Owner-Operator
Cost per mile explained for owner-operators
You cannot judge a load without knowing your own number. Cost per mile is fixed costs plus variable costs divided by the miles you actually run.
The answer
The two buckets
- Fixed costs — truck payment, insurance, permits, plates, parking, accounting. They happen whether you roll or not.
- Variable costs — fuel, tires, maintenance and repair reserve, tolls, lumpers, driver pay.
The math
Add a full month of fixed costs and variable costs, then divide by total miles for that month, including deadhead. That number is your break-even per mile. Any load below it costs you money to haul.
Use real miles
Deadhead is the number most drivers leave out, and it is the one that turns a profitable-looking rate into a loss. Judge every load on total miles from where you are to where the load ends.