, Liverpool and Dublin.

Maersk has stated in earlier advisories that customers with bespoke pricing agreements may face different fuel fee levels, communicated directly by their account managers. Shippers that arrange their own trucking are not billed this surcharge by Maersk, although independent hauliers are passing on the same diesel costs through their own fuel clauses.

The surcharge will remain in place for as long as fuel costs stay elevated, and its level will depend on oil and diesel prices in the coming weeks.