Rate per mile calculator: all-in and loaded RPM for any load

How it's calculated

• Total pay = linehaul + fuel surcharge + accessorials.
• Loaded RPM = total pay ÷ loaded miles.
• All-in RPM = total pay ÷ (loaded miles + empty miles).
• Linehaul and FSC per mile = each line ÷ loaded miles.
• Margin = all-in RPM − your cost per mile.
• Pay needed = target all-in RPM × all miles.

That's all it does, on purpose. It works as a trucking rates calculator for a single offer, and the math is simple enough to check on the back of the rate con. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

A worked example

EXAMPLE: a dry van offer pays $1,800 linehaul plus $400 fuel surcharge for 800 loaded miles. The pickup is 150 miles from where you'll be empty. Your cost per mile is $1.95 and you aim for $2.40 all-in.

The broker will call it a $2.75 load, and on loaded miles it is. All-in, it's $2.32, and to reach your target it would need to pay $80 more. That's your counter, with a reason you can explain on the phone: the empty miles to get there.

How deadhead moves the number

The same offer, with only the empty miles changing:

Loaded RPM never moves; all-in drops with every empty mile. That's why a load board sorted by loaded rate can mislead you, and why a lower-paying load next door can beat a better-looking one two hundred miles away.

Reading the result

All-in RPM is the decision number

Use loaded RPM to compare offers on the same lane and to talk to brokers in their terms. Use all-in RPM to decide. If it sits below your cost per mile, the load loses money before you count your own pay, unless it sets up a better next load.

Fuel surcharge lines

When a rate con splits linehaul and FSC, check both. A strong linehaul with a thin surcharge can leave you short when diesel rises during a long week. When the rate is all-in, enter 0 for FSC and the whole amount as linehaul.

Accessorials

Only enter accessorials that are written on the rate con for this load: extra stops, a detention amount already agreed, a TONU. Detention you hope to collect isn't pay yet.

Using the number on a broker call

Brokers talk in loaded rate, so meet them there, then bring the empty miles in as your reason. A short script that works: "I can do it at $2,280. I'm 150 miles out, so at $2,200 I'm under my number for the trip." You haven't argued about the market, only about this truck and this load, which is a conversation a broker can take to the shipper or decide on quickly.

If the broker can't move, ask about the other levers before you hang up: a detention rate that starts sooner, a TONU amount, a later pickup that lets you take a closer load first. Each one changes the real pay per mile even when the rate stays put.

Multi-stop loads

On a truck load rate with several stops, count the miles between every stop, not just origin to final delivery, and enter the stop pay as accessorials. Then look at the hours too: three stops can add half a day, which a per-mile number won't show. The load profitability calculator adds profit per hour for that reason.

Any equipment, same math

The formula is the same for a dry van, reefer, flatbed, hotshot or a 26 ft box truck. What changes is your cost per mile and the accessorials you should expect to see, such as tarp pay on flatbed or a reefer fuel line. Enter those where they appear on the rate con and the truck freight rates comparison stays fair.

Why there's no "average rate per mile" here

You'll see national averages quoted for the average rate per mile for truck drivers and carriers. They come from load board and market data providers, change every week, and differ by equipment and lane. We don't show one because a number without a source and a date would be a guess, and because the useful comparison is with your own cost, not the country's. If you use a published average, note who published it and for which week.

If you're a shipper looking for a freight shipping rates calculator, this one is built for carriers judging an offer. Shipping prices are set between shippers, brokers and carriers, and a carrier's rate per mile is only one part of what a shipper pays.

Next steps

Build the cost side in the trucking cost per mile calculator, then use the counter-offer target rate calculator to turn the gap into a number to ask for. If you're struggling to find loads that clear your floor at all, read why you can't find freight, or see how our desk works on better rates. More in all tools, or apply for dispatch.