What is cost per mile and how do I calculate it?

Cost per mile (CPM) is what it costs to operate your truck for one mile. To calculate it: total your monthly fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, permits, ELD subscriptions) and divide by your monthly miles to get fixed CPM. Add your variable costs per mile (fuel, maintenance reserve, driver pay if applicable). Fixed CPM plus variable CPM equals your total cost per mile — the floor below which any rate loses money. Running this number with your actual costs, not estimates, is what makes it useful.

Should I calculate load profitability on loaded miles or total miles?

Total miles — loaded miles plus deadhead to pickup and any repositioning after delivery. A load paying $2.20 per mile over 500 loaded miles looks strong, but if it requires 200 miles of deadhead to reach pickup, the effective rate per total mile is $1.57 (on 700 total miles). Evaluating loads on loaded miles alone is a consistent way to overstate profitability. The load net — total payment minus cost per mile times total miles — is the number that matters.

What is the difference between an all-in rate and a linehaul rate?

Linehaul is the base distance payment. Fuel surcharge (FSC) is a separate per-mile add-on to offset diesel price changes. Some brokers quote all-in (linehaul plus FSC combined); others quote them separately. When comparing loads, confirm which format is being quoted. A $1.90 per mile linehaul with a $0.35 FSC ($2.25 all-in) is better than a $2.10 per mile all-in offer. Comparing linehaul against all-in without adjusting the numbers produces bad decisions.

When should I counter a load board rate instead of accepting or declining?

Counter when the posted rate is below your target but not so far below that no broker could realistically meet it. Know your break-even and your target rate before calling. A specific counter number — "I need $1,850 all-in to make this work" — is more effective than a vague "I need more." Brokers often have rate flexibility, especially late in the week for loads with tight delivery windows. If the broker cannot meet your minimum, decline rather than hauling below cost; accepting a money-losing load to stay moving is a common but avoidable mistake.

Guide

How to price a load

Pricing a load correctly means knowing your actual cost per mile before you quote, not after. Carriers who price from instinct or from what the load board says similar loads are getting often discover their margins only at tax time — and by then the damage is done. This guide walks through how to calculate your break-even rate and evaluate whether a specific load makes sense.

Start with your cost per mile

Every pricing decision starts with one number: what it costs you to run one mile. This is not the rate you want — it is the rate below which you lose money. To calculate it, you need to know your monthly costs and your monthly loaded miles.

Fixed costs (monthly)

Fixed costs do not change based on how many miles you run. They exist whether the truck moves or not:

Truck payment or lease: the monthly note on the tractor
Trailer payment or lease: if applicable
Insurance premiums: primary liability, cargo, physical damage, bobtail — divide the annual premium by 12
Permits and registrations: IRP, IFTA decals, UCR, HVUT — annualized and divided by 12
ELD and dispatch software subscriptions
Health insurance (if self-employed)
Factoring fee base — if you factor invoices, the percentage cost is a fixed drag on revenue; some carriers treat it as a fixed cost, others as a percentage of revenue

Add these up and divide by your planned monthly loaded miles to get your fixed cost per mile. A carrier with $5,000/month in fixed costs running 8,000 loaded miles has a fixed cost of $0.625/mile.

Variable costs (per mile)

Variable costs scale with how many miles you run:

Fuel: the largest variable cost. Divide diesel price by your average miles per gallon. At $3.80/gallon and 6.5 MPG, fuel is $0.585/mile. Every $0.25 change in diesel price equals about $0.038/mile at that fuel economy.
Maintenance reserve: tires, oil changes, repairs, and unexpected breakdowns. Common benchmarks are $0.12–$0.18/mile for a well-maintained truck; $0.20–$0.28/mile for older equipment or high mileage. If you do not budget this as a per-mile reserve, large repair bills feel like surprises rather than predictable costs.
Driver pay: if the driver is not the owner, calculate their per-mile pay rate or the percentage split and include it here.
Tolls: if your routes regularly include tolled roads or bridges, include an average per-mile toll cost.

Your break-even rate

Add fixed cost per mile and total variable cost per mile. That is your break-even — the minimum rate per loaded mile at which you cover costs with nothing left over. A target net income adds to it: if you want to clear $5,000/month profit after all costs on 8,000 loaded miles, add $0.625/mile to your break-even. That gives you your target rate per loaded mile.

Why loaded miles alone mislead you

The break-even calculation above uses loaded miles, but trucks also burn fuel and time on deadhead (empty) miles. A load that pays $2.20/mile over 500 loaded miles sounds reasonable, but if it requires 200 miles of deadhead to reach the pickup, your effective rate per total mile drops significantly.

The right way to evaluate a load is by total miles driven for the load:

Total miles = deadhead miles to pickup + loaded miles to delivery
Effective rate = total load payment ÷ total miles
Load net = total payment − (total miles × cost per mile)

Example: A load pays $1,100 for 500 miles. Your cost per mile is $1.65. The pickup is 150 miles away (deadhead). Total miles: 650. Effective rate: $1,100 ÷ 650 = $1.69/mile. Load net: $1,100 − (650 × $1.65) = $1,100 − $1,073 = $27 net. That load barely covers costs. At 150 miles of deadhead, the load that looked like $2.20/mile turns into a nearly break-even trip.

The fuel surcharge — revenue or cost offset?

When a load has a linehaul rate plus a fuel surcharge (FSC), the FSC is part of your gross revenue. The common mistake is calculating load profitability using only the linehaul rate and ignoring the FSC.

Total load revenue = linehaul + FSC + any approved accessorials. Your cost per mile calculation already includes actual fuel cost. So: total revenue − (total miles × cost per mile) = load net.

Where carriers get confused: some brokers quote loads as "all-in" (FSC included in the per-mile rate) and others separate them. When comparing loads, verify whether the rate is all-in or base linehaul only — comparing an all-in $2.10/mile load against a linehaul-only $1.90/mile load (with a $0.35 FSC on top) is an apples-to-oranges comparison. The linehaul-plus-FSC load actually pays $2.25/mile all-in.

Evaluating a specific load offer

When a broker offers a load, run through this quick mental math:

Gross revenue: What is the total load payment (linehaul + FSC + pre-approved accessorials)?
Total miles: How many miles will the truck drive from current position to delivery?
Effective rate: Gross revenue ÷ total miles. Is this above your break-even rate?
Load net: Gross revenue − (total miles × cost per mile). Is this positive?
What is next? Where does this delivery put the truck? If delivery drops in a low-rate market with long repositioning miles, the next load's deadhead cost partially belongs to this load's real cost.

The load's position value

A load that delivers to a strong freight market (Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta) may be worth accepting at a slightly lower per-mile rate because the next pickup is likely to be nearby and well-priced. A load that delivers to a rural or low-freight area may require a premium to offset the repositioning cost.

Carriers who run consistent lanes in both directions solve this problem: they know the return load market and can price the outbound based on what they expect to earn on the inbound. Spot carriers who run varied routes need to estimate the average repositioning cost per delivery location and factor it into their minimums for loads dropping in weak markets.

When the load does not pencil — what to do

If a load's effective rate is below your break-even, you have three options:

Negotiate: Counter the broker with a rate that works. Brokers often have flexibility — especially late in the week for loads that need to move. A polite counter with a specific number ("I can do this at $1,850 all-in") is more effective than declining without discussion.
Decline: Not every load is worth taking. A load below cost is not better than a truck sitting — it is actively losing money while creating wear and generating driver time.
Reconsider your costs: If nearly every load available is below your break-even, the problem may be with your cost structure, not the market. High fixed costs, poor fuel economy, or excessive deadhead all raise the break-even; each of those is addressable.

This guide explains general load pricing concepts for orientation. Actual cost structures, fuel prices, maintenance costs, and market rates vary significantly by carrier, region, and time. Use your own numbers — this framework only works if the costs plugged in are real.

Calculate your cost per mile

The cost per mile calculator lets you enter your actual fixed and variable costs to get your break-even rate and target rate per loaded mile. Run your numbers there and then use the framework above to evaluate specific loads against your real cost structure.

Common questions

What is cost per mile and how do I calculate it?: Cost per mile (CPM) is what it costs to operate your truck for one mile. To calculate it: total your monthly fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, permits, ELD subscriptions) and divide by your monthly miles to get fixed CPM. Add your variable costs per mile (fuel, maintenance reserve, driver pay if applicable). Fixed CPM plus variable CPM equals your total cost per mile — the floor below which any rate loses money. Running this number with your actual costs, not estimates, is what makes it useful.
Should I calculate load profitability on loaded miles or total miles?: Total miles — loaded miles plus deadhead to pickup and any repositioning after delivery. A load paying $2.20 per mile over 500 loaded miles looks strong, but if it requires 200 miles of deadhead to reach pickup, the effective rate per total mile is $1.57 (on 700 total miles). Evaluating loads on loaded miles alone is a consistent way to overstate profitability. The load net — total payment minus cost per mile times total miles — is the number that matters.
What is the difference between an all-in rate and a linehaul rate?: Linehaul is the base distance payment. Fuel surcharge (FSC) is a separate per-mile add-on to offset diesel price changes. Some brokers quote all-in (linehaul plus FSC combined); others quote them separately. When comparing loads, confirm which format is being quoted. A $1.90 per mile linehaul with a $0.35 FSC ($2.25 all-in) is better than a $2.10 per mile all-in offer. Comparing linehaul against all-in without adjusting the numbers produces bad decisions.
When should I counter a load board rate instead of accepting or declining?: Counter when the posted rate is below your target but not so far below that no broker could realistically meet it. Know your break-even and your target rate before calling. A specific counter number — "I need $1,850 all-in to make this work" — is more effective than a vague "I need more." Brokers often have rate flexibility, especially late in the week for loads with tight delivery windows. If the broker cannot meet your minimum, decline rather than hauling below cost; accepting a money-losing load to stay moving is a common but avoidable mistake.