How it works
Fuel margin is the difference between what you sell a gallon for and what that gallon cost you delivered. Stations talk about it in cents per gallon rather than as a percentage, because the pump price swings with wholesale costs while the cents you keep per gallon is what pays the bills.
Example. Gas sells for $3.199 a gallon and costs you $2.989 delivered. Your margin is 21.0¢ a gallon, about 6.6% of the price.
Card fees at 2.5% take about 8¢ a gallon, leaving 13.0¢.
On 60,000 gallons a month, that's $12,600 in gross profit before card fees and about $7,800 after.
What goes into delivered cost
Your cost per gallon should include everything it took to get fuel into your tanks: the product itself, freight, and the federal, state and local fuel taxes. Pump prices already include those taxes, so leaving them out of your cost makes the margin look far bigger than it is.
Why card fees matter so much on fuel
Card fees are charged on the full pump price, taxes included, while your margin is only a small slice of that price. In the example, card fees eat more than a third of the margin. Tracking margin after fees gives you a truer picture of what each gallon earns.
Common questions
- Why does my margin swing so much week to week?
- When wholesale costs fall, street prices tend to lag, so margins widen. When costs rise quickly, margins get squeezed until pump prices catch up. Looking at the average over a month or more smooths that out.
- Should I use the cost of the load in the tank or today's cost?
- For your books, use what you actually paid for the fuel you're selling. For pricing decisions, many operators also look at replacement cost, what the next load will cost, so they aren't caught short when prices rise.
Last updated October 11, 2026.