Fuel, Delivery and Trip Charges Can Sit Outside the Roof Price

A roof quote ends in one number, and that number is the one most people compare. Before you compare it, look at what sits above it. Some proposals list fuel, delivery and a trip charge as separate lines, and some fold those costs into the unit prices with no line at all. A few add them after the signature, as a change to the total. None of these arrangements is hidden by default, but each one changes what the bottom line actually means.

What each charge is meant to pay for

A fuel surcharge moves with what diesel and gasoline cost on the day the crew drives. A delivery charge pays for the truck that brings shingles, underlayment, drip edge, ridge cap and nails to the house, and across a metro with several supply yards, the distance can differ from one contractor to the next. A trip or mobilization charge pays for getting a crew, a dumpster and ladders to the property and back, and it is usually a flat amount per visit. Each one reflects a real cost. The question for you is whether the cost is shown, how it is calculated, and whether it can change after you sign.

Three places the charge can sit

A quote can carry the charge in one of three ways, and each one needs a different question.

1. As a separate line. The fuel, delivery or trip charge is printed with its own dollar figure above the total. This is the easiest to compare, because you can see the number and ask whether a competing bid has the same line.
2. Folded into the unit prices. The shingles, labor and tear-off are quoted at higher rates, and the charge is absorbed in them. The total may be fair, but you cannot see the charge, so you cannot compare it line by line with a bid that shows it.
3. Added later. The proposal does not mention the charge, and an invoice or a change order adds it. This is the one to rule out first, because the number you approved is no longer the number you pay.

How to ask for it in writing

Ask each roofer three direct questions before you choose. Is there any fuel, delivery, trip or mobilization charge in this total, and if so, what is the dollar amount? Is that amount fixed for the job, or does it move with a fuel index or a date? If the charge changes, what triggers the change, and who must approve it before the crew bills it? Write the answers next to the number on the proposal. If the answer is that the charge is included, ask that the proposal say so.

A fixed fuel line is simple. A fuel line tied to an index needs a named index and a cap, or it is a blank check. Ask what happens if the job slips two weeks into a warmer or colder stretch and the trip cost goes up. A contractor who can answer that in one sentence has probably thought about it before you asked.

Fuel is not the same as materials

Keep two things apart in your head. A shingle price can rise between the quote and the order, and that is a materials question with its own answer in the proposal. A fuel surcharge is a transport and crew question. Asking about one does not answer the other, so ask both, and make sure each answer is written down.

Why it matters more on a St. Louis roof

St. Louis roofs are often scheduled into a narrow window. Spring and early fall are busy, and a job that starts in late October can run into the first hard freeze, which slows the work and can push a crew into a second trip. Hail season and the storm calls that follow can also pull trucks and crews off scheduled jobs, which means a delivery or trip charge may be paid twice if a start date moves. A quote that makes the charge clear at the start protects you from paying for the same truck two times.

Permit timing matters too. In St. Louis County and in the municipalities that issue their own permits, the inspection date can come after the crew has already mobilized. If the crew has to come back for an inspection or to close the roof after a delay, ask whether that return trip carries its own charge and whether it appears in the written total.

A worked comparison

Suppose two proposals for the same house come in within a few hundred dollars of each other. The first shows the materials, the tear-off and labor, and a separate trip charge of a fixed amount. The second shows the same work at a total that is a little lower and says nothing about a trip charge. On paper, the second looks better. Before you decide, ask the second roofer whether the trip charge is included, and if so, at what rate. If the answer is yes, ask to see it. You may find the two totals are closer than they looked, or you may find the lower total leaves the trip cost for a change order later.

The comparison works the same way whichever roofer you pick. Put the charges next to each other, and make each total mean the same thing before you decide which one is lower.

What to do with the answer

If a roofer will not put a fuel, delivery or trip charge in writing, you have learned something about how the rest of the job will be billed. If a roofer shows the charge as a fixed line and says it will not change without your written approval, you have a clear answer you can compare against the other bids. If you have a St. Louis roof quote in hand and want to go through its lines before you decide, call the office at (314) 220-2333.