By Michael Nielsen, Publisher | 15+ Years in Diesel Repair
Last Updated: October 2026
How to calculate cost per mile comes down to one formula: add up everything it costs to run the truck over a period and divide by every mile the truck turned in that period, loaded and empty. The result is your break-even point per mile, and any rate below it loses money before you pay yourself.
This Heavy Duty Journal guide updates the older version with ATRI's July 2026 cost data, the 2026 UCR fee, and the IRS record-keeping rules, and it uses one worked example whose arithmetic adds up. It drops insurance, tire, lease, and rate ranges that could not be traced to a primary source, and removes outdated software names.
Key Takeaways
- ✓The formula: total costs divided by total miles. Use every mile the truck turns, loaded and empty, and every cost in the period.
- ✓ATRI's 2025 industry average is $2.336 per mile. That fleet average includes about $1.03 per mile of driver wages and benefits, so your own number will differ.
- ✓Fuel is about a fifth of the average, not a third. ATRI's roughly 48 cents per mile of fuel is about 21 percent of its $2.336 total.
- ✓Price from cost per loaded mile. Empty miles add cost without adding revenue, so your minimum rate per loaded mile is higher than your cost per mile.
- ✓Tax records are generally kept three years. The IRS says three years in most cases, with longer periods in specific situations, and not seven years as a general rule.
In This Guide
How to Calculate Cost Per Mile: The Formula
The formula is simple: cost per mile equals total costs divided by total miles. Total costs include fixed costs, which you pay whether the truck moves or not, and variable costs, which grow with miles. Total miles must include deadhead, because the truck burns fuel and wears out on empty miles too.
ATRI's 2026 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, released in July 2026, found that the average cost to operate a truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, up 3.4 percent from $2.260 in 2024, and $1.854 excluding fuel. See the ATRI summary. Those are fleet averages that include driver wages and benefits of about $1.03 per mile, so use them only to sense-check your own number.
$2.336 per mile
Average cost to operate a truck in 2025, per ATRI's 2026 Operational Costs report. Without fuel, the average was $1.854.
A rate that looks good can hide a loss. If a load pays $2,500 and the run costs $2,200, you have $300 left before you pay yourself, and a four-cent gap adds up: at 100,000 miles a year, accepting loads at $1.48 per mile when your cost is $1.52 loses $4,000 a year. HDJ's trucking cost per mile calculator guide runs the same math.
Fixed Costs: What You Pay Whether the Truck Moves or Not
Fixed costs stay the same however far you drive. They include the truck payment or lease, insurance, permits and registrations, and the overhead of communications, an ELD subscription, and accounting. Convert them to a daily number, because every idle day adds cost without miles: in the example below, fixed costs of $51,600 work out to about $141 a day, or roughly $990 for a week sitting.
Insurance is a good example of a cost you cannot skip. Under 49 CFR 387.9, the federal minimum liability is $750,000 for nonhazardous property in interstate commerce, though many brokers and shippers ask for more. See the rule on eCFR. ATRI puts the average cost of liability and cargo insurance at about 11 cents per mile in 2025 and says insurance rose 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, so get a current written quote. HDJ's owner operator insurance guide covers coverage types.
Permits are fixed too. The Unified Carrier Registration fee for a carrier with up to two trucks is $46 for 2026, which replaces the older figures that circulated at $59 to $76. Check the UCR plan site for the current fee, and check your base state for IFTA and registration costs through the IFTA site.
Truck payments are the largest fixed line for many operators. ATRI's average for truck and trailer payments is about 40 cents per mile, but a paid-off truck and a fresh lease differ widely, so use your actual payment. HDJ's leasing vs owning a truck guide covers the comparison.
Variable Costs: What Each Mile Adds
Variable costs rise with every mile. Fuel is the largest. Divide the price per gallon by your miles per gallon: at $4.00 and 6.5 MPG, fuel costs about $0.62 per mile, and at $4.25 and 6.0 MPG it is about $0.71. The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes weekly diesel prices to help you track the price side.
ATRI's 2025 average fuel cost was about 48 cents per mile, roughly 21 percent of its $2.336 total. That corrects the older claim that fuel is 25 to 35 percent of operating cost. Your share will depend on your price and MPG, and a small MPG gain matters: at 120,000 miles and $4.00 diesel, moving from 6.5 to 6.7 MPG saves about 550 gallons, or roughly $2,204 a year.
Repair and maintenance averaged about 21.5 cents per mile in ATRI's 2025 data, up 8.6 percent, tires about 5 cents, and tolls about 4.3 cents, up 13.2 percent. Use these as reference points, then replace them with your own invoices. HDJ's owner-operator fuel management guide covers lowering the fuel line.
Keep a reserve for the breakdown you cannot predict. A repair fund sized to your own bills, not a rule of thumb, is the practical defense, and preventive maintenance records support it. Fuel card discounts and other savings vary by network and fees, so count only savings you can document.
A Worked Example
This example is illustrative, not a benchmark. Assume a truck that runs 120,000 miles a year, 15 percent of them empty, burns diesel at 6.5 MPG and $4.00 a gallon, and uses ATRI's 2025 averages for maintenance, tires, and tolls. The fixed lines and the scale, parking, and washout line are placeholders for your own numbers.
| Illustrative annual cost | Annual | Per mile (120,000 miles) |
|---|---|---|
| Truck payment | $30,000 | $0.250 |
| Insurance | $15,000 | $0.125 |
| Permits and registrations | $3,000 | $0.025 |
| Communications, ELD, and accounting | $3,600 | $0.030 |
| Total fixed | $51,600 | $0.430 |
| Fuel (6.5 MPG, $4.00 per gallon) | $73,846 | $0.615 |
| Repair and maintenance ($0.215 per mile) | $25,800 | $0.215 |
| Tires ($0.05 per mile) | $6,000 | $0.050 |
| Tolls ($0.043 per mile) | $5,160 | $0.043 |
| Scales, parking, and washouts | $2,400 | $0.020 |
| Total variable | $113,206 | $0.943 |
| Total cost | $164,806 | $1.373 |
The total is $164,806, or $1.37 per mile before you pay yourself. For comparison, ATRI's $2.336 average minus its $1.028 of driver wages and benefits is about $1.31, so the example sits in the same range. Your own result may differ, and that is the point of running it.
Cost Per Loaded Mile and Your Minimum Rate
Divide total costs by loaded miles, not total miles, to get the break-even rate you need on paid miles. In the example, 15 percent empty means 102,000 loaded miles, so break-even is $164,806 divided by 102,000, or about $1.62 per loaded mile.
Then add your own pay. If the owner-operator wants $80,000 for the year, required revenue is $244,806, which is about $2.04 per total mile and $2.40 per loaded mile. Compare every offered rate with that second number. HDJ's load boards for owner operators guide covers where freight is found.
Deadhead changes the answer on a single load. A $2.50-per-mile load of 500 miles that needs 100 empty miles to reach pays $1,250 across 600 miles, or about $2.08 per mile, so price the empty leg into the quote. Also treat a rate as a decision, not an insult: refusing a load below your number is a business choice.
Key Recommendation
Divide by every mile the odometer or ELD shows, then convert to a cost per loaded mile before you compare any load rate.
Tracking Costs and Keeping Records
Use a spreadsheet or accounting software that categorizes expenses as fixed or variable and shows cost per mile by month. Take total miles from your ELD, not from loaded-mile paperwork, and reconcile bank and fuel card records monthly. Software and subscription prices change quickly, so compare current plans before you buy and skip tools you will not use.
Keep the records that support your deductions. The IRS says to keep records that support income, deductions, or credits until the period of limitations for the return runs out. That is generally three years, six years if you omit more than 25 percent of gross income, seven years only for a worthless securities or bad debt claim, and four years for employment tax records.
See the IRS recordkeeping page, and keep records on property such as a truck until the limitations period for the year you dispose of it ends. HDJ's owner operator tax deductions guide covers what to track.
Common Calculation Mistakes
- Dividing by loaded miles only: this overstates your margin because empty miles still cost fuel, wear, and time.
- Using one-time numbers: insurance renewals, fuel swings, and repairs change your cost, so recalculate at least quarterly and after any major change.
- Leaving out hidden costs: health insurance, retirement, communications, scale fees, and parking belong in the total, using your own receipts.
- Treating industry averages as your cost: ATRI figures include driver pay and fleet scale, so they are a check, not a substitute.
- Ignoring seasonality: rates, fuel use, and idling change through the year, so compare quarters, not single weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the formula for cost per mile?
Total costs for a period divided by total miles driven in that period, including empty miles. Include fixed and variable costs, and recalculate at least quarterly and after any major cost change.
Should I include deadhead miles?
Yes. Empty miles use fuel, tires, and maintenance. Use total miles for your cost per mile, then convert to a cost per loaded mile when you compare load rates.
What is the average trucking cost per mile?
ATRI's 2026 report puts the 2025 industry average at $2.336 per mile, or $1.854 without fuel. It includes driver wages and benefits, so your own owner-operator number will differ.
How do I include my own pay?
Add a target annual pay to your total costs, then divide by miles. In the example, $80,000 of pay raises the required rate from about $1.37 to $2.04 per total mile.
How long should I keep cost records?
The IRS generally says three years for records that support a return, with longer periods in specific cases and four years for employment tax records. Check the IRS page for your situation.
The Bottom Line
To calculate cost per mile well, use every cost and every mile, convert to a cost per loaded mile before pricing a load, and update the numbers when your insurance, fuel, or repair costs move. The industry average is a check, not a target.
Heavy Duty Journal's guidance at heavydutyjournal.com, from publisher Michael Nielsen and the HDJ editorial team, is to build your cost from your own receipts and to treat every average as a starting point.
As of October 2026, ATRI figures, UCR fees, and IRS guidance change, so confirm current numbers before relying on them.
Send This to an Owner-Operator Who Quotes Rates by Feel
Pass it along so they run the same cost per mile math on their next load.
