Box truck cost per mile calculator
Enter your monthly and per-mile costs. See your true cost per mile, your break-even rate and the rate to aim for.
MONTHLY FIXED COSTS
PER-MILE COSTS
COST PER MILE
YOUR ALL-IN COST PER MILE
$1.18
- Fixed cost per mile
- $0.60/mi
- Fuel per mile
- $0.40/mi
- Maintenance and tires per mile
- $0.18/mi
- Monthly cost to run
- $5,900
- Minimum rate (break-even) per mile
- $1.18/mi
- Target rate with 20% margin
- $1.42/mi
Per total mile, empty miles included. Your pay as the driver is not included unless you add it to the fixed costs.
Your floor is $1.18 a mile and your target $1.42. Loads under that floor come to you to decide first.
Start box truck dispatchHow box truck cost per mile is calculated
- Fixed cost per mile = (truck payment + insurance + other fixed costs) / miles a month.
- Fuel per mile = diesel price / miles per gallon.
- Cost per mile = fixed per mile + fuel per mile + maintenance per mile + tires per mile.
- Target rate = cost per mile x (1 + your margin).
EXAMPLE 26 FT BOX TRUCK MONTH
Box truck cost per mile: what changes it most
Miles a month is the biggest lever on fixed costs. The same $3,000 of fixed costs is 60 cents a mile at 5,000 miles and 40 cents at 7,500. Weeks with fewer loads raise your cost per mile even if nothing else changes.
Fuel economy sets the largest variable cost. Weight, stops, idling and speed all move it; use your own average from receipts.
Maintenance is easy to under-count, because it arrives in lumps. Spread a realistic yearly figure over your miles rather than counting only this month's bills.
From cost per mile to the loads you take
Compare every offer with your floor using the rate per mile calculator, and see the month as a whole with the profit calculator. Our guides on the average box truck rate per mile and what a box truck costs help set realistic inputs. When you are ready to stop doing the math on every load yourself, see box truck dispatch.
Questions about this calculator
Q-01What is a good box truck rate per mile?
One that clears your own cost per mile by the margin you need, counting empty miles. Your cost per mile from this calculator is the floor; anything below it loses money. Use the target rate as the number to aim for, and our box truck rate per mile calculator to check what a specific load pays.
Q-02What should a 26 ft box truck rate per mile cover?
Everything on this page: the truck payment, insurance, permits and other fixed costs spread over your miles, plus fuel, maintenance and tires for every mile, empty miles included. Then the margin that pays you and builds a repair fund.
Q-03What are 24 foot box truck operating costs in 2026?
There is no reliable published average for a specific box length, and costs swing with the truck's age, financing, insurance, mileage and region. Put your own numbers in this calculator. We dispatch box trucks 26 ft and larger, but the cost math works the same for any size.
Q-04How do I lower my box truck cost per mile?
Spread fixed costs over more paid miles by running fuller weeks, cut empty miles, keep the truck maintained so repairs do not pile up, and shop insurance at renewal. Fixed costs per mile fall fastest when the truck runs more, which is why loaded miles a week matter.
Ryan, TruckSwing dispatch desk
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026 · EDITORIAL POLICY
Never book below your floor
We dispatch 26 ft and larger box trucks and check every load against your cost per mile. You approve every one.