Trucking cost per mile: how to calculate and price a load

A rate is only good or bad compared with what the miles cost you. Carriers that do not know their cost per mile take loads that lose money and turn down loads that would have paid, and they find out at tax time. The number is not hard to compute. It takes about an hour the first time and ten minutes a month after that. The free cost per mile calculator does the arithmetic; this guide explains what to put in it and how to use the result to price a load.

Fixed costs vs variable costs

Fixed costs are the same whether the truck moves or sits: truck and trailer payments, insurance, plates and permits, ELD subscription, software, parking, the accountant, your own salary if you draw one. They are usually billed monthly or yearly, so convert everything to a monthly figure.

Variable costs grow with every mile: fuel, driver pay when it is per mile or per load, maintenance and repairs, tires, tolls, and the small things like scales and washes. They are easiest to express per mile.

The difference matters because of what happens when miles change. More miles spread the fixed costs thinner and bring total cost per mile down; fewer miles push it up. A truck that sat for a week still owed its payment and insurance for that week, which is why a slow month feels worse than the lower revenue alone explains.

Gathering the numbers

1. List every fixed cost per month. Divide annual items (plates, 2290, UCR, annual insurance premium) by 12. Include your own pay if you drive; a truck that only pays its owner at the end of the year has no real cost per mile yet.
2. Pull the last three months of fuel. Total gallons and total dollars from your fuel card. Dollars ÷ miles gives fuel cost per mile; miles ÷ gallons gives your MPG for sanity checking.
3. Maintenance and tires. Use the last twelve months of actual spend divided by the miles, if you have it. A new truck with no repairs yet will show an unrealistically low number; set aside a reserve per mile anyway, because the tires and the brake job are coming.
4. Driver pay if you pay per mile or percentage. Salary goes in fixed costs.