Trucking Cost Per Mile Calculator
This trucking cost per mile calculator turns a year of fixed costs, variable costs, your pay and your miles into a cost per mile, then divides by your loaded share of miles to give the lowest rate per loaded mile you should accept.
Figures and rules checked October 29, 2026
Enter a year of costs and miles, and this calculator gives you four numbers: your fixed cost per mile, your variable cost per mile, your total cost per mile and the lowest rate per loaded mile you can accept once empty miles are counted. It runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Use it before you set a rate floor, before you sign for a new truck, and every quarter after that. If you want the long explanation of each cost line first, read our guide on how to work out cost per mile by hand.
Cost per mile calculator
The numbers already filled in are an example reefer owner-operator, not averages. Replace each one with your own.
Turn down loads below about $2.54 per loaded mile, unless they set up something better.
How to use the cost per mile calculator
Pull a full year of records before you start. A single month hides insurance renewals, tire sets and slow weeks. Then fill in each box from the source below.
| Box | Where to find the number |
|---|---|
| Truck and trailer payments | Your loan or lease statements. Multiply the monthly payment by 12. If the truck is paid off, use what you set aside to replace it. |
| Insurance | Your policy declarations page: liability, cargo, physical damage, bobtail and any other line you pay for. |
| Plates, permits and other | IRP or plate renewal, Form 2290, UCR, ELD and load board subscriptions, phone, accounting. |
| Your pay | What you need to take home for the year to live. Leave it out and the calculator shows what the truck costs, not what your business costs. |
| Total miles | Your ELD mileage report or IFTA records for the last four quarters, loaded and empty together. |
| Diesel price and mpg | Fuel card statements. Divide what you spent by gallons bought for your real average price. |
| Maintenance and tires | Last year's repair and tire bills divided by last year's miles. |
| Empty miles | Empty miles divided by total miles, from the same ELD report. |
The formula behind the calculator
Cost per mile = (yearly fixed costs ÷ total miles) + (diesel price ÷ mpg) + maintenance per mile + other variable costs per mile
Rate floor per loaded mile = cost per mile ÷ (1 − empty mile share)
The first line is the standard way the industry splits truck costs into fixed and per-mile parts. The American Transportation Research Institute uses the same split in its yearly operational cost of trucking report, which put the 2025 fleet average at $2.336 per mile. That figure includes company driver wages, so treat it as a sanity check, not a target.
The second line turns cost into a booking rule. Loaded miles have to pay for the empty ones too. If 12% of your miles are empty, every loaded mile has to earn your cost divided by 0.88.
Three worked examples
Same formula, three very different trucks. All figures are made up to show the math.
| Reefer, long haul | Flatbed, regional | Box truck, local | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed costs plus pay | $127,000 | $118,000 | $71,000 |
| Total miles | 115,000 | 90,000 | 55,000 |
| Fixed per mile | $1.10 | $1.31 | $1.29 |
| Fuel per mile | $0.86 ($6.00, 7 mpg) | $1.00 ($6.00, 6 mpg) | $0.55 ($5.50, 10 mpg) |
| Maintenance and other | $0.27 | $0.30 | $0.20 |
| Cost per mile | $2.23 | $2.61 | $2.04 |
| Empty miles | 12% | 20% | 25% |
| Rate floor | $2.54 | $3.26 | $2.72 |
Look at the flatbed column. Its fixed costs are lower than the reefer's, but fewer miles and more deadhead push its floor up by 72 cents. The box truck's cost per mile is the lowest of the three, yet a quarter of its miles are empty, so its floor still lands above the reefer's.
That's why the miles box matters as much as any cost. Fewer miles spread the same fixed costs thinner.
How to read your result
Compare your rate floor with what the market pays on your lanes. Our monthly rates report shows national averages by trailer type. Then use the table to decide what to do next.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Floor well under the market average | You have room to be choosy | Hold out for loads that also set up a good reload |
| Floor close to the market average | Every load decision counts | Cut empty miles first. A few points of deadhead move the floor fast |
| Floor above the market average | The business loses money on typical loads | Look at miles, insurance and payments before the next renewal or truck purchase |
| Fixed cost over half the total | Idle days hurt you most | Keep the truck moving. Short reloads beat long waits |
| Fuel over 40% of the total | Diesel swings will hit your margin | Watch the EIA weekly diesel price and recheck the floor when it moves |
To compare actual offers against this floor, put them into the rate per mile calculator, which adds the empty miles to each pickup. To see how much of a load's pay is fuel, the fuel surcharge calculator splits it out.
Common mistakes
- Dividing by loaded miles only. Use total miles in the miles box. The empty mile box handles deadhead separately, so counting it twice inflates your floor.
- Leaving your pay at zero. The floor then only covers the truck, and you can run a busy year without earning anything.
- Using a sticker mpg. Your real mpg with a loaded trailer, idle time and winter blend fuel is lower than the brochure.
- Skipping once-a-year bills. Plates, the 2290, UCR and a set of drive tires belong in the yearly totals.
- Forgetting dispatch and factoring fees. Percentage fees rise with the rate, so add them as a per-mile cost. Our dispatch fee calculator shows what each fee model costs on a real week.
- Running it once. Diesel, insurance and repairs change. Recheck every quarter and after any big repair.
Putting your number to work
A cost per mile only helps if it shapes the loads you take. Write the floor where you book, and give it to whoever finds your freight. If you hire a dispatcher, the first question to ask is whether they'll use it. Ours does: your dispatcher books around your floor, home time and lanes, and tells you when a load slightly under it is worth taking because of where it leaves you.
The floor is also your best tool on the phone. When a broker offers less, you know exactly how far apart you are. Our guide to negotiating freight rates shows how to use that number in a real call. Our fee is a flat 6% or 8% of the gross, so it's easy to add as a per-mile cost before you decide.
This calculator is an estimate for planning. It isn't tax or financial advice. Check big decisions with your accountant.
Cost per mile calculator questions
What numbers do I need for a cost per mile calculator?▾
A year of truck payments, insurance, permits and other fixed costs, the pay you need, your total miles, your average diesel price and mpg, and your maintenance cost per mile. Your ELD and fuel card reports cover most of it.
What is a rate floor in trucking?▾
The lowest rate per loaded mile you'll accept. It's your cost per mile divided by the share of your miles that are loaded, so empty miles are paid for too.
Should I use loaded or total miles for cost per mile?▾
Total miles, loaded and empty. The calculator then adjusts for empty miles separately when it works out your rate floor, so nothing is counted twice.
Why is my cost per mile higher than the industry average?▾
Fewer miles, newer truck payments or higher insurance are the usual reasons. The ATRI average also covers large fleets. Compare your own number quarter to quarter instead.
Know your floor? We'll book above it.
Give your dispatcher your cost per mile and rate floor. Your first 3 days of dispatch are free.