Know your break-even rate before you book the load.
Enter your real truck costs. The calculator shows your true cost per mile and the loaded rate you need to stay profitable — with defaults drawn from ATRI's 2026 industry cost study and current EIA diesel prices.
Start with your goal, not your costs.
Name the paycheck you want. The planner works backwards to the exact rate every load needs to hit — then the calculator below checks whether your costs agree.
You need $0.00/mi average.
DAT 7-day broker-to-carrier averages, week of Sept 27–Oct 3, 2026 (linehaul + FSC). Planning estimates, not financial advice.
Your numbers
Adjust anything — results update live. Defaults reflect current industry data.
Advanced costsinsurance, reserves, pay & revenue check
Your numbers auto-save in this browser. Keep up to 3 named setups.
Your results
Updates as you type.
Every loaded mile must pay at least this for the truck to cover all costs plus your target pay.
Where the money goes ($/mi)
Run the whole load through the numbers
Every tool below reads your costs straight from the calculator above — change anything up there and these update instantly.
What does 7% actually save you?
The dispatch fee, expressed as money in your pocket — computed from your own fuel numbers above.
with our flat 7% of linehaul vs. a typical 10% of gross.
Gross is estimated as your linehaul plus fuel surcharge, where weekly FSC = (diesel − $1.25 base) ÷ your mpg × your weekly loaded miles — using the numbers you entered above. Illustrative comparison — your numbers will vary.
Check this offer — TAKE IT or WALK AWAY
Five inputs. One answer — with every line of math shown.
| Load | Offer | Miles | True $/mi | Profit | $/day | Verdict |
|---|
What your truck costs per day & per hour
Miles can lie. Time doesn't — this is the view experienced operators use.
On a —-mile day, you need $0.00/mi to clear $500 profit.
Planning estimates, not financial advice.
Fuel surcharge checker
Is the broker's fuel surcharge actually right? Checked against this week's DOE diesel index.
Using your 6.5 mpg from the calculator above.
Deadhead analyzer
Empty miles are the silent profit killer. Price the whole trip, not just the loaded part.
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We plan reloads so empty miles don't eat you alive — that's what a good dispatcher is for. 443-795-1131
What is your hour worth?
Your personal detention rate — fixed costs don't stop when the wheels do.
If a broker offers less than this per detention hour, you're paying them to wait.
Method: (fixed cost/mi + your pay/mi) × 60 mph — Overdrive's published method (Sept 2026). Includes your pay — your waiting time should pay you, not just cover the truck. Most shippers grant a 1–2 hr grace period before detention starts. Planning estimate.
The math, in the open
No black box. Every number above comes from these steps:
1. Fixed cost per month = truck payment + insurance + other fixed + (permits ÷ 12)
2. Fuel per mile = diesel $/gal ÷ mpg
3. Variable per mile = fuel + maintenance reserve + tires
4. Total monthly cost = fixed + (variable + driver pay) × all miles
5. Break-even loaded rate = total monthly cost ÷ loaded miles, where loaded miles = all miles × (1 − deadhead%)
6. Monthly profit = (your rate × loaded miles) − total monthly cost
Load verdict (time-based costing): total cost to haul = variable $/mi × all trip miles (loaded + deadhead) + days × (daily fixed costs + daily pay target); profit = revenue − total cost. TAKE IT needs profit ≥ your pay target for the trip's days (your $/mi pay × your daily miles × days).
Cost per day / hour: monthly cost ÷ 30 (all-in and fixed shown separately) and cost/mi × your average mph (default 55).
Fuel surcharge check: correct FSC = (DOE diesel − base price) ÷ your mpg.
Fee savings: 7% × weekly linehaul vs 10% × (linehaul + FSC), where weekly FSC = max(0, (diesel − $1.25) ÷ mpg) × weekly loaded miles, from your inputs above.
Detention rate: (fixed cost/mi + your pay/mi) × 60 mph — Overdrive's published method (Sept 2026). Includes your pay.
Weekly goal planner: needed rate = weekly goal ÷ weekly miles + (cost/mi − pay/mi); compared against the DAT 7-day van average, week of Sept 27–Oct 3, 2026.
All tools give planning estimates, not financial or tax advice.
Default sources: fixed/variable benchmarks from ATRI's Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, 2026 Update (2025 data); diesel $6.199/gal = EIA national on-highway average, as of Oct 6, 2026 (EIA weekly); deadhead 16.5% = ATRI 2026 (2025 data), non-tanker. Fuel and rate figures update weekly — check the date. Your actual numbers will differ — that's exactly why the inputs are yours to change.
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