Brokers sell you on rate per mile. "Two-ninety a mile, easy money." But rate per mile is the number before any of your costs come out, and it's almost always quoted on loaded miles only. The number that actually pays your mortgage is profit per mile — what's left after fuel, the truck payment, and the empty miles to the next pickup. Two loads at the same rate can have wildly different profit per mile. Here's how to work yours out, load by load.
Profit per mile vs. cost per mile
These get mixed up constantly, so let's separate them:
- Cost per mile is what it costs you to turn the wheels one mile — fuel, payment, insurance, maintenance, all of it. It's your break-even line.
- Profit per mile is what's left after that cost. It's the answer to "did this load actually make money, and how much?"
You can't calculate profit per mile until you know your cost per mile, so if you haven't pinned that down yet, start with our guide to calculating your true cost per mile and come back. This article assumes you already have that number.
The profit per mile formula
Profit per mile = (Load revenue − Total costs) ÷ Total miles driven
Three inputs, and the word total matters in two of them. Total revenue for the load, total cost to run it, and total miles — deadhead included. Get any of those wrong and the answer flatters you.
Step 1: Add up the load's real revenue
Start with everything the load actually pays you, not just the line haul:
- Line haul (the base rate on the rate confirmation)
- Fuel surcharge, if it's broken out separately
- Accessorials you'll genuinely collect: detention, layover, tarping, stop-offs
Be honest about accessorials. If detention is on the rate con but you know this broker fights every claim, don't bank on it. Count the money you'll really see.
Step 2: Subtract what the load costs you to run
This is where your cost per mile earns its keep. Multiply your cost per mile by the total miles for the load:
Total cost = Cost per mile × (loaded miles + deadhead miles)
If your cost per mile is $2.00 and the load is 850 loaded miles plus 150 deadhead to reach the shipper, that's 1,000 total miles costing you $2,000 — before you've earned a cent. Some operators also add load-specific costs that aren't already in their per-mile number, like a lumper fee or a toll-heavy reroute. Don't double-count anything your cost per mile already includes.
Step 3: Divide by total miles, deadhead and all
Take the profit that's left and spread it across every mile you drove for the load, empty ones included. Those deadhead miles are the quiet killer — they cost fuel and wear but bring in zero revenue, so they drag your profit per mile down even on a "good" rate.
A worked example
A broker offers you a load for $2,500. It's 850 loaded miles, and you'll run 150 empty to get to the pickup — 1,000 total miles. Your cost per mile is $2.00. The numbers below are illustrative; yours will differ.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Load revenue | $2,500 |
| Total miles (850 loaded + 150 deadhead) | 1,000 |
| Total cost ($2.00 × 1,000) | $2,000 |
| Profit | $500 |
| Profit per mile ($500 ÷ 1,000) | $0.50 |
The broker called it "two-ninety-four a mile" ($2,500 ÷ 850 loaded miles). Your real profit per mile is $0.50. Same load, two very different stories — and only one of them tells you whether to book it.
Run the numbers in seconds: drop a rate and your miles into our free load profit calculator to see net profit and profit per mile before you book, or use the cost per mile calculator to nail down the cost side first.
Per-load profit per mile vs. monthly
Calculate it two ways and use each differently:
- Per load — for the yes/no decision when a broker's waiting on the phone. Will this specific load clear your break-even and leave enough to be worth the hours?
- Monthly — for the big picture. Total profit divided by total miles for the month tells you whether your lane mix and rates are actually working, smoothing out the one great load and the one that went sideways.
What's a good profit per mile?
Once you have your number, it helps to know where it sits. After all costs and a fair wage for yourself, many owner operators target somewhere in the $0.40 to $0.70 per mile range in profit, though it swings with freight market, lane, and how lean your truck runs. A paid-off truck on cheap insurance can clear more; a new truck with a payment in a soft market can land lower.
Treat those as reference points, not gospel. The only profit per mile that means anything is the one from your own books, because your cost per mile drives it more than any benchmark. Chase your number, not the internet's.
Common mistakes that inflate the number
- Using rate per mile as profit. Rate is before costs. They are not the same number, and confusing them is how operators run busy and broke.
- Ignoring deadhead. Empty miles belong in total miles every time.
- Counting accessorials you won't collect. If detention rarely gets paid, leave it out.
- Using a stale cost per mile. Fuel and insurance move. Recalculate your CPM every few months or the profit math is built on sand.
- Only looking monthly. By month-end the thin loads are already hauled. The per-load check is what protects you.
Make it automatic
The formula is simple. The hard part is keeping your costs and miles current enough to trust the answer while a broker is waiting for a yes. That's exactly why we built Trucker Budget: it ties fuel, repairs, tolls, and income to each load and shows your real profit per mile after costs, deadhead included — so a losing lane shows up before you book it, not at tax time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cost per mile and profit per mile?
Cost per mile is what it costs you to run a mile. Profit per mile is what's left after that cost — revenue per mile minus cost per mile. Cost per mile tells you your break-even line; profit per mile tells you whether a specific load clears it.
What is a good profit per mile for an owner operator?
It depends on your costs, but many owner operators aim for roughly $0.40 to $0.70 per mile in profit after all expenses and their own pay. The honest number is the one from your own books, because your cost per mile and lanes move it more than any average.
How do I calculate profit per mile on a single load?
Take the load's total revenue, subtract your cost per mile times the total miles you'll drive for it (deadhead included), then divide that profit by those total miles. So $2,500 revenue minus $2,000 in costs over 1,000 total miles is $500 profit, or $0.50 per mile.
Should deadhead miles count in profit per mile?
Yes. Deadhead miles burn real fuel and wear the truck, and no one pays you for them. Dividing profit by loaded miles only makes a load look better than it is.
See your profit per mile on every load
Trucker Budget tracks expenses and income per load and shows your real per-mile profit after costs — automatically, deadhead included.
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