How to calculate your true cost per mile

A load-board rate tells you what a load pays. Your cost per mile tells you what it costs to run the truck. Compare them on the same mileage basis before deciding whether the load meets your business needs.

Start with the free TruKaro cost-per-mile calculator. Gather one month's bills, fuel records and odometer or ELD mileage. Use loaded and empty miles, not just the miles a broker paid for.

Put your expenses into consistent buckets

Fixed costs continue when the truck sits: truck and trailer payments, insurance, permits, plates, ELD subscriptions, parking and office overhead. Allocate annual bills across the months they cover instead of putting the entire bill into one month's comparison.

Running costs include diesel, maintenance and tires, tolls, scales, washes and other trip expenses. A maintenance set-aside is a planning allowance; it is not the same as a repair already paid. Do not count both the reserve contribution and the same repair expense in a single cost model without adjusting for the overlap.

Include other business-specific costs, such as dispatch or factoring fees, if they apply. Some are percentages of revenue rather than mileage-based costs: estimate their dollar amount for the same month and include it once. Keep tax obligations and your desired owner pay visible instead of assuming all remaining cash is spendable.

This is an operating planning model. Cash payments, accounting expenses and taxable profit can differ—for example, a loan's principal payment is cash outflow, while depreciation is an accounting expense. Choose a consistent basis for the decision you are making and review bookkeeping treatment with your accountant.

Calculate fuel cost per mile

Fuel cost per mile = diesel price per gallon ÷ your truck's MPG.

If price or MPG changes during the month, actual fuel spending divided by actual miles is a better historical measure. For the next trip, use the price and MPG you expect. Include empty miles; idling and auxiliary equipment may require an extra allowance. A weekly national diesel average is a reference, not your actual pump price.

Work through a hypothetical month

These numbers are an illustration, not an industry benchmark:

Fixed costs are $4,000. Divide by 10,000 total miles: $0.40 per total mile.

Fuel is $4.00 ÷ 6.25 = $0.64 per total mile. Add maintenance and other running costs: $0.64 + $0.20 + $0.06 = $0.90 per total mile.

Total operating cost is $0.40 + $0.90 = $1.30 per total mile, or $13,000 for the month.

But only 8,000 of those miles are loaded: 10,000 × 80% = 8,000. The paying miles must cover all $13,000, so operating break-even is $13,000 ÷ 8,000 = $1.625 per loaded mile, roughly $1.63. If you quote in cents, round upward rather than under-recovering costs.

That figure does not yet cover owner pay or expenses omitted from the model. If you add a hypothetical $5,000 monthly owner-pay target, the required revenue becomes $18,000, and the loaded-mile target becomes $2.25. That owner-pay amount is a scenario, not a recommendation or an after-tax take-home guarantee.

Check what happens when miles fall

Keep the same $4,000 fixed cost and $0.90 variable cost per mile, but run 8,000 total miles with the same 20% empty share. Cost becomes $4,000 + $7,200 = $11,200. Loaded miles are 6,400. Operating break-even rises to $1.75 per loaded mile.

The truck can cover fewer miles and still owe the same fixed bills. Conversely, additional miles help only when the revenue they bring exceeds the extra costs and fits your operating constraints.

Use the result before booking

Enter the example—or your own numbers—in the cost-per-mile calculator. Check the loaded-mile target against the actual load, including deadhead, accessorials, fuel surcharge, tolls and time committed. The load analyzer can help compare revenue, total miles and estimated fuel. Its fuel-based score is a screening tool, not a complete profit calculation.

Finally, check the cash-runway calculator. A load can cover modeled costs and still leave a timing gap if the invoice pays after your bills are due.