Trucking Cost Per Mile Calculator
Your all-in cost per mile is the one number every rate decision depends on. Enter your real fixed and variable costs — results and the URL update live, so you can save or share your scenario.
Fixed costs ($/month)
Fuel
Variable costs ($/mile)
Your all-in cost per mile
$1.29 / mile
Break-even rate
$1.29
Rate for target profit
$1.95
Total cost / month
$11,580
Fixed costs per mile
$3,750 / month
Fuel per mile
$5,400 / month · 47% of total cost
All variable costs per mile
Fuel + maintenance + tires + other
Fixed per mile = (payment + insurance + permits + other fixed) ÷ monthly miles. More miles dilute fixed cost; fewer miles concentrate it.
Fuel per mile = diesel price ÷ MPG. At the defaults ($3.90/gal ÷ 6.5 MPG), that's $0.60/mile — before any fuel-card discount. Compute yours with real receipts, not wishful MPG.
Break-even rate = total cost per mile across all miles driven, loaded and empty. Any rate below it loses money; the target-profit rate adds your desired monthly profit ÷ monthly miles on top.
This model deliberately excludes driver pay for the owner-operator case — your profit is your pay. Running a company driver? Add their per-mile wage to "other per-mile."
- How do I calculate cost per mile for trucking?
- Add your fixed monthly costs (truck payment, insurance, permits) and divide by your monthly miles, then add your variable costs per mile (fuel = diesel price ÷ MPG, plus maintenance, tires, and other per-mile items). The sum is your all-in cost per mile — the minimum rate at which a load doesn't lose money.
- What counts as a fixed cost vs. a variable cost?
- Fixed costs bill you whether the truck moves or not: payment, insurance, permits and plates, parking, software. Variable costs scale with miles: fuel, maintenance, tires, tolls. Splitting them matters because more miles dilute fixed costs but never dilute variable costs.
- Why does cost per mile change when I drive more miles?
- Your fixed costs get spread across more miles. A $4,000 fixed month is 67¢/mile at 6,000 miles but 40¢/mile at 10,000 miles. Variable costs (like fuel per mile) stay roughly constant. That's why per-mile profitability improves with utilization — until maintenance catches up.
- Is fuel really my biggest cost?
- For most over-the-road diesel operations, fuel is the largest single variable cost and often the largest line item overall — this calculator shows fuel's share of your total. It's also the most controllable one: MPG discipline and fuel-card discounts act directly on it, which is why the fuel-card savings calculator pairs well with this one.
- What rate per mile should I charge?
- At minimum, your break-even cost per mile. On top of that you need profit: set a target monthly profit in the calculator and it converts it into the per-mile rate your operation requires. Remember to compute rates on all miles driven (loaded + deadhead), not just loaded miles.
Editorial disclaimer: these are estimates, not financial advice. The default inputs are illustrative placeholders — replace every one with your own real numbers. Verify against your receipts and settlements before quoting rates.