Work out your all-in trucking cost per mile from your fixed and variable costs, and compare it against the latest industry average.
How this calculator works
Your trucking cost per mile is the total of your fixed costs (costs you pay whether the truck moves or not) and your variable costs (costs that scale with every mile driven), divided by your annual mileage. The calculator converts your truck and trailer payments, insurance, permits and other fixed costs into an annual figure, adds fuel (diesel price divided by MPG), driver pay and benefits, maintenance, tires and tolls per mile, and produces your all-in cost per mile.
What a normal cost per mile looks like
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) benchmarks fleet costs every year. Its 2026 report found the industry average cost of operating a Class 8 truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, the highest in the history of the series, or $1.854 per mile excluding fuel. Within that figure, driver wages averaged about 81.8 cents per mile, driver benefits 21 cents, repair and maintenance 40.4 cents, fuel 48 cents, tires 5 cents and tolls 4.3 cents. The defaults in this calculator broadly follow those benchmarks, with fuel set to the current EIA weekly diesel price, so you can start from a realistic baseline and then substitute your own numbers.
Why knowing your cost per mile matters
Cost per mile is the single most important number in a trucking operation. It sets your break-even rate on every load, tells you which freight to walk away from, and shows where cost control will have the biggest effect. Because fixed costs are spread across your miles, running more revenue miles lowers your fixed cost per mile, while deadhead miles push it up. Recalculate whenever fuel prices move, your insurance renews, or you change equipment.
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