Trucking cost per mile calculator
Find out what it really costs to run your truck. Put in your miles, payments, fuel, driver pay and bills, and this free cost per mile calculator shows your cost per mile, your break-even rate and the rate you need per loaded mile. It works for one truck, or for a whole fleet, truck by truck.
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How to use the cost per mile calculator
It takes about 15 minutes with your records in front of you. Every step explains what to enter in plain words.
Tell us about your trucks
Say how many trucks you run. With more than one, pick one truck at a time (the most accurate) or the whole fleet at once (quicker).
Enter your miles and days
Total miles in a year, the miles you were paid for, the days the truck works and how many loads you haul.
Enter what the truck costs you
Truck and trailer payments, wear on the equipment, fuel, driver pay (yours too), insurance, repairs, tolls, permits and office bills.
Enter load pay and fees
What your loads pay per loaded mile, any factoring or dispatch percentage, and the profit you want left over.
Read your numbers and check a load
See your cost per mile, break-even rate and target rate, where your money goes, and whether a load you've been offered covers your costs.
What your numbers mean
The calculator gives you a handful of numbers. Here's what each one tells you.
Cost per mile
Everything it costs to run the truck for a year, divided by every mile it ran, loaded and empty. It's the floor under every rate you take.
Break-even rate
The least a load can pay per loaded mile without losing money. It's higher than your cost per mile because the paid miles have to cover the empty ones and your percentage fees.
Target rate
The rate per loaded mile that covers every cost and leaves the profit you set. This is the number to have in mind when you negotiate a rate.
Cash cost per mile
The same math using the payments that leave your bank account instead of truck wear. It tells you what you need to keep the bills paid this month.
Costs that go up with every mile
Fuel, tires, repairs, tolls and per-mile pay. The more you drive, the more you spend. We use this to price the miles on a load.
Costs you pay even when parked
Truck payment, insurance, permits and office bills. They come due whether the truck rolls or not, which is why a slow week costs so much.
Why one truck at a time is more accurate
A fleet number is an average, and averages hide problems. One truck can be paid off while another has a big payment. One driver is paid by the mile, another by the percentage. An older truck spends more in the shop, and insurance can change with the driver.
When you figure each truck on its own, you see which trucks make money and which ones are pulling the rest down. Company bills like the office, software and bookkeeping are entered once and split across the trucks, so nothing is counted twice.
If you just want a quick fleet number, the calculator can do the whole fleet at once from your totals. Do it truck by truck when you're ready for the real picture.
- Each truck has its own payment and age
- Driver pay and insurance differ by truck
- Repairs and fuel use differ by truck
- Shared company costs are counted once
- The fleet number is total cost divided by total miles
The math behind the calculator
The calculator uses plain arithmetic, the same way we teach it. Nothing is guessed for you.
Cost per mile = a year of costs ÷ a year of miles, loaded and empty.
Break-even rate per loaded mile = a year of costs ÷ (1 − your percentage fees), minus any other pay like detention, ÷ your loaded miles.
Target rate per loaded mile = a year of costs ÷ (1 − your percentage fees − your profit goal), minus other pay, ÷ your loaded miles.
Truck wear = (what the truck is worth today − what it will be worth when you replace it) ÷ the years you'll run it.
Here's a made-up example. A truck costs $200,000 a year to run and drives 100,000 miles: $200,000 ÷ 100,000 = $2.00 per mile. If 80,000 of those miles are paid, each paid mile has to bring in $200,000 ÷ 80,000 = $2.50 just to break even, before fees and profit. That's why empty miles matter so much.
Percentage fees are divided out, not added on top. With a 10% fee, $2.00 ÷ 0.90 = $2.22, not $2.20. For a step-by-step guide with real cost averages, read how to figure your trucking cost per mile.
Where to find your numbers
Pull these before you start. Use the last 12 months when you can.
- Miles: your ELD or your IFTA reports.
- Paid miles and load pay: rate confirmations, settlement statements or factoring reports.
- Fuel: your fuel card statements and receipts.
- Truck and trailer: your loan or lease statement, including the interest part of the payment.
- Insurance: your monthly bill or your policy's payment schedule.
- Repairs and tires: shop invoices and parts receipts.
- Everything else: 12 months of business bank and credit card statements.
Want us to watch these numbers with you?
Our dispatch service starts with your cost per mile, so every load we book is checked against it. Our back office keeps the numbers current as fuel, insurance and rates change.
Questions and answers
How do you calculate cost per mile for a trucking company?
Add up everything it costs to run the truck for a year: truck and trailer, fuel, driver pay, insurance, repairs, tires, tolls, permits and office costs. Then divide by every mile the truck drove that year, loaded and empty. If a truck costs $180,000 a year and runs 100,000 miles, its cost per mile is $1.80. The calculator above does this for you, one truck at a time or for the whole fleet.
What is a good cost per mile for a trucking company?
There isn't one right number. It depends on your equipment, payments, insurance, fuel and how many miles you run. ATRI's latest cost report put the average for 2025 at $2.336 per mile, driver pay included (ATRI). Fuel has gone up since then. Your own number is the one that matters, because it's the floor under every rate you take.
What is a break-even rate in trucking?
Your break-even rate is the least a load can pay per loaded mile without losing money. It's higher than your cost per mile, because the miles you're paid for have to cover your empty miles and any percentage fees like factoring or dispatch.
Do empty (deadhead) miles count in cost per mile?
Yes. Empty miles burn the same fuel and wear the same tires as loaded ones. Divide your costs by all your miles to get cost per mile. Then the calculator spreads those costs over your paid miles to show the rate each loaded mile needs to bring in.
Should an owner-operator count their own pay as a cost?
Yes. If you drive your own truck, pay yourself like you'd pay a driver. Your pay is a cost of running the truck. Profit is what's left after you're paid. Leaving your pay out makes the truck look more profitable than it is.
Should I figure my fleet one truck at a time or all at once?
One truck at a time is more accurate. Every truck has its own payment, driver pay, insurance, age and repair bill, and figuring each one shows which trucks make money and which don't. The whole fleet at once is quicker and gives you a fleet average, but it can hide a truck that's losing money.
What's the difference between cost per mile and cash cost per mile?
Cost per mile counts truck wear: what the truck loses in value and what you'll need for the next one, even after it's paid off. Cash cost per mile uses your actual truck and trailer payments instead. Cost per mile is the true cost of the business. Cash cost per mile is what keeps the bills paid this month.
How do factoring and dispatch fees change the rate I need?
Percentage fees come off the top of every load, so the rate you need has to be divided by what's left, not just marked up. With a 10% fee and a $2.00 cost, you need $2.00 ÷ 0.90 = $2.22 per mile, not $2.20. The calculator does this for every fee you enter.
How often should I figure my cost per mile?
Every month, and any time fuel, insurance, a payment or your miles change. Diesel prices alone can move your cost per mile by several cents in a month. See this week's diesel prices.
Is the information I enter saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us or anyone else. Your numbers are kept in this browser on this device so you can come back and finish later. Press Start over to clear them.
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Questions about your numbers?
If your cost per mile surprised you, or you want help figuring it, send us a note.
Prefer the phone? Call 901-205-9679.