Load profitability calculator: profit per load, mile and hour

How the load profitability calculator works

• Revenue = the rate plus stop pay and other extras on the rate con.
• Fuel = (loaded + empty miles) ÷ mpg × diesel price.
• Other costs = all miles × your non-fuel cost per mile.
• Profit = revenue − fuel − other costs − tolls − any fee.
• True rate = revenue ÷ all miles; profit per hour = profit ÷ hours door to door.

Hours mean the whole job: driving to the pickup, waiting, loading, the run and the unload. If you don't know your non-fuel cost per mile, the trucking cost per mile calculator works it out.

Worked example: two loads compared EXAMPLE

Load A pays more and makes more profit. Load B makes more per hour, and it frees the truck six hours sooner for another load. If a second load fits in those hours, B is the better choice; if not, A is. The calculator can't make that call, but it shows you the numbers that decide it.

Trucking load profit: what eats into it

• Deadhead. Empty miles cost fuel and wear and pay nothing.
• Waiting. Hours at the dock lower profit per hour, unless detention pays for them.
• Fuel prices. A 50-cent rise in diesel takes about 8 cents a mile off at 6.5 mpg.
• Tolls and lumper fees. Check whether the broker reimburses them before you accept.
• Where the load ends. A profitable load into a dead market can cost you the next day.

Truck load profit calculator for specialty rigs

The same math works for any rig, but the inputs shift. Reefers burn extra fuel in the unit. Flatbeds spend time tarping. Car haulers load and unload at several stops. Tankers wait at racks and plants, and livestock haulers can't wait at all. Enter the hours honestly for your work, and the profit per hour tells the truth about each load. Car haulers can use the car hauler load profit calculator, which prices per car.

Using it before you accept a load

The best time to run the numbers is on the phone with the broker, before the load is booked. Have your cost per mile, mpg and today's diesel price saved in the calculator, so all you add is the rate, the miles and a realistic estimate of the hours. Ask about appointment times, lumpers and detention terms, because those decide the hours and the extras. If the profit per hour is weak, that is your reason to counter; the counter-offer calculator turns it into a number to quote.

Comparing loads across a week

One load is only part of the picture. A week is a chain of loads, and a strong load that leaves the truck far from freight can lower the week's total. Before you accept, look at what is posted out of the delivery area and how far the next likely pickup is. Then run both legs together: the load you are offered plus the most likely next one, with the deadhead between them. A pair of average loads that keep the truck moving often beats one great load followed by a day of waiting. Write down the actual profit per hour after each load, too; over a month it shows which lanes, customers and load types really pay.

What the result means

A negative profit means the load costs you money to haul at your costs. A positive profit that is low per hour may still be worth taking if it moves the truck toward better freight or home. Compare loads on profit per hour when your hours are the limit, and on profit per mile when the truck's miles are. Track the actual numbers after each load, and adjust your inputs as you learn what your truck really costs. Small errors in mpg or cost per mile add up over hundreds of loads a year.

When you dispatch with us, we do this math on every offer before you hear about it, and we tell you where each load leaves the truck. See our dispatch for owner-operators or send an application.