← Business toolsCOSTS, RATES & LOAD PROFIT

Box Truck Cost Per Mile Calculator

Find your operating cost per mile, include unpaid miles and owner pay, then check a load against your numbers. Also useful for cargo-van and delivery operations.

Example assumptions — replace them with your own numbers.

Period

ACTUAL COST / TOTAL MILE$0.75TARGET / LOADED MILE$0.88View full results ↓

Your month at a glance

Use completed work: enter expenses and miles from the same week or month. Changing periods keeps your entries; replace them with totals for that period.

Total milesmiLoaded + deadhead combined.Working daysdaysDeadhead share%Unpaid miles as a share of total miles.Target business profit (optional)$/monthProfit beyond the driver/helper pay entered below; 0 gives break-even.

Variable costs

Add receipt dollar totals for this period. Fuel purchases can differ from fuel consumed if your tank level changes.

Fuel receipts total$/monthAdd all fuel receipts for this period; gallons are not required.Maintenance paid$/monthOther variable costs$/monthPeriod total for tolls, parking and other variable expenses. Avoid entering these twice in Check a Load.

Driver & helper pay

Enter actual driver and helper pay totals, regardless of how pay was calculated. Include your own driving pay if you want costs after owner pay.

Driver / owner pay total$/monthHelper pay total$/month

Fixed costs

Choose the billing period for these recurring bills. Weekly allocation uses monthly × 12 ÷ 52; monthly allocation uses weekly × 52 ÷ 12. Include each expense once.

Recurring bill amounts areTruck payment or rental$/monthInsurance$/monthOther fixed costs$/monthPermits, subscriptions and other recurring overhead.

Dispatch & factoring fees

Dispatch paid total$/monthFactoring paid total$/month

Use actual fees charged for this period, not percentage rates.

YOUR OPERATING BASELINE

ACTUAL COST PER TOTAL MILE$0.75Total recorded costs ÷ all miles, including deadhead.

TARGET PER LOADED MILE$0.88Historical baseline + optional profit; future trips may differ

Target / total mile$0.75

Recorded total costs / month$6,000.00

Target revenue / month$6,000.00

Recorded loaded miles6,800

View cost breakdown

Fuel$3,300.00
Maintenance$0.00
Fixed costs$2,700.00
Driver / helper pay$0.00
Other variable costs$0.00
Dispatch / factoring paid$0.00

Baseline per truck. Historical fuel and fees transfer as a combined per-mile baseline; pay and overhead transfer per working day. Replace transferred allowances when entering trip-specific costs to avoid double counting. Lower mileage raises fixed cost per mile. Load-specific costs and time can change the rate you need. Settings save in this browser. Applying this baseline replaces cost settings in Check a Load while retaining current load details.

BUSINESS BASICS · A QUICK GUIDE

How to calculate box truck cost per mile

Start with your own expenses and every mile you drive. Then separate what it costs to operate from what you want the business to earn.

Count every mile

Include loaded miles and deadhead. Divide total operating expenses by all miles from the same period.

Include your labor

Account for owner driving pay and any helper or employee pay. Include each expense once, rather than counting labor in two places.

Set a profit target

Break-even covers the costs you entered. A target adds the business profit you want; individual loads still need a trip-specific check.

Use the same period for expenses and miles

Operating cost per mile = total operating costs ÷ total miles driven

Pick a period. Use one month or a longer period with complete records. Match the expense dates to the mileage dates; do not divide a full month of bills by one week of miles.
Gather fixed and variable costs. Include the truck payment or rental, insurance, permits, fuel, tolls, tires, maintenance and other operating overhead that apply to your business. Convert annual bills to the period you chose.
Account for labor once. Include driver and helper costs, plus the owner driving pay you need the business to cover. Owner pay is compensation for your work; business profit is separate.
Include loaded and unpaid miles. Count pickup, repositioning and return miles. Recalculate when your costs, workload or mileage change.

Keep your method consistent. If you budget a maintenance reserve, do not also count the same repair expense twice. The calculator is a planning tool; a cash reserve and an unpaid invoice still need a separate cash-flow check.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE · NOT A MARKET QUOTE

One month. All miles. A clear baseline.

Suppose total recorded operating costs are $6,000 and total miles are 8,000, including 1,200 unpaid miles. That is $0.75 per total mile, or about $0.88 per loaded mile before adding a profit target.

These are example assumptions, not a suggested freight rate. Confirm whether owner pay is included in your costs.

EXAMPLE OPERATING COST$0.75per total mile · $6,000 ÷ 8,000

Why do unpaid miles matter?

The truck still uses fuel and incurs costs when it is empty. Revenue from loaded miles must help cover the entire trip, including pickup, repositioning and return miles.

Does this tell me what every load should pay?

No. Time, handling, extra stops and load-specific fees can change the rate you need. Use Check a Load to evaluate the particular offer rather than relying on one blanket rate.

NEXT STEPBuild your startup and working-capital plan ↗Research contractor opportunities ↗