Maersk will raise truck fuel surcharges to 27.5% in Greece and Skopje and 17.5% in Cyprus, effective 28 September 2026, as Middle East turmoil pushes diesel costs higher across its intra-Mediterranean and Balkan drayage networks.

The revised percentages apply to inland trucking legs, not ocean freight, but they land directly on door-to-door invoice totals for importers and exporters moving cargo through Piraeus and Thessaloniki, or into North Macedonia via Skopje. For a Greek shipment with a trucking component of €1,000, the fuel surcharge alone now adds €275.

Maersk attributed the adjustments squarely to higher fuel costs linked to the current situation in the Middle East. The company has not set an end date.

Weekly reviews replace monthly cycle

The most commercially significant change sits in the review mechanics. Maersk will now recalculate the surcharge weekly rather than monthly, dropping the usual adjustment trigger that normally governs when surcharges move. New levels will be announced every Friday and apply for the following week.

For shippers, that means fuel-cost exposure on Maersk trucked moves into and out of Greece, Cyprus and Skopje can now change every seven days. Budgeting door-delivery rates on monthly cycles will become harder, and freight forwarders quoting all-in door rates to clients in the region face repricing risk between quote validity and invoice date.

The measure is explicitly temporary. Maersk said it will keep the surcharge in place for as long as it considers necessary to cover the additional costs — language that leaves the exit entirely at the carrier's discretion.

Invoicing codes

The charges will appear on invoices under two codes: EFS for Export Fuel Surcharge and IFS for Import Fuel Surcharge. Shippers reconciling Maersk invoices from late September should watch for these line items, as the weekly resets mean the percentages on export and import moves may differ within the same month.

What it signals

A 27.5% truck fuel surcharge is a steep add-on by any measure, and the decision to bypass the standard adjustment trigger suggests Maersk expects continued fuel-price volatility rather than a one-off spike. The choice of Greece, Cyprus and Skopje points to exposure on East Mediterranean supply lines, where regional instability translates fastest into diesel prices for inland haulage.

Carriers across the region will likely face shipper pressure to justify their own fuel indices, and competitors serving the same corridors may follow with similar revisions if Middle East-driven fuel costs persist. Shippers with cargo moving through the affected markets should expect Friday announcements to become a weekly rate-watch item, with surcharge levels moving in step with regional fuel prices until Maersk judges the cost pressure has passed.