Small fleet cost per truck calculator: every unit's real cost per mile
Set each truck's payment, insurance, miles, fuel economy and pay, plus your fleet overhead. The small fleet cost per truck calculator shows each unit's cost per mile and the fleet's break-even.
Small fleet cost per truck calculator
EXAMPLE VALUES, REPLACE WITH YOURSUnit 101
COST PER MILE, EACH UNIT
UNIT
101
$2.15/mi
$22,624/mo
UNIT
102
$2.11/mi
$20,670/mo
UNIT
103
$2.13/mi
$23,383/mo
Fleet break-even
$2.13/mi
Overhead share per truck: $800. Units with a red outline cost more per mile than the fleet average.
Your fleet breaks even at $2.13/mi. We dispatch every unit at 4% for 2+ trucks.
By Edwin Horton · Updated
How the cost per truck calculator works
A single fleet-wide cost per mile hides the trucks that lose money. This calculator works unit by unit.
For each unit:
- Fuel = miles ÷ mpg × diesel price
- Monthly cost = payment + insurance + overhead share + fuel + miles × (driver pay per mile + maintenance per mile)
- Cost per mile = monthly cost ÷ that unit's miles
For the fleet:
- Overhead share = fleet overhead ÷ number of trucks
- Fleet break-even = total monthly cost ÷ total miles
EXAMPLE A three-truck fleet with $2,400 of overhead puts $800 on each unit. Unit 101 has a $2,600 payment and runs 10,500 miles at 6.8 mpg. Unit 102 is paid off but older: no payment, 9,800 miles, 6.2 mpg and higher maintenance. Unit 103 is the newest, with a $2,900 payment and 11,000 miles. With diesel at $6.20, unit 102 comes out cheapest per mile even with its repair costs, at about $2.11. Unit 101 costs the most, about $2.15, because its payment is spread over fewer miles than unit 103 runs and it burns more fuel per mile.
Click a unit to edit it. The tiles update as you go, and the fleet line shows the average every unit is compared against.
Units above and below the fleet average
A unit well above the fleet average needs either more miles, a higher floor rate, or a hard look at whether it should stay. Often the fix is miles: a truck sitting two days a week carries its fixed costs over far fewer miles.
A paid-off truck that looks cheap may be hiding a repair bill that hasn't come yet. Pair this with the trucking cost per mile calculator and a maintenance reserve.
Thinking about another truck? Model it here as a new unit first, then check the payment with the how much truck can I afford calculator.
Use it to run the fleet
Our guide to truck fleet management covers the systems behind these numbers, and the private fleet trucking guide shows how companies that haul their own goods measure cost per truck. When the fleet is dispatched by a desk, the small fleet dispatch page explains how each unit gets its own floor rate based on numbers like these.
Bring this table to your next insurance renewal or truck purchase. When you can show what each unit really costs per mile, conversations about which truck to replace, which lanes to drop and what rate to accept get much shorter. Owners who manage by unit tend to grow more carefully than owners who manage by the fleet average, because they see the weak unit early.
Give each unit its own costs
- Use each unit's own payment and insurance share
- Take miles from ELD or odometer records for each unit
- Include your own salary in overhead if you don't drive
- Recheck any unit whose tile is outlined in red
Cost per truck questions
01How do you calculate cost per truck in a fleet?
Add each truck's own costs (payment, insurance, fuel, driver pay, maintenance) to an equal share of fleet overhead, then divide by that truck's miles. The fleet break-even is total cost divided by total miles.
02How should I split overhead between trucks?
Evenly is the simplest and what this calculator does. Some owners split by miles or revenue instead. Whatever you choose, use it every month so the numbers are comparable.
03Why does one truck cost so much more per mile?
Usually one of three things: a big payment on a newer truck, low miles (fixed costs spread thin), or high repair costs on an older one. The unit tiles show which, and a red outline marks units above the fleet average.
04Should every truck have the same rate floor?
No. A truck that costs more per mile needs a higher floor, or it will lose money on loads the cheaper trucks can take. Give each unit its own floor.
05What counts as fleet overhead?
Costs that exist because you run a company, not a single truck: office and phone, software, accounting, your own salary if you don't drive, yard rent, and shop tools. Split them across units so each truck carries its share.
06How often should I compare units?
Monthly. A unit that slips above the fleet average for two or three months in a row needs a decision: new lanes, a higher floor, repairs, or replacement.
Each unit dispatched against its own number
Fleets of 2+ trucks pay the fleet rate on every unit. No setup fee, no contract.
4% for 2+ trucks, 5% for one, 7% while your MC is new