Surcharges
Fuel and regulatory costs are often beyond our control. Our surcharges enable us to adjust for market fluctuations, while keeping the base rates for our services steady and competitive.
Energy Fee
The Energy Fee calculation has two components, a percentage and an additional flat fee. The percentage is tied directly to the national average price of diesel fuel as reported weekly 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. This component will fluctuate as the average price rises and falls.
The EIA/DOE average is published each Monday. Liquid Environmental Solutions (LES) will use the published average from the last Monday of every month to calculate the percentage energy charge for the following month. Liquid Environmental Solutions’ surcharge tables show what the energy surcharge, as a percentage of your monthly or other periodic invoice charges, before taxes, is based upon the last reported EIA/DOE national diesel price index prior to your invoice date.
The Flat fee component is added in addition to the percentage fee. The flat fee is not tied to any specific index, but covers energy costs across LES’s operations that are not covered by the percentage fee, as well as ensuring a reasonable operating margin. The Energy charges are not calculated based on any specific costs (direct or indirect) of servicing your individual account, and include a profit component.
Environmental and Regulatory Recovery Fee
Every year, we incur significant costs from municipal manifest submission fees, wastewater discharge expenses, permitting fees, and waste disposal surcharges. The environmental and regulatory recovery fee is calculated by adding a percentage of all invoice charges (including other surcharges and fees, but excluding taxes). This component helps cover costs of our collection, transfer, processing and disposal operations, on a company-wide basis, in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. The environmental and regulatory charge is not calculated based on any specific costs (direct or indirect) of servicing your individual account, and includes a profit component.
Determination of the Energy/Environmental Charge Amount
The Energy/Environmental Charge that appears on your invoice is determined by applying the percentage from Liquid Environmental Solutions’ Energy Surcharge Table to the invoice charges (excluding tax):
- Commercial Energy Surcharge: 15.50%
- National Account Energy Surcharge: 9.25%
- Industrial Transportation Energy Surcharge: 31%
- Industrial Energy Fee: 8.5%
- Legacy Industrial Energy Fee: 5.25%
Not a Governmental Tax; Future Changes
The Energy/Environmental Charges are not taxes or surcharges imposed by or remitted to any governmental or regulatory agency, nor is it required by law; it is our charge. The percentages and amounts may be changed at the discretion of Liquid Environmental Solutions. To the extent required by your applicable customer service terms, your consent to the assessment of the Energy/Environmental Charge, and any changes to such charges, is effective upon your payment.
Manifest and Administrative Fee
The Liquid Environmental Solutions Manifest and Administrative Fee is a recurring fee. It is not a tax, surcharge, or fee mandated by or remitted to any governmental or regulatory agency. The Manifest and Administrative Fee is intended to help Liquid Environmental Solutions recover costs associated with manifest distribution to government agencies, manifest retention, and administrative processes related to account maintenance, purchase order application, portal fees, invoicing and technology fees and it includes an amount designed to achieve an acceptable operating margin. The Manifest and Administrative Fee is currently $8.79 per service but is subject to change at Liquid Environmental Solutions discretion upon advanced notice, which notice may be in the form of an invoice message.