Free tool · no account, no email

What does a mile actually cost you?

Most owner-operators have a number for this and cannot say where it came from. Put in six figures you already know and the page will show you the total and every line that built it, so the argument you have with the number is about your diesel price or your fixed spread, not about the arithmetic.

Miles a month Loaded plus empty. Use an average month, not your best one. Average miles per gallon What the truck actually gets, not what the brochure says. Diesel, per gallon Your average across truck stops, not the cheapest card lock you saw once. Fixed costs, per month Truck payment, insurance, phone and ELD, registration and permits, accounting, parking. Everything that bills you whether the truck moves or not. Everything else, per mile Maintenance and tyres, oil and fluids, DEF, washes, scales, unloaded miles you cannot bill. Most one-truck operations are between $0.15 and $0.35. Margin you want to keep, % What you need on top of cost to be worth doing. What you are averaging a mile now (optional) Linehaul revenue per mile, before accessorials. Fill this and the calculator tells you what a month of that rate actually leaves.

The number is only useful if the deadlines underneath it are kept.

Cost per mile tells you what a load has to pay. The calendar tells you what the month costs whether you haul or not — the filings, the inspections, the credentials, with the authority printed beside every line. Nine questions, and it builds itself.

Create account Try the demo truck

This calculator does arithmetic on the numbers you give it. It is not accounting, tax or insurance advice — which of your costs are deductible, and how you should treat a lease versus a purchase, is a conversation with your accountant.