Enter your cost per mile, the profit margin you want, and the loaded and deadhead miles for a lane. Get the minimum rate per loaded mile you must charge to cover every mile and still make your target profit — so you never book a losing load again.
$1.60 cost per mile, 25% target margin, 800 loaded + 100 deadhead miles:
The fastest way to go broke in trucking is to book loads that "sound okay" without running the math. A rate per mile only makes sense relative to two things: your cost per mile and your deadhead. This calculator combines both so the number you see is the real floor — the minimum rate per loaded mile that covers all your costs and leaves your target profit.
Brokers quote per loaded mile, but your truck burns fuel and wears tires on empty miles too. If you deadhead 100 miles to grab an 800-mile load, your loaded rate has to carry the cost of all 900 miles. That's why a $2.13 total-mile target becomes a $2.40 loaded-mile minimum in the example above. Ignore deadhead and you'll quietly underprice every backhaul.
Set a target rate, hold the line in negotiations, and let the math — not the pressure of an empty truck — decide which freight is worth hauling.
The rate you calculate here is the floor, not the target. Quote above it whenever the lane and season allow — and walk away from anything below it.