Trucking · Trucking Cost Per Mile
How to calculate trucking cost per mile
Add every fixed cost for the period (truck payment, insurance, permits, plates) to every variable cost (fuel, maintenance, tires, driver pay), then divide by all miles driven in that period, loaded and empty. The result is your cost per mile. Compare it with the offered rate per loaded mile, adjusted for deadhead, to see whether a load pays.
Two buckets: fixed and variable costs
Fixed costs are owed whether the truck moves or not. Typical items: truck and trailer payments or lease, physical damage and liability insurance, plates and registration, permits, IRP and IFTA base fees, ELD subscription, phone, parking, accounting, and the owner's health insurance if the business pays it. Collect them as monthly figures.
Variable costs rise with miles. Fuel is the largest, followed by maintenance and repairs, tires, tolls, driver wages if paid per mile, and a reserve for the next engine or transmission event. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) tracks these same line items in its annual Operational Costs of Trucking benchmark, which is why splitting your own books this way makes comparison easy.
Driver pay is the item people misfile. An owner operator who pays himself a per mile wage should list it as a variable cost. One who takes a fixed monthly draw should list it as fixed. Either way it must be in the total; a cost per mile that leaves out the driver understates the real cost by the largest single line after fuel.
Step by step
Step 1: pick a period. A month is common because payments and insurance are monthly, but a full year smooths out seasonal fuel prices and irregular repairs. Step 2: total fixed costs for that period. Step 3: total variable costs for the same period, using actual receipts, not estimates. Step 4: total all miles driven in the period, from odometer or ELD, including empty miles.
Step 5: divide the combined costs by total miles. Cost per mile = (fixed costs + variable costs) / total miles. Step 6: also compute fixed cost per mile separately, because it changes every time your mileage changes. Fixed cost per mile = fixed costs / total miles; variable cost per mile = variable costs / total miles.
Step 7: keep the number current. Fuel moves weekly and insurance renews yearly, so recompute at least monthly. A cost per mile figured last winter at $3.80 diesel is wrong at $4.40.
Worked example: one truck, one month
Fixed for the month: truck payment $2,600, trailer payment $600, insurance $1,400, plates and permits $250, ELD and phone $120, parking $200, accounting $150. Fixed total $5,320.
Variable for the month at 9,500 total miles: fuel 1,400 gallons at $3.90, $5,460; maintenance and repair reserve $0.18 per mile, $1,710; tires reserve $0.04 per mile, $380; tolls $260; driver pay $0.60 per mile, $5,700. Variable total $13,510.
Cost per mile: ($5,320 + $13,510) / 9,500 = $18,830 / 9,500 = $1.98 per mile. Fixed alone is $0.56 per mile and variable alone is $1.42. Every line here is an illustration of the method; put your own receipts in and the number will differ. A cost per mile calculator such as Benchlet's keeps the two columns separate and does the division for whatever miles and deadhead you enter.
Deadhead: divide by all miles, price on loaded miles
Empty miles cost almost as much as loaded miles in fuel and wear and cost exactly the same in fixed expense, but nobody pays for them. ATRI's 2025 update reported an average of 16.7 percent empty miles across responding fleets in 2024. Your cost per mile must be divided by total miles so empty miles are included in the denominator.
When judging a load, convert the offered rate to a rate per total mile. A load paying $2.40 per loaded mile for 500 loaded miles with 100 deadhead miles to reach it pays $1,200 for 600 miles, which is $2.00 per total mile. Against the $1.98 cost above, that load clears $12. Against a $2.26 cost it loses $156.
The break even rate per loaded mile is cost per mile divided by (1 minus deadhead percentage). At $1.98 cost and 16.7 percent deadhead, break even is $1.98 / 0.833, which is $2.38 per loaded mile. Anything below that, averaged over the month, is a loss even though each individual invoice looks like revenue.
Checking your number against the industry benchmark
ATRI's annual report is the standard reference for what trucking costs across the industry. Its 2025 update put the average marginal cost of operating a truck in 2024 at $2.260 per mile, with costs excluding fuel at $1.779 per mile. Truck and trailer payments averaged $0.390 per mile and driver benefits $0.197 per mile in that year. The 2026 update reported 2025 costs at $2.336 per mile, a 3.4 percent rise and the highest in the report's history, with non fuel costs at $1.854.
The benchmark is an average across fleets of all sizes and sectors. A single owner operator with a paid off truck can run well below it; one with a new truck payment, high insurance, and low annual miles can run well above it. Use the benchmark to sanity check, not to replace, your own figures. If your total is far below $2.00, look for a missing line item, most often the driver's own pay or the maintenance reserve.
ATRI also reported that truckload sector operating margins were negative in 2024 and remained below 1 percent in 2025, which is a reminder that the spot rate and the cost per mile have been very close for two years. Knowing the number to the cent is the difference between a profitable month and a busy one.
Lowering cost per mile without buying anything
Fixed cost per mile falls as miles rise, which is why an idle week is so expensive. Running 11,000 miles instead of 9,500 in the example drops fixed cost per mile from $0.56 to $0.48 with no change in spending. Reducing deadhead from 16.7 percent to 10 percent lowers the break even loaded rate from $2.38 to $2.20 at the same cost.
On the variable side, fuel dominates. At 6.8 miles per gallon and $3.90 diesel, fuel is $0.57 per mile; improving to 7.3 mpg through speed and idle control brings it to $0.53, about $380 a month at 9,500 miles. Tolls, which rose 13.2 percent in ATRI's 2025 data, are worth routing around when the detour is short.
Recompute after each change so the break even rate you carry into rate negotiations is the current one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the formula for trucking cost per mile?
(Total fixed costs + total variable costs) divided by total miles driven in the same period, including empty miles.
Should deadhead miles be included?
Yes, in the denominator. Empty miles burn fuel and time and carry the same fixed cost. Divide by all miles, then price loads on loaded miles adjusted for the deadhead needed to reach them.
What is the average trucking cost per mile?
ATRI reported an industry average of $2.260 per mile for 2024 and $2.336 per mile for 2025. Excluding fuel, $1.779 and $1.854 respectively.
How do I get a break even rate per loaded mile?
Divide cost per mile by (1 minus your deadhead percentage). At $2.00 cost and 15 percent deadhead, break even is $2.00 / 0.85, which is $2.35 per loaded mile.
How often should I recalculate?
Monthly at minimum, and any time fuel price, insurance premium, or annual mileage changes noticeably.
