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Trucking cost per mile calculator
Put in a normal month: what the truck costs whether it moves or not, what it costs to run, and how many miles it does. You get your cost per mile, the rate you need to break even, and whether a load on the board is worth it.
- Fixed and running costs
- Counts empty miles
- Checks a load's rate
How cost per mile is worked out
Cost per mile is everything the truck costs in a period divided by every mile it drove in that period:
Cost per mile = (fixed costs + running costs) ÷ all miles driven
- Fixed costs don't change with the miles: truck and trailer payments, insurance, plates and permits, ELD and phone. Spread over more miles, each mile carries less of them. That's why a truck that sits costs so much.
- Running costs go up with every mile: fuel, maintenance and tires, tolls, and driver pay if it's per mile. Fuel per mile is simply the diesel price divided by your miles per gallon.
- All miles means loaded and empty. The truck burns fuel and wears tires either way.
Break-even: why the rate has to beat your cost
Brokers pay for loaded miles, but you pay for all of them. If 12% of your miles are empty, every loaded mile has to earn enough to cover itself and a share of the empty ones. So your break-even per loaded mile is your cost per mile divided by the share of miles that are loaded.
With a cost of $1.95 a mile and 12% empty, you need about $2.22 on every loaded mile just to stand still. Anything under that and the load costs you money, even if the number on the rate con looks good.
Using it on a load
Put a load's rate, loaded miles and the deadhead to get to it into Check a load. The calculator works out what those miles cost at your cost per mile, and what's left. Do it before you call the broker back, and you'll know the lowest rate you can take.
Common questions
Should I include my own pay?
Yes. If you drive the truck, put in what you mean to pay yourself per mile. Otherwise the calculator shows the truck covering its costs while you work for nothing.
What if my month isn't normal?
Use the average of the last three months if you have them. A month with a big repair makes the truck look worse than it is, and a month with no repairs makes it look better.
Where do the starting numbers come from?
They're only an example so the calculator shows something. Replace every one with your own. Your numbers are the only ones that matter.
Keep going
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