Cost drivers
What is underneath a road rate: pump diesel by country back to 2005, the fuel component stripped out of the European contract index, and the country cost envelopes with the mechanism that actually passes each one through in a contract.
Diesel pump price by country — with tax
Monthly means of the weekly pump survey, 2005 to date. Source: European Commission DG ENER, EU Weekly Oil Bulletin, weekly. Six categorical hues is a hard cap, so at most six countries draw at once; colour stays bound to the country, and hiding one never repaints the rest. The ex-tax basis is the one that matters for a floater: excise and VAT do not move with crude.
Latest pump price
| Country | With tax (EUR/l) | Ex tax (EUR/l) | Tax wedge |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU average | 1.882 | 1.056 | 0.827 |
| Germany | 2.072 | 1.109 | 0.963 |
| France | 2.011 | 1.069 | 0.943 |
| Poland | 1.644 | 0.915 | 0.729 |
| Netherlands | 2.231 | 1.286 | 0.945 |
| Belgium | 2.011 | 1.061 | 0.949 |
| Spain | 1.607 | 1.100 | 0.507 |
| Italy | 2.006 | 0.971 | 1.035 |
Gross versus net — European road contract index against the same index without fuel
- Europe contractobserved
- Europe ex-fuelobserved
Both series are index levels on a common base, drawn on one axis. The gap between them is the fuel component of the published road contract index.
The March to April 2026 reading, written out
- Headline moved from 131.05 to 134.97, +3.92 points.
- Ex-fuel moved from 121.98 to 122.61, +0.63 points.
- A carrier quoting the headline to justify a base rate increase in that month is quoting a fuel number. The fuel part is already reimbursed by any working floater, so it must not be paid twice in the base rate.
Driver register
| Component | Germany (EUR/km) | Poland (EUR/km) | Pass-through mechanism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver salary and charges | 0.48 – 0.55 | 0.28 – 0.34 | Annual review trigger: reopened when the collective wage settlement exceeds the agreed threshold, otherwise fixed for the term. |
| Fuel net of AdBlue | 0.41 – 0.46 | 0.38 – 0.43 | Diesel floater, reviewed monthly against a published pump index; the only component most contracts adjust in-year. |
| Insurance | 0.07 – 0.10 | 0.05 – 0.07 | Fixed for the contract term; re-based only at renewal. |
| Maintenance and tyres | 0.12 – 0.15 | 0.10 – 0.13 | Fixed for the contract term; re-based only at renewal. |
| Overhead admin IT compliance | 0.12 – 0.16 | 0.08 – 0.11 | Fixed for the contract term; carrier risk. |
| Tolls route-weighted | 0.20 – 0.28 | 0.10 – 0.16 | Maut and equivalents passed through as toll rate times contracted distance, restated when the tariff changes. |
| TOTAL all-in cost floor | 1.60 – 1.96 | 1.17 – 1.48 | Sum of the components above at the same as-of date. |
| Vehicle lease or depreciation | 0.20 – 0.26 | 0.18 – 0.24 | Fixed for the contract term; re-based only at renewal. |
| Walk-away threshold | 1.55 – 1.60 | 1.10 – 1.20 | Commercial floor below which the carrier declines the lane. |
ETS2 arrives in January 2027 at the pump, roughly +0.13 EUR per litre at 50 EUR per tonne. That is a forward assumption about a scheme, not an observed price, and it is not added to any diesel line on this page. The escalation designer carries it as an explicit toggle.