Costs, Rates and What You Actually Keep
Revenue is the number people quote. Cost per mile is the number that decides whether the business works. This section is about the second one.
The benchmark to measure yourself against
The American Transportation Research Institute publishes an annual analysis built from carrier financial data rather than estimates. Its 2026 edition, covering 2025, found:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Average marginal operating cost per mile | $2.336 |
| Change on the year | +3.4% |
| Cost per mile excluding fuel | $1.854 |
| Tolls | +13.2% |
| Repair and maintenance | +8.6% |
| Tires | +6.4% |
$2.336 is the highest figure in the history of that report. Operating margins stayed thin: below 1 percent in truckload and refrigerated, and an average loss of 0.5 percent in flatbed.
Use that as a reference point, not as your number. A single-truck owner-operator has a different cost structure from a fleet. What matters is your own figure, which our cost per mile calculator works out and compares against this benchmark line by line.
The three questions this section answers
- What does it cost me to turn a wheel? Fixed costs divided by miles, plus variable costs per mile. The calculator does the arithmetic; the articles explain what belongs in each line.
- What rate do I need? Cost per paid mile, not cost per mile driven. Empty miles are the difference, and quoting off the wrong one is how margin disappears.
- What do I actually keep? Gross revenue, minus everything, minus tax. The gap is larger than most people expect before they run it.
Articles in this section
- What owner-operators actually take homeThe distance between a gross revenue figure and money in your account, and why recruiting adverts quote the first one.
- What drives the price of truck insuranceThe coverages you must carry, the ones brokers demand, and the factors underwriters actually price on.
- How a fuel surcharge worksThe EIA index most contracts reference, the peg-and-step mechanism, and how to check whether a surcharge is covering your fuel.
- Working out what rate to acceptThe four numbers, why deadhead can eliminate a margin entirely, and how to judge a load in thirty seconds.
- What maintenance costs, and how to budget itRepair and maintenance rose 8.6 percent in 2025. Why accruing per mile beats accounting when you pay.
- Detention and accessorialsWhat waiting really costs you, the documentation that decides whether it is paid, and the accessorials people forget to claim.
Related
- What it actually costs to start.
- Federal fee reference.
- How freight factoring works — a cost people forget to count.
Sources
- Operational Costs of Trucking — ATRI, 2026 edition.
General information, not legal advice. Regulations change; confirm current requirements with the agency before acting.