Trucking Cost Per Mile Calculator: 2026 Breakdown
Calculate your total trucking cost per mile: fuel, insurance, ELD, maintenance and driver pay, plus your break even rate per mile.
Diesel default: EIA weekly US average on-highway diesel, week of October 19, 2026 (EIA). Pick a region to use its price.
An estimate for planning, not accounting advice. The break even rate covers your costs only; add the profit margin you need on top.
Rules, prices and device details on this page were checked October 2026 against the official sources listed at the bottom. Where a provider doesn't publish a number, we say so instead of guessing.
If you don't know your cost per mile, you can't tell a good load from a bad one. A $2.50 rate looks fine until you realize your truck costs $2.40 a mile to run before you pay yourself. This calculator adds up your fixed and variable costs, divides them by the miles you actually run, and gives you a break even rate you can take to every load board and broker call.
Calculator
Enter your own numbers where you have them. Where you don't, the calculator fills in the national averages described below so you can still get a rough figure.
- Miles per year. Count all miles, loaded and empty. Deadhead miles cost the same fuel and wear as paid ones.
- Fuel economy (MPG). Use your real average from fuel receipts or your telematics reports, not the number on the spec sheet.
- Diesel price. Defaults to the latest EIA weekly US average. Pick your region if you mostly fuel in one area.
- Truck and trailer payments. Your yearly lease or loan payments.
- Insurance. Your yearly premium for liability, physical damage, cargo and any other coverage.
- Permits, plates and fees. IRP plates, heavy vehicle use tax, UCR, state permits and so on, as a yearly total.
- ELD and telematics. Your monthly subscription times 12, plus any hardware cost spread over the years you'll keep it.
- Maintenance and repair per mile. What you spend on service and repairs divided by miles.
- Tires per mile. Same idea, spread over the miles a set lasts.
- Driver pay per mile. What you pay a driver, or what you want to pay yourself.
How it works: cost per mile equals your fixed costs per year divided by miles per year, plus diesel price divided by MPG, plus your variable per mile items. The result shows your total cost per mile, how much of it is fixed versus variable, and your break even rate per mile. Add your target profit on top of the break even figure to get the lowest rate you should accept.
Cost Breakdown
Trucking costs fall into two buckets, and you manage each one differently.
Fixed costs
These don't change much whether you run 80,000 miles or 140,000. Truck payments, insurance, plates, permits and your ELD subscription all land in this bucket. The trick with fixed costs is that more miles make each mile cheaper. A $30,000 insurance bill is about 30 cents a mile at 100,000 miles, but 25 cents at 120,000. That's why a truck sitting at a dock or waiting for a load is so expensive.
Variable costs
These rise with every mile you drive. Fuel is the big one. Maintenance, tires, tolls and driver pay by the mile all go here too. You lower variable costs by running smarter: better MPG, less idling, steady preventive maintenance and lanes with fewer tolls.
Worked example
Say you run 110,000 miles a year at 6.5 MPG with diesel at $6.28 a gallon. Fuel alone is about $0.97 a mile. Add $24,000 in truck payments, $18,000 in insurance, $4,000 in permits and plates and $500 for your ELD. That's $46,500 in fixed costs, or about $0.42 a mile. Then add $0.20 a mile for maintenance, $0.05 for tires and $0.75 for driver pay. Your total comes to roughly $2.39 a mile. If a load pays $2.30 all in, you're losing money on it before you even count deadhead.
Notice how much fuel moves that number. Every 10 cent change in diesel moves cost per mile by about 1.5 cents at 6.5 MPG. Every one MPG gain at that price saves around 15 cents a mile. That's why fuel economy is usually the first place to look.
Industry Averages
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) publishes the most widely used benchmark for trucking costs. Its 2026 update, released July 15, 2026, covers costs from 2025. Here's what it found, checked October 2026:
| Measure | ATRI 2026 update (2025 data) |
|---|---|
| Total operating cost per mile | $2.336, a record high |
| Change from prior year | Up 3.4% from $2.260 |
| Cost per mile excluding fuel | $1.854, up 4.2% |
| Fastest rising costs | Tolls up 13.2%, repair and maintenance up 8.6%, driver benefits up 6.6%, tires up 6.4% |
| Operating margins | Under 1% for truckload and refrigerated; 4.0% for tank; negative 0.5% for flatbed |
ATRI also reported that fuel and driver pay grew more slowly than inflation in 2025, while carriers cut their truck counts by 2.4%. In other words, fleets trimmed what they could, and costs still hit a new high.
Fuel has moved a lot since that data was collected. The EIA's weekly survey for October 19, 2026 put the US average on highway diesel price at $6.276 a gallon, $2.656 higher than a year earlier. Regional prices ranged from $5.903 on the Gulf Coast to $7.394 on the West Coast, and California averaged $8.242. So if you're using ATRI's averages as a starting point, update the fuel line with current prices. Our trucking heatmap shows how costs differ by region.
Treat these averages as a sanity check, not a substitute for your own books. A single owner operator running regional freight will look very different from a large fleet running long haul.
Lowering Costs
Once you know your number, you can work on it. These are the levers that usually matter most.
- Cut empty miles. Deadhead adds cost with no revenue. Plan backhauls before you accept a load into a weak market.
- Improve fuel economy. Lower cruise speeds, proper tire pressure, aerodynamic trailer parts and less idling all add up. Telematics idle reports show exactly where the waste is.
- Stay on top of maintenance. ATRI found repair costs rising fast. Preventive service is cheaper than a roadside breakdown and a missed delivery.
- Shop insurance every year. A clean safety record and dash cams can help at renewal. Ask your agent which data they'll accept.
- Avoid tolls where it makes sense. Tolls were the fastest rising cost in ATRI's data. Compare the toll against the extra miles and time of another route.
- Use fuel cards and discounts. Cents off per gallon adds up fast at 15,000 or more gallons a year.
- Keep your ELD affordable. Your logging device is a small line item, but there's no reason to overpay. Our guides to ELD cost and ELDs with no monthly fee compare options.
- Charge for detention. Time spent waiting at docks is time your fixed costs keep running. Make sure your rate confirmations include detention terms.
For more on running your own truck profitably, see our owner operator guide.
How to Use Your Number
Your cost per mile is only useful if you use it every day. Write your break even rate somewhere you'll see it when you book. Then add a profit target on top, such as 20 or 30 cents a mile, and treat that as your floor. Some loads below the floor still make sense, like a short run that gets you out of a dead market. But you should take them on purpose, not by accident.
Recalculate at least every quarter, and any time diesel moves sharply, your insurance renews or you change trucks. Costs rarely stay still for long.
Figures checked October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good cost per mile for trucking?
ATRI put the 2025 national average at $2.336 a mile, including fuel. Your own figure depends on your truck, lanes, fuel economy and how many miles you run.
How do I calculate cost per mile?
Add up your fixed yearly costs and divide by miles per year. Add fuel cost per mile, which is diesel price divided by MPG. Then add your other per mile costs such as maintenance, tires and driver pay.
Should I include deadhead miles?
Yes. Use total miles for costs. Then check what share of those miles are paid, because your rate per loaded mile has to cover the empty ones too.
What is a break even rate?
It is the rate per mile that exactly covers your costs. Anything below it loses money. Add a profit margin on top to set your minimum rate.
Sources
All prices, terms and registration details were checked October 2026 on the pages below. Providers change pricing often, so confirm before you buy.