You can't tell whether a load pays until you know what a mile costs you. Not an industry average, your number: your payment, your insurance, your fuel economy, your miles. This trucking cost per mile calculator adds it up and turns it into a floor rate you can quote.
How it is calculated
- Fixed cost per mile = monthly fixed costs ÷ monthly miles (loaded and empty).
- Fuel per mile = diesel price ÷ miles per gallon.
- Variable cost per mile = fuel + maintenance + tires + tolls + driver pay.
- All-in cost per mile = fixed + variable.
- Floor rate = cost per mile + the profit you want per mile.
- Floor after a dispatch fee = floor ÷ (1 − fee). Because a percentage fee comes out of the gross, the rate has to cover it.
A worked example
- Fixed $4,500 ÷ 10,000 mi
- $0.45
- Fuel $6.38 ÷ 6.5 mpg
- $0.98
- Maintenance, tires, tolls
- $0.25
- Plus $0.30 profit
- $1.98
- Grossed up for a 5% fee
- $2.08
Diesel is the U.S. average for the week of September 28, 2026, $6.382 a gallon per the EIA, and it moves the result more than anything else on the list. This owner drives the truck, so driver pay is zero and the profit line is the owner's pay. A fleet with hired drivers adds their pay per mile, which is why fleet averages run higher. Switch to power only and the trailer payment disappears from fixed costs, which lowers the cost per mile; how that trades off against power only rates is in power only rates per mile.
Your number vs the average
ATRI's research put the average operating cost at $2.336 a mile for 2025, including driver wages for fleets. Don't price from that. Use it as a check: if your cost per mile is far below it, make sure you've counted everything, including tires, repairs and the miles you drive empty.
Truck cost per mile: what moves it most
| Change | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fewer miles in a month | Fixed cost per mile rises fast |
| One mpg better | Fuel per mile drops by several cents |
| Paid-off truck | The biggest fixed line disappears |
| More deadhead | Same costs, fewer paid miles to cover them |
What a truck and trailer cost to buy is in how much is a trailer truck. Fuel for a single trip is easier with the trip fuel cost calculator, and what a load pays per mile with the rate per mile calculator. What our dispatch fee adds is on dispatch cost.
Results are estimates from the numbers you enter. Update them when fuel, insurance or your miles change.
SOURCES
- ATRI 2026 Operational Costs of Trucking, via Bulk Transporter: Average cost to operate a truck in 2025: a record $2.336 per mile ($1.854 excluding fuel) (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)