Trucking cost per mile calculator

This trucking cost per mile calculator returns your fixed, variable and total cost per mile, plus what the truck costs to run each month.

Every load decision starts with one number: what it costs you to drive a mile. Without it, a rate is just a number on a screen. With it, every load is a simple yes or no question: does it pay more than the truck costs to run?

How the calculator works

Costs fall into two groups.

Fixed costs stay the same each month however much you drive: truck and trailer payments, insurance, plates and permits, IFTA and heavy vehicle use tax spread per month, phone, ELD and software. The calculator divides the monthly total by your monthly miles.

Variable costs grow with every mile: fuel, tires, maintenance and repairs, and driver pay if you pay by the mile. You enter them in cents per mile.

Cost per mile = (monthly fixed costs / monthly miles) + variable cents per mile

Use loaded plus empty miles for the monthly figure, because the truck costs money on every mile it drives.

A worked example

A single truck runs 9,000 miles a month. Fixed costs: $2,200 in payments, $1,200 insurance, $150 for plates and permits, and $200 for phone, ELD and software, for $3,750 a month. Variable costs: fuel 62 cents, tires 4 cents, maintenance reserve 20 cents and owner pay 60 cents per mile.

• Fixed per mile: $3,750 / 9,000 = about $0.42
• Variable per mile: 62 + 4 + 20 + 60 = $1.46
• Total: about $1.88 per mile, or about $16,890 a month to run

Any load that pays less than $1.88 per mile all-in, empty miles counted, loses money for this truck. Use our rate per mile calculator to get that all-in figure for a load.

Truck cost per mile: where the numbers come from

• Fuel: diesel price divided by your real miles per gallon. At $4.00 a gallon and 6.5 mpg, fuel is about 62 cents a mile.
• Tires: cost of a set divided by the miles it lasts. The tire cost per mile calculator does this per position.
• Maintenance reserve: money set aside per mile for service and repairs. Our guide to semi truck maintenance cost covers what the big items run.
• Idle and comfort costs: if you run an APU or idle for heat and cooling, that fuel and upkeep belong here too; see the guide to semi truck APU cost.
• Driver pay: what you pay a driver per mile, or what you need to pay yourself.

What the results mean

The total cost per mile is your floor. Loads below it lose money, even if they keep the truck busy. Loads above it contribute to profit.

The fixed share tells you how sensitive you are to slow weeks. If fixed costs are a big part of the total, a drop in miles raises your cost per mile quickly. The monthly cost to run is what has to come in each month before you earn anything.

Cost per mile calculator for trucking fleets

If you run more than one truck, work out the cost per mile for each one before averaging. An older truck with higher repair costs, or a truck with a bigger payment, can have a very different number from the rest of the fleet. Averaging hides that, and a load that works for one truck may lose money for another. Shared costs, such as office software or a yard lease, can be split across the trucks by miles.

How miles change the answer

Try moving the monthly miles slider while leaving everything else the same. Fixed costs per mile drop as miles rise, so a truck running 11,000 miles a month has a lower cost per mile than the same truck running 7,000. That is one reason keeping the truck loaded matters so much: idle days do not just lose revenue, they make every remaining mile more expensive.

Common mistakes

• Using loaded miles only, which makes the cost per mile look lower than it is.
• Leaving out the maintenance reserve because no bill arrived this month.
• Forgetting yearly costs such as plates, heavy vehicle use tax and permits.
• Leaving out your own pay as an owner-operator.
• Using last year's fuel price.

From cost to rate

Your cost per mile is the floor. Your target rate should sit above it, with room for profit and for the slow weeks when the truck does not run full miles. When you know both numbers, judging a load takes seconds. Our page for owner-operators shows how we use your floor: we pass on loads below it unless you tell us otherwise, negotiate above it, and you approve every load.