Free tool
Know your cost per mile before someone quotes you a rate.
The most important number in an owner-operator's business, computed in about two minutes. Free, instant, private — nothing you type leaves this page.
Cost worksheet
Fixed costs / month$3,210
Variable costs / month$4,950
Total cost / month$8,160
Total cost / year$97,920
Loaded miles / month6,800 mi
Cost / mile (all miles)
$1.02
Cost / loaded mile
$1.20
Break-even rate / loaded mile$1.20
Your minimum rate (break-even + margin)$1.38
Educational math, not financial advice. Rates below your break-even are paid work at a loss — the number exists so you can recognize them.
The methodology
How the math works — shown, not hidden.
A calculator you can’t audit is just an opinion with buttons. Here’s every formula this tool uses and why.
What cost per mile actually is
Cost per mile is your total operating cost spread over the miles you run — the single number that turns 'is this load good?' from a feeling into arithmetic. It isn't a rate, it isn't revenue, and it isn't what a load board shows you: it's what a mile costs YOU, in your rig, at your numbers. Everything below exists to compute it honestly.
Fixed vs. variable — the split that drives everything
Fixed costs (truck payment, trailer payment, insurance, plates, ELD) bill you whether the wheels turn or not. Variable costs (fuel, maintenance reserve, tires, tolls) scale with miles. The calculator keeps them separate because the distinction changes decisions: more miles dilute fixed costs per mile, but they buy more variable cost at the same time.
Fuel from price and economy, not a guess
Fuel cost per mile = diesel price ÷ your rig's miles per gallon. A hotshot getting 10 mpg at $3.80 diesel pays 38¢ a mile before anything else. This is usually the single biggest bucket — which is why a small mpg improvement or a smarter fuel network shows up fast.
Deadhead makes loaded miles carry the load
Empty miles cost nearly as much to run as loaded ones, but only loaded miles get paid. The calculator computes cost per loaded mile by spreading your total monthly cost across loaded miles only — that's the number a rate has to beat, and it's why dispatch quality (fewer empty miles) is a cost lever, not just a convenience.
Break-even and your minimum rate
If factoring or program deductions come off the top of gross, your rate has to cover them too: break-even = cost per loaded mile ÷ (1 − off-the-top %). Add the margin you're in business to earn, and that's your personal minimum rate — the number that turns 'is this load good?' from a feeling into arithmetic.
Why tracking CPM weekly matters
Costs drift: diesel moves, insurance renews, a repair bill lands. Owner-operators who recompute their cost per mile monthly catch the drift while it's a course correction, not a crisis. Your weekly settlement plus a fuel receipt folder contains every input this calculator asks for.
The formulas, verbatim
unit-tested · nothing hidden
fuel $/midiesel $/gal ÷ mpg
variable $/mo(fuel + maintenance + tires) per mile × miles + tolls
fixed $/motruck + trailer + insurance + plates + ELD + other
total $/mofixed + variable annual = total × 12
loaded milesmiles × (1 − deadhead %)
cost / miletotal ÷ all miles
cost / loaded miletotal ÷ loaded miles
break-even ratecost per loaded mile ÷ (1 − off-the-top %)
minimum ratebreak-even × (1 + margin %)
Five common cost-per-mile mistakes
- 01Using revenue miles only — empty miles burn the same fuel, so compute cost per LOADED mile and let deadhead show its price
- 02Forgetting reserves — maintenance and tires are per-mile costs even in months nothing breaks; skip them and a 'profitable' year ends with a $4,000 repair you never budgeted
- 03Treating the truck payment as the whole fixed picture — insurance, plates, ELD, and subscriptions bill just as relentlessly
- 04Ignoring off-the-top deductions — if factoring or program fees take a percentage of gross, a rate that beats your CPM can still lose money
- 05Computing it once — diesel moves, insurance renews, deadhead drifts. Owner-operators who recompute monthly catch drift while it's a course correction
Educational tool · defaults are editable industry-typical examples, not quotes · not financial advice · answers never leave your device
Your settlement holds these inputs. Weekly.
However you run — leased on here, elsewhere, or on your own authority — an itemized settlement is where this math comes from. We’ve written up how to read one line by line, and the Success Academy goes deeper on the business side.