The short version
- Cost per mile is your fixed costs spread over your miles, plus what every mile burns. In this example it comes to about $1.64 a mile.
- With a 12% dispatch fee, a load has to gross about $1.87 a mile just to cover that. Anything above it is profit.
- Fixed costs shrink per mile as you run more miles, so a slow month costs more per mile than a busy one.
Grab last year's bills, your truck note, and your insurance quote. Every number below is an example for one solo truck running 10,000 miles a month; swap in yours line by line. Diesel in these examples is $6.276 a gallon, the U.S. average on-highway price the EIA published for the week of October 19, 2026. The current week is on our News page.
Step 1: Fixed costs for the month
These are the bills that come due whether the truck rolls or not.
| Truck payment | $2,200.00 |
| Insurance$375 a week, the midpoint of the $300 to $450 range on our Owner Operators page, times 52 weeks, divided by 12. | $1,625.00 |
| Plates, permits, and heavy vehicle use taxExample $1,500 registration plus the $550 heavy vehicle use tax, divided by 12. | $170.83 |
| ELD and phone | $135.00 |
| Accounting and bookkeeping | $150.00 |
| Parking | $100.00 |
| Total fixed costs | $4,380.83 |
Divide by the miles you run in a month: $4,380.83 divided by 10,000 miles is $0.438 a mile.
Step 2: Rolling costs per mile
These grow with every mile you drive.
| Fuel$6.276 a gallon divided by 6.5 miles per gallon. | $0.966 |
| Maintenance and repairs | $0.180 |
| Tires | $0.040 |
| Tolls and scales | $0.020 |
| Total rolling costs | $1.206 |
Use your real fuel economy from fuel receipts and your odometer, not the number on the window sticker. Fuel is the largest line, so it is the one that has to be right.
Step 3: Your cost per mile
| Fixed costs per mile | $0.438 |
| Rolling costs per mile | $1.206 |
| Cost per mile | $1.644 |
Step 4: The rate every load has to beat
The dispatch fee comes off the gross, not off a mile, so divide your cost per mile by the share of the gross you keep. With a 12% fee you keep 88%: $1.644 divided by 0.88 is $1.87 a mile. At a 10% fee it is $1.644 divided by 0.90, or $1.83 a mile. Count the miles you actually drive, deadhead included.
How miles change the answer
| Miles run | Cost per mile |
|---|---|
| 8,000 miles a month | $1.753 |
| 10,000 miles a month | $1.644 |
| 12,000 miles a month | $1.571 |
Same truck, same bills, and the slow month costs 18 cents a mile more than the busy one. That is why steady miles matter as much as the rate on any single load.
Keep it current
- Redo the worksheet when diesel moves, when your insurance renews, and when the truck note changes.
- Track maintenance and tires by the mile from your own records. After a year you will have your real numbers instead of estimates.
- Check every load offer against your number before you take it, then see what a full week looks like in what a team owner operator takes home.
This article is education, not tax or financial advice. Your costs depend on your truck, your lanes, and your records.
Want to run your own numbers with us? Our lease-on terms are on one page in plain numbers, or call and we will work through your week with you.
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