Break-even rate per mile calculator
Your cost per mile isn't the rate you can accept. Empty miles and percentage fees push the real floor higher.
Your month
A load you're looking at
How to use it
Enter a normal month, not your best one. Fixed costs are what you pay whether the truck moves or not. Total miles include the empty miles, and the empty share is the part of those miles you aren't paid for.
If you pay any fees as a percentage of each load, like a dispatch fee or a factoring fee, put the total percentage in that box, using the rates quoted to you. The calculator then gives your break-even per loaded mile, which is the number to compare with a load's posted rate, and the minimum a specific load must pay once you add the empty miles to the pickup.
Break-even means zero profit. Add the profit you want on top, or use the cost per mile calculator to set a target.
The math
Cost per total mile = fixed costs ÷ total miles + diesel price ÷ MPG + maintenance and tires + driver pay. Fees taken as a percentage of gross grow with the rate, so the break-even per total mile is that cost ÷ (1 − the % fees). Empty miles earn nothing, so the break-even per loaded mile is the per-total-mile number ÷ (1 − your empty share). For one load, the minimum pay is the per-total-mile break-even × (loaded + empty miles). See how to calculate your cost per mile for where each number comes from.
Questions carriers ask
What is a break-even rate in trucking?
The lowest rate that covers every cost of running the truck, including your own pay, so you make no profit and lose no money on the miles.
Why is my break-even per loaded mile higher than my cost per mile?
Because you pay for empty miles too, and percentage fees take a share of every dollar. Both raise the rate a loaded mile has to earn.
Should I ever take a load below break-even?
Sometimes a short load below break-even gets you out of a bad market to a better one. Look at the whole round trip before you decide.