Trucking Cost Per Mile Calculator
Work out what a truck costs to run per mile. Fuel is figured from the current U.S. average diesel price and your miles per gallon. Add driver pay, the truck payment, insurance, maintenance, tires and tolls to get the total.
Diesel price: EIA weekly U.S. on-highway diesel. Results are estimates from the numbers you enter, and nothing you enter is sent to us.
Fuel
ATRI: truck-tractors averaged 7.43 MPG in 2025.
Needed to spread monthly costs per mile.
Prefilled with $6.127 per gallon, the U.S. average from EIA weekly U.S. on-highway diesel, as of November 9, 2026. Change it to the price you pay.
Costs paid by the mile
ATRI 2025 average: $0.818 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.210 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.215 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.050 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.043 per mile.
Costs paid by the month
ATRI 2025 average: $0.404 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.106 per mile.
ATRI 2025 average: $0.008 per mile.
Anything else you pay monthly, such as office, software or parking.
Leave a line blank to leave it out. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Once you know your cost per mile, the fuel surcharge calculator works out what to add per mile when diesel rises above your base price.
How cost per mile is calculated
- Fuel cost per mile = diesel price per gallon ÷ miles per gallon.
- Costs paid by the mile (driver wages and benefits, repair and maintenance, tires, tolls) are added as entered.
- Costs paid by the month (truck and trailer payment, insurance, permits and licenses, other fixed costs) = amount per month ÷ miles per month.
- Total cost per mile = fuel plus every line you entered. A line left blank is left out and listed under the result.
- Total per month = total cost per mile × miles per month.
Average trucking cost per mile, 2025
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) surveys for-hire fleets each year. Its Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update, published July 2026, puts the industry-average cost at $2.336 per mile in 2025, or $1.854 excluding fuel, and average truck-tractor fuel economy at 7.43 miles per gallon.
| Cost line | Per mile, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Fuel | $0.482 |
| Driver Wages | $0.818 |
| Driver Benefits | $0.210 |
| Repair & Maintenance | $0.215 |
| Tires | $0.050 |
| Tolls | $0.043 |
| Truck/Trailer Lease or Purchase Payments | $0.404 |
| Truck Insurance Premiums | $0.106 |
| Permits & Licenses | $0.008 |
| Total | $2.336 |
Source: ATRI, Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update, Table 8, Average Marginal Costs per Mile (PDF). The survey covers for-hire fleets running combination trucks, so a single truck or an owner-operator can sit well above or below these averages. The calculator shows them for comparison and never fills them in for you.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate trucking cost per mile?
Add up what the truck costs over a period and divide by the miles it ran in that period. Fuel cost per mile is the diesel price per gallon divided by miles per gallon. Costs paid by the mile, such as driver pay, maintenance, tires and tolls, are added as they are. Costs paid by the month, such as the truck payment, insurance and permits, are divided by the miles driven that month. The total of those lines is the cost per mile.
What is the average trucking cost per mile?
The American Transportation Research Institute reports an industry-average cost of $2.336 per mile in 2025, or $1.854 excluding fuel, in its Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update. The largest lines were driver wages at $0.818, fuel at $0.482 and truck and trailer payments at $0.404 per mile. The figures come from a survey of for-hire fleets running combination trucks, so an owner-operator's costs can differ.
What is fuel cost per mile at 6 or 7 MPG?
Fuel cost per mile is the diesel price per gallon divided by miles per gallon. At the U.S. average on-highway diesel price of $6.127 per gallon (EIA weekly survey, as of November 9, 2026), that is $1.021 per mile at 6 MPG and $0.875 per mile at 7 MPG. Each extra mile per gallon lowers the figure, so use the MPG from your own fuel receipts and odometer.
How do I set up a cost per mile spreadsheet?
Use one row per cost line and three columns: the amount, whether it is paid per mile or per month, and the cost per mile. For a per-mile line the cost per mile is the amount. For a monthly line it is the amount divided by miles driven that month. Fuel is the price per gallon divided by miles per gallon. Sum the last column for the total cost per mile, and multiply by monthly miles for the monthly total. The calculator on this page does the same arithmetic in the browser.
Which costs go into cost per mile?
ATRI tracks nine lines: fuel, truck and trailer lease or purchase payments, repair and maintenance, truck insurance premiums, permits and licenses, tires, tolls, driver wages and driver benefits. Overhead such as office staff, software and real estate sits outside those nine, and the calculator has an "other fixed costs" line for it.
Pull the weekly diesel price into your fleet software
GET /v1/prices/latest?by_code=DIESEL_RETAIL_USD → timestamped JSONRelated: Fuel Surcharge Calculator · IFTA Calculator · Diesel prices by state · Diesel Price API