What’s happened.

Natural Resources Canada says the national average price of diesel averaged $2.68 a litre for the week ended Tuesday, up from $1.50 for the same week in 2025. That is close to a doubling in twelve months, and it shows up in freight before it shows up anywhere else: a new Farm Credit Canada report says fuel service charges now account for 45 per cent of the cost of moving freight by truck, close to half the bill. Farm Credit Canada, a Crown corporation that lends to farms and food businesses, estimates a 2,000-hectare canola farm in Saskatchewan will pay between $68,000 and $106,000 more for fuel in 2026.

Farming is the example, but the arithmetic is the same for anyone running diesel equipment across the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Rig moves, vacuum trucks, hot oilers, frac fleets, water hauling and earthmoving all price off the same pump. The pressure is broad enough that buyers in other heavy industries are rethinking their exposure: one analysis of Canadian mining points to electrification as a way to cut diesel dependence altogether.

What it means for your business.

If you run trucks, pumps or heavy equipment under multi-month service agreements in Alberta, Saskatchewan or northeast British Columbia, your largest variable cost has nearly doubled since last year and any fixed price you quoted on 2025 fuel is now eroding your margin on every load. Add a clearly worded fuel surcharge tied to the published Natural Resources Canada weekly diesel average, and explain it to customers with the $1.50-to-$2.68 comparison so it reads as arithmetic rather than a price increase. Do it on the next renewal, not at year end.

Next step: Add an indexed fuel surcharge to every quote and renewal you issue this quarter, benchmarked to the weekly Natural Resources Canada diesel average.

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Sources & context.

Reported developments are separated from MKTGSpace’s suggested commercial next steps. Reconfirm current conditions before acting.

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