Load profitability calculator: is this load worth a yes?

By Edwin Horton · Updated October 2026

How the load profitability calculator works

This is the check good owners do in their head before saying yes, written out so nothing gets missed.

• All miles = loaded miles + deadhead to pickup
• Fuel = all miles ÷ mpg × diesel price
• Other costs = all miles × your other cost per mile
• Total cost = fuel + other costs + tolls + extra costs (lumper, scale, parking)
• Net = rate − total cost
• True rate per mile = rate ÷ all miles
• Net per hour = net ÷ hours from leaving for pickup to delivery, waiting included

EXAMPLE A broker offers $1,950 for 780 loaded miles, with 70 empty miles to the pickup. Diesel is $6.20 at 6.5 mpg, tolls are $35, and other costs run $0.85 a mile. The run takes 17 hours with loading. Fuel: $811. Other costs: $723. Net: about $381, or $22 an hour. True rate: $2.29 a mile. If your minimum is $30 an hour, this load is a counter or a pass.

The card turns green when the load clears your minimum per hour and red when it doesn't. Edit any input and it updates.

Good per mile, bad per hour, and the rest

Good per mile, bad per hour: usually a long wait at pickup or delivery. Ask for detention terms on the rate con or a firmer appointment, or price the wait in.

Bad per mile, good per hour: short runs with fast turns can work, especially if they keep the truck near strong freight. Look at the whole day, not one load.

Negative net: you'd pay to haul it. The only reason to take it is a reload that more than makes up for it. Check that reload's numbers too.

For a monthly view of whether loads like this keep the truck profitable, use the trucking profit calculator. For box truck runs with stop pay and liftgate work, the box truck business profit calculator is a closer fit.

Benchmarks and dispatch

Our fleet benchmark report shows published cost-per-mile and pay benchmarks you can compare your inputs against. On our small fleet dispatch desk, every offer shows the all-in rate, deadhead and pickup window before it reaches you, and you approve or pass.

Run a few loads you've already hauled through the calculator with the real numbers from the settlement. You'll learn which shippers eat your hours, which lanes pay better than they look, and what net per hour your truck needs. That history makes the next yes or no faster and more confident.

Measure deadhead from the real start

• Measure deadhead from where the truck will really be
• Use your fuel economy for this kind of load and terrain
• Count waiting at both ends in the hours
• Set your minimum per hour before you see the offer