How do you calculate an expedite premium?

Subtract the standard lead-time quote from the expedited quote, then divide by the standard lead-time basis and multiply by 100. A $14,600 rush quote against a $12,100 standard quote is a $2,500 gap, or a 20.7% premium.

What is a typical expedite premium?

Rush surcharges commonly run 15-50% depending on how much you compress lead time and what gets displaced. The 20.7% in the example is moderate, consistent with a meaningful but not extreme schedule pull-in.

What drives the cost behind an expedite premium?

Overtime and weekend labor, premium inbound freight on materials, expedited outbound shipping, and the opportunity cost of bumping other scheduled jobs. The premium should at least cover these.

Expedite premium vs small-batch premium — how do they differ?

The expedite premium prices speed (compressed lead time at the same quantity), while the small-batch premium prices low volume. A single order can carry both if it's small and rushed.

How do I justify a 20% rush charge?

Show that the $2,500 gap covers overtime, expedited material freight and the disruption of resequencing the schedule. Framing it as the cost of priority capacity is more persuasive than calling it a surcharge.

Should I always quote an expedite premium?

Quote it whenever the requested date forces you off your normal schedule. If the job fits in standard lead time without disruption, there's no premium to charge — and saying so builds trust for the times you do.

Contract Manufacturing, Job Shop Quoting & Make-to-Order calculator

Expedite Premium Calculator

The expedite premium is the percentage uplift a customer pays to compress lead time on a make-to-order job. Estimators and operations managers use it to price the real cost of jumping the queue — overtime, displaced jobs, premium freight and schedule disruption — instead of giving away speed for free. It matters because rush orders quietly consume capacity that other paying jobs need, and a clear premium lets you charge for that disruption and steer customers toward standard lead times when speed isn't critical. This calculator turns the dollar gap between an expedited quote and the standard lead-time quote into a percentage you can put on the table.

What this calculator does

Calculate the premium needed for a rush or expedited customer order.
quoting orders that must jump the queue or ship faster than normal lead time
It computes the expedite premium as the dollar difference between the rush quote and the standard lead-time quote, divided by the standard lead-time price basis.

Formula used

expedite premium dollars = expedited quote price - standard lead-time quote price
expedite premium = expedite premium dollars ÷ standard lead-time price basis × 100

Inputs explained

Expedited quote price:
Standard lead-time quote price:
Standard lead-time price basis:

How to use the result

Use it when a customer requests a compressed delivery and you need to price and justify the rush surcharge.
It quantifies the price uplift, not the internal disruption cost; a premium that looks healthy can still lose money if expediting forces overtime and bumps higher-margin work.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The U.S. prime lending rate is 6.75% (Federal Reserve via FRED, 2026-07-02). Payback and financing math should start from today's rate, not a remembered one.

Common questions

How do you calculate an expedite premium? Subtract the standard lead-time quote from the expedited quote, then divide by the standard lead-time basis and multiply by 100. A $14,600 rush quote against a $12,100 standard quote is a $2,500 gap, or a 20.7% premium.
What is a typical expedite premium? Rush surcharges commonly run 15-50% depending on how much you compress lead time and what gets displaced. The 20.7% in the example is moderate, consistent with a meaningful but not extreme schedule pull-in.
What drives the cost behind an expedite premium? Overtime and weekend labor, premium inbound freight on materials, expedited outbound shipping, and the opportunity cost of bumping other scheduled jobs. The premium should at least cover these.
Expedite premium vs small-batch premium — how do they differ? The expedite premium prices speed (compressed lead time at the same quantity), while the small-batch premium prices low volume. A single order can carry both if it's small and rushed.
How do I justify a 20% rush charge? Show that the $2,500 gap covers overtime, expedited material freight and the disruption of resequencing the schedule. Framing it as the cost of priority capacity is more persuasive than calling it a surcharge.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.