Cost Per Mile & Break-Even Calculator

The number every load decision hangs on. Your costs, your miles, your deadhead — and the loaded rate you can't afford to book below.

ATRI 2026 benchmark: $2.336/mi fleet average Your numbers never leave this device Free — no signup

Your cost per mile

Defaults are editable starting points (diesel default: EIA U.S. average $4.80, July 13, 2026). Use your real numbers.

Fixed costs (per year)

Variable costs

Reading the three numbers: Operating break-even keeps the wheels turning but pays you nothing. With your pay is the number that keeps your household running. Both are spread over ALL miles — the loaded-mile break-even is what matters at the load board, because empty miles still burn money. Cash basis: full truck payments are included, so don't also subtract depreciation. ATRI's 2025 fleet average was $2.336/mi — a big-fleet benchmark, not a target.
Benchmark: ATRI Operational Costs of Trucking (2026 report, 2025 data) · Diesel default: EIA weekly average 7/13/2026 · Reviewed July 2026

Why loaded-mile break-even is the number that matters

Every cost you have — payments, insurance, fuel, tires, your own pay — has to be earned back only on the miles somebody pays for. If your all-in cost is $1.95 per mile and 12% of your miles are empty, the freight has to pay $1.95 ÷ 0.88 = $2.22 per loaded mile before you make your first dollar of profit. Book below that number often enough and the math catches up with you, no matter how busy you feel.

One definition to get right: deadhead % here means empty miles divided by total miles (empty ÷ everything), not empty divided by loaded. 12,000 empty out of 100,000 total = 12%.

What this calculator deliberately keeps simple

It runs on a cash basis: your actual truck payments count, and depreciation doesn't appear separately (counting both would double-count the truck). Detention time, washouts, lumpers, and downtime aren't line items — pad your maintenance or admin figures if you want them reflected. A fancier economic view (replacement reserve instead of payments) may come later.

Worked example: $60,000 fixed ÷ 100,000 miles = $0.60. Fuel $3.60 ÷ 6.5 MPG = $0.554. Maintenance + tires $0.25. Operating = $1.404/mi. Add $55,000 pay ÷ 100,000 = $0.55 → $1.954/mi. At 12% deadhead: $1.954 ÷ 0.88 = $2.22/loaded mile.