Owner-operator
Trucking cost per mile calculator
The freight rate never tells you if a load pays. Your cost per mile does.
An owner-operator lives or dies by cost per mile. Fuel, tires and maintenance are variable; insurance, the truck payment and permits are fixed and get spread over the miles you run. Subtract cost per mile from your freight rate and you have the only number that matters, net per mile. This works it out.
The freight rate you're paid.
Tires, oil, repairs.
Permits, plates, ELD, parking.
Enter your rate and costs.
Worked example, $2 a mile over 120,000 miles
A driver runs 120,000 miles at $2 a mile, 6.5 mpg, diesel at $4, with $0 a mile maintenance and $44,000 of fixed costs:
| Component | Per mile |
|---|---|
| Fuel | 61.5¢ |
| Variable (fuel + maintenance) | 76.5¢ |
| Fixed (insurance, payment, permits) | 36.7¢ |
| Total cost per mile | 113.2¢ |
| Net per mile | 86.8¢ |
At 113.2¢ a mile in cost against $2 of revenue, this truck nets 86.8¢ a mile, $104,154 a year before income tax. Because fixed costs are spread over miles, running fewer miles (or deadheading empty) raises the real cost per mile fast, which is why a low freight rate on a long empty leg can quietly lose money.
Questions
What is a good cost per mile for an owner-operator?
Many owner-operators run somewhere around 100.0¢-150.0¢ all-in, excluding their own pay, but it depends heavily on fuel economy, the truck payment and miles run. The point is to know yours: a load below your cost per mile loses money no matter how the rate looks.
Why do empty miles matter so much?
Fixed costs, insurance, the payment, permits, are the same whether the truck is loaded or empty, so they are spread across every mile. Deadhead miles earn nothing but still carry fuel and fixed cost, dragging up your average cost per loaded mile. Minimizing empty miles is often the biggest lever on profit.
How is a trucker taxed on the net?
As self-employment income: the net profit owes the 15.3% self-employment tax plus income tax, and no one withholds it. So quarterly estimated payments are needed. Truckers subject to DOT hours-of-service rules can also deduct a per-diem meal allowance for nights away, which is a real deduction this economics view leaves out.
Standard mileage or actual expenses for the truck?
Heavy trucks over 13,000 pounds cannot use the standard mileage rate at all, you must use actual expenses, including depreciation or Section 179. So for a semi, the actual-cost approach here is also how the deduction works, unlike a car.
Related tools
- 1099 tax calculator tax on the net profit
- Quarterly tax calculator paying as you go
- Vehicle cost calculator for lighter vehicles
Pre-tax economics for comparison. Net profit is then subject to self-employment and income tax; per-diem and depreciation add deductions. Not tax advice.