Fuel and Environmental Charges
Advanced Disposal is deeply committed to ensuring a clean and safe environment for our employees, our customers, and our communities. We consider environmental stewardship of utmost importance and believe that our true business is making the world a cleaner, more beautiful place to live, work and play.
Advanced Disposal is committed to controlling costs and expenses so we can continue to provide you with the best overall value in environmental services. Unfortunately, fuel costs and expense and environmental compliance requirements are something we cannot fully control. Our fuel and environmental charges are meant to help us cover these costs and expenses and achieve an operating margin acceptable to Advanced Disposal. The fuel and environmental fees are two separate line items on customer invoices.
Fuel Charge
Our fuel fee calculation is generally based upon the national weekly average price of diesel fuel – all types as reported by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy ("EIA/DOE") in its Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices Index. This index is objective, publicly available and widely recognized in the trucking and transportation industries. Basing our fuel fee upon this index will ensure that you, our valued customer, will pay a fuel fee that is currently adjusted, easy to calculate, and equitable.
The fuel fee is generally based on the month’s weekly average diesel prices immediately prior to your invoice date. The Fuel Fee Table indicates what the fuel fee is as a percentage of your total invoice charges, not including fees and taxes, generally based on the prior month’s weekly diesel pricing average as shown on the invoice. The amount of the fuel fee reflected on your invoice is not designed to be specific to the direct costs and expense to service your account, but rather is designed to address changes in Advanced Disposal’s overall cost structure and to achieve an operating margin acceptable to Advanced Disposal.
Environmental Charge
The environmental fee is a percentage of your total invoice charges, not including fees and taxes, as shown on the invoice, which may change from time-to-time. Please note: Some disposal customers are charged a flat per load rate or a variation not described herein or have other contract terms. Contact your local Advanced Disposal service location for further details.
The environmental fee was implemented to cover company wide costs and expenses to operate our collection, transfer, landfill, materials recovery facilities, and landfill gas-to-energy operations in a safe and environmentally responsible manner and to achieve an operating margin acceptable to Advanced Disposal. The amount or percentage of the environmental fee is not designed to be specific to the direct costs and expense to service your account, but is designed to address changes in Advanced Disposal’s overall costs and expenses related to, but not limited to the following:
- Tire disposal
- Battery disposal
- Landfill linings and cover
- Engineering
- Permit and license compliance
- NPDES
- SPCC / SWPPP
- Title V Air
- Federal, State and Local Regulations
- Landfill Development
- Landfill monitoring
- Landfill maintenance
- Landfill leachate disposal
- Environmental Insurance and Surety Bonds
- Employee training and certification
Not a Governmental Tax; Future Changes
The fuel and environmental charges are not a tax or surcharge imposed by or remitted to any governmental or regulatory agency; it is our charge. The fuel and environmental fees may be changed at the sole discretion of Advanced Disposal. To the extent required by your applicable customer service terms, your consent to the assessment of the fuel and environmental fees, and any changes to such fees, is effective upon your payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why do you charge a fuel fee component?
A: The historical fluctuation in the cost of diesel fuel has made it difficult for Advanced Disposal to recover and administer fuel costs and expenses within operating margins acceptable to Advanced Disposal. In addition to the change in cost and expense attributed to fuel pricing and the fuel consumption of our fleet, there can be a cost impact on other petroleum related products. Our vendors also charge us fees and surcharges when fuel prices increase, or we see a general increase in the cost of most goods and services that must be recouped.
Q: If the price of fuel goes down, will my fuel fee component go down too?
A: Yes, because the charge is generally based upon the EIA/DOE index, if the EIA/DOE's national average diesel price falls, your fuel fee component will come down as well. The EIA/DOE index is updated weekly.
Q: How can I access the Department of Energy Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices Index?
A: Here is the link to the EIA/DOE. This site is updated every Monday evening.
Q: Did the fuel fee component recently increase?
A: Recent fluctuations in the amount of the fuel fee on your invoice may be tied to changes in the EIA/DOE index.
Q: What does the environmental fee component cover?
A: The environmental fee component is our charge that we attribute to our overall company-wide costs and expenses to operate our business in a safe and environmentally responsible manner and to achieve an operating margin acceptable to Advanced Disposal. This environmental fee is not specifically tied to the environmental compliance or other costs and expenses to service each individual customer account, but to overall environmentally related costs and expenses to service all Advanced Disposal customers and to achieve an operating margin acceptable to Advanced Disposal. Our environmentally related costs and expenses include, among other things, landfill cover material, engineering, testing and maintenance in our landfills. In our collection operations these costs and expenses include such things as the disposal of tires, batteries, oils and fluids and the monitoring and management of vehicle emissions.
Q: Will the environmental fee component change?
A: Like most companies, we are constantly looking at various cost and expense components of our business, including our environmentally related costs and expenses, to ensure we continue to operate in a profitable and sustainable manner. Therefore, the environmental fee may be changed from time-to-time. The environmental fee may be changed periodically if there is a business determination that warrants an increase or decrease in the fee charged. Please note: Some disposal customers are charged a flat per load rate.