Break-even rate calculator
Enter your fixed costs, cost per mile and miles. See the lowest rate per mile, per loaded mile and per load that covers your costs.
Truck, insurance, permits, phone, ELD, your own pay if you want it covered.
Fuel, maintenance, tires.
BREAK-EVEN RATE
BREAK-EVEN PER LOADED MILE
$1.53
- Break-even per mile driven (all miles)
- $1.30/mi
- Break-even per loaded mile (what brokers quote)
- $1.53/mi
- Break-even for a typical load
- $612
- Revenue needed per month
- $7,800
At break-even you cover every cost and earn nothing more. Any profit, and your pay unless you added it, has to come from rates above these lines.
Any load under $1.53 a loaded mile loses money for you. We counter those or pass on them.
Have us negotiate above my break-evenHow the break-even rate is calculated
- Break-even per mile = fixed monthly costs / miles a month + variable cost per mile.
- Break-even per loaded mile = break-even per mile / (1 - empty share).
- Break-even per load = break-even per loaded mile x loaded miles on a typical load.
EXAMPLE OWNER OPERATOR
SOURCE:ATRI, Operational Costs of Trucking (2026 edition, 2025 data), via FreightWaves Jul 15, 2026, OCT 2026
Owner operator break even cost per mile: using the number
Break-even is the line under which a load loses money. It is not a target; a business at break-even pays its bills and nothing more. Set a target above it with the counter-offer calculator, and check offers with the rate per mile calculator.
Break-even moves when your miles move. A slow month spreads the same fixed costs over fewer miles and raises the rate you need. A repair you did not plan for does the same; see our guides on collision repair and the depreciation chart for the costs that arrive in lumps.
Our dispatchers keep your break-even in hand on every call. See what our dispatch fee covers.
Questions about this calculator
Q-01What is the owner operator break-even cost per mile in 2026?
It is different for every truck, which is why this calculator uses yours. For reference, ATRI's survey of mostly larger fleets put the average total operating cost at $2.336 per mile in 2025, driver wages included. An owner operator with a paid-off truck and no employees can be far below that; one with a new truck note can be above it.
Q-02How do I calculate my break-even rate?
Divide your fixed monthly costs by the miles you drive a month, then add your variable costs per mile. That is your break-even per mile driven. Divide it by the share of your miles that are loaded to get the break-even per loaded mile, the way brokers quote.
Q-03Should my own pay be in the break-even?
If you want the rate to pay you, yes. Add the monthly pay you need to the fixed costs, and the break-even becomes the rate at which the business pays its bills and you. Leave it out, and break-even means the truck pays for itself while you work for free.
Q-04Why does empty mileage raise my break-even?
Because brokers pay per loaded mile but you pay for every mile. If 20% of your miles are empty, every loaded mile has to cover the cost of a quarter of an empty mile too. Cutting empty miles lowers the rate you need without changing any cost.
Ryan, TruckSwing dispatch desk
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026 · EDITORIAL POLICY
Every rate above your break-even
We counter loads that fall short of your numbers before they reach you. You approve every one.