Trucking cost-per-mile calculator

Checked against official sources · Last reviewed October 6, 2026

Your cost per mile is the number every rate decision rests on: if a load pays less per mile than it costs you to run, you lose money on it. Enter your own monthly costs below. Nothing is filled in from industry averages, because your truck, lane, and payments are your own.

How the calculator works

It adds your fixed monthly costs (payments, insurance, permits, and the like) to your per-mile costs (fuel, maintenance, tires, driver pay) and divides by the miles you drive. Then it spreads that cost over only your loaded miles, because empty miles earn nothing. That gives the break-even rate you need per loaded mile.

The yearly government charges a new carrier pays, such as the Form 2290 tax and UCR, belong in the permits line divided by 12. [3][4]

How your number compares

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found the industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, the highest in its report's history, or $1.854 per mile without fuel. For 2024 it was $2.260 per mile.

Those are industry averages, so treat them as a sanity check, not a target. [1][6]

Small fleets pay more per mile for insurance (ATRI, 2024 data)

ATRI's 2025 report found truck insurance premiums averaged $0.102 per mile in 2024. Truckload fleets with 5 to 25 trucks paid $0.174 per mile, and small specialized fleets paid more than twice the average. If you're a new, small carrier, don't plug the industry average into the insurance line; use your actual quote. More in what truck insurance costs. [2]

Common questions