A rate con shows one number: what the load pays. What matters is what it pays for every mile your truck turns, including the empty ones to get there. This rate per mile calculator breaks a load down three ways, so you can compare it with the market, with your costs and with the next offer.
How it is calculated
- Linehaul per loaded mile = linehaul ÷ loaded miles. This is the number to hold against market averages, which are quoted without fuel.
- With fuel surcharge, per loaded mile = (linehaul + fuel surcharge) ÷ loaded miles.
- All-in per mile = (linehaul + fuel surcharge + accessorials) ÷ (loaded miles + empty miles). This is the number that decides whether the load pays your bills.
- Deadhead share = empty miles ÷ total miles.
The floor is your own number: your cost per mile plus the profit you need. If the all-in rate is under it, the load loses money no matter how good the loaded rate looks.
A worked example
- Linehaul $1,800 ÷ 800 loaded mi
- $2.25
- Plus $680 FSC ÷ 800 loaded mi
- $3.10
- Plus $150 detention
- $2,630 total
- Loaded 800 + empty 100
- 900 mi
- Deadhead share
- 11.1%
A $2.25 linehaul is a little above the August 2026 national van spot average of $2.19. The fuel surcharge is large because diesel is high: the U.S. average was $6.382 a gallon for the week of September 28, 2026. The 100 empty miles pull the all-in down from $3.29 to $2.92. Whether that is a good load depends on the floor: at a $2.50 floor, yes. At $3.00, no, and it's worth a counter.
Reading the result
| Result | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| All-in well above your floor | The load pays its miles | Book it, and check the reload |
| All-in near your floor | Thin margin | Counter, or plan the next load from the drop |
| All-in under your floor | The load loses money | Pass, or counter with a number from your costs |
| Deadhead over 15% | Empty miles eat the rate | Look for closer pickups or price the deadhead in |
For power only, count the drive to the trailer pool or drop yard as empty miles, and the return of an empty trailer if it isn't paid. Rate levels for those loads are covered in power only rates per mile, and van rates in dry van rates.
Truck load rate calculator tips
- Compare like with like: linehaul against linehaul, all-in against all-in.
- A short load with a high rate per mile can still pay less for the day than a long load at a lower rate. Look at total revenue too.
- Price empty miles with the deadhead miles cost calculator before you accept a far pickup.
What a dispatcher costs on top is on dispatch cost. Results are estimates from the numbers you enter.
SOURCES
- DAT Freight & Analytics: August 2026: van spot linehaul $2.19/mi vs contract $2.41/mi; in July both were $2.39/mi (checked 2026-10)
- DAT Freight & Analytics: Dry van spot linehaul averaged $2.17 to $2.21 per mile, excluding fuel, weeks ending Sept 4 to Sept 25, 2026 (checked 2026-10)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: Weekly U.S. retail on-highway diesel: $6.382/gal for the week of Sept 28, 2026 (year ago $2.628 lower) (checked 2026-10)