Force Majeure

Force majeure was designed for the genuinely unforeseeable - Acts of God. Events so far outside the reasonable scope of business that no contract could have anticipated them.

Fuel cost volatility is not that.

Fuel prices fluctuate. They always have. They are a known variable in every transportation business model. They are factored into rate structures and contract negotiations for exactly this reason. Fuel surcharges are percentage based add-ons tied to fuel price indexes - a standard mechanism carriers have used for years to manage this precise type of volatility.

Invoking force majeure to justify mid-term contract modifications because fuel went up is not legal protection. It's a negotiating tactic wearing legal clothing.

History suggests that force majeure will not be at the same pace on the way down as it was on the way up.

Read your contracts. Understand your force majeure language specifically. Know what triggers it and what remedies are available to you. Audit every surcharge hitting your invoices against your contract terms. And have the direct conversation with your carrier partners about what the path back looks like when fuel stabilizes.

The carriers adding surcharges aren't wrong to protect their margins. But shippers aren't wrong to protect theirs either.