Diesel is spiking. Here's how one operator is holding on.

You pay for fuel in days. You get paid in weeks. Right now that window is forcing small trucking businesses to answer tough questions: how do I manage the ups and downs, what do I tell my customers and do I say no to loads?

Mike Kucharski is experiencing all of this firsthand. He's the co-owner and vice president of JKC Trucking, a Chicago-based carrier specializing in climate-controlled and dry freight loads. Kucharski shares the decisions he's made to deal with spiking diesel prices, and what are still the big unknowns. 

We've packaged up his tips for you at the bottom of this email.

—Interview by Shefali Kapadia, edited by Bianca Prieto

How have rising diesel prices impacted your business in particular?

When diesel skyrockets, we feel it immediately. Fuel is already one of our biggest weekly costs, so even small increases impact cash flow. The real challenge is timing: we pay for fuel in days but get paid in weeks. During that window, our margins shrink or vanish. When diesel moves fast, trucking feels it first.

At what price per gallon do you start to make decisions or changes to your business? Is there a breaking/tipping point? 

It’s less about a fixed number and more about the speed of the increase. When diesel jumps by $1, cash flow takes a huge hit and can wipe out margins. It’s not the price, it’s the spike that hurts. If prices were to reach $7 per gallon [on average], that would be extremely difficult and could put many truckers out of business.

So far, have you had to turn down any loads?

Yes. Not every load is worth moving, especially when fuel eats the margin. I’ve turned down all loads that wouldn’t adjust pricing to cover higher diesel costs—about two to five loads a week. We’ve also been turning down a handful of loads while waiting for pools of trucks to return.

We’re being more strategic and selective about what we take. In this market, saying no is just as important as saying yes.

Have you had challenging conversations with customers about rates? How do you approach these discussions?

Yes, but transparency is key. With one of my long-term meat customers, I had to reset expectations. We agreed on a higher 30-day rate, and I made it clear the increase wasn’t about profit; it was about covering fuel costs to keep their product moving. They understood and agreed.

I’ve also avoided long-term fixed pricing. A new customer asked for locked rates for 90 days on a bid, but I explained that I can’t accurately calculate rates when diesel is surging so high. The best I can offer is weekly spot rates, and they understood and agreed. We’re not raising rates to make more, we’re raising them to keep moving. You can’t lock in long-term pricing when your biggest cost changes weekly.

What's the one thing most small fleet owners should be doing to navigate higher prices that they're not doing?

They need to be more disciplined about cost visibility and fuel strategy. That means using fuel apps, optimizing routes and understanding exactly what each lane costs to operate. Revenue doesn’t matter if you don’t know your cost per mile. If a load doesn’t cover your operating costs at current fuel prices, it’s not worth taking. Busy doesn’t mean profitable.

What are the biggest unknowns right now for you related to fuel prices? What questions remain unanswered?

The biggest unknown is volatility: how quickly prices rise and how long these swings last. The hardest part isn’t high prices; it’s unpredictable prices.

What our industry needs now is more stability and support during extreme conditions. It would make a significant difference to have targeted fuel relief during global emergencies, temporary diesel tax suspensions, emergency fuel credit programs for small carriers and strategic diesel reserve protections to prevent supply chain breakdowns.
This isn’t just about trucking margins; it’s about protecting America’s supply chain, the backbone of our economy. If carriers collapse under fuel shocks, every industry and every American feels it.

The Inside Lane's take

The carriers who survive diesel volatility aren't the ones watching the pump price, they're the ones who already know what every lane costs them and have the discipline to walk away when the numbers don't work. Kucharski's framework is simple: know your cost per mile cold, never lock in long-term rates when your biggest cost changes weekly and get ahead of the customer conversation before the relationship breaks. Diesel will keep moving. The operators still standing when it settles will be the ones who treated every load like a business decision, not just a miles decision.

Thanks for reading today's edition! You can reach the newsletter team at editor@theinsidelane.co. We enjoy hearing from you.

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The Inside Lane is curated and written by Shefali Kapadia and edited by Bianca Prieto.