Cost Per Mile Calculator
The one number that decides whether a load makes you money. Five sliders, no spreadsheet — find your break-even rate right now.
Estimates for planning — your real number comes from real records. Load Cabin computes your actual cost per mile from the loads, fuel, and expenses you log.
Track my real cost per mileWhy this number runs your business
Revenue feels good; cost per mile tells the truth. A $2.10/mi load sounds strong — until you know your all-in cost is $2.15. Owner-operators who know their CPM turn every rate negotiation into simple arithmetic: offered rate − my cost per mile = my profit per mile. Everyone else is guessing.
Two things make your real number drift from an estimate like this one: costs you forget (that $900 repair in March belongs in your CPM) and miles you don't count (deadhead miles cost the same fuel as loaded ones). The fix is boring and powerful — log everything, divide monthly.
For the full method — every cost category, worked examples, and how to price loads off your number — read the complete cost-per-mile guide.
Common questions
How do I calculate cost per mile in trucking?+
Add up everything the truck costs you for a month — fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, permits, plates) plus variable costs (fuel, maintenance, tires) — and divide by the miles you ran that month. Fixed costs ÷ miles + fuel price ÷ MPG + maintenance per mile gives you total cost per mile.
What is a good cost per mile for an owner-operator?+
It varies with your truck payment, insurance, fuel prices, and how many miles you run — most owner-operators land somewhere between roughly $1.60 and $2.20 per mile all-in. What matters isn’t matching an average; it’s knowing YOUR number, because every load priced below it loses money.
Why does cost per mile drop when I run more miles?+
Your fixed costs (truck payment, insurance) are the same whether you run 6,000 or 11,000 miles a month. Spreading them over more miles lowers your per-mile cost — which is why a slow month quietly makes every load more expensive to run.