Trip fuel cost calculator
Enter the loaded and empty miles, your mpg and the diesel price. See the gallons, the trip's fuel cost and your fuel cost per mile.
TRIP FUEL COST
FUEL FOR THIS TRIP
$400
- Total miles
- 650 mi
- Truck fuel
- 100.0 gal
- Fuel cost per mile
- $0.62/mi
Real mpg changes with weight, terrain, wind, speed and idling. Use your own average from fuel receipts and odometer readings.
This trip burns $400 in fuel. We check every load's rate against fuel and your other costs.
Get loads that cover fuelHow this semi truck fuel cost calculator works
- Truck fuel = (loaded miles + empty miles) / miles per gallon.
- Reefer fuel = gallons per hour x hours the unit runs (optional).
- Trip fuel cost = (truck fuel + reefer fuel) x diesel price.
- Fuel cost per mile = trip fuel cost / total miles.
EXAMPLE TRIP
Semi truck fuel calculator inputs that matter most
Miles per gallon moves the answer more than anything. One mile per gallon on a 650-mile trip is the difference between 100 and about 118 gallons at 5.5 mpg. Use your real average, not the brochure.
Empty miles are easy to forget and cost the same per mile as loaded ones. Price them with the deadhead miles cost calculator.
Reefer hours include the waiting. A unit running through a long detention burns fuel the rate may not cover unless detention pay is on the rate con.
Box trucks get better mileage than semis but run more short, stop-and-go trips; see our guide to box truck mpg. Fuel is one running cost among several; our depreciation chart covers another big one, and the fill-up cost calculator handles a single stop.
What to do with the number
Compare the trip's fuel with what the load pays. If fuel takes a large share of the rate, the load has to be very short on other costs to make money. Our dispatchers run this check on every load before it reaches you.
Questions about this calculator
Q-01How do I calculate fuel cost per mile for a semi truck?
Divide the diesel price by your miles per gallon. At $4.00 a gallon and 6.5 mpg, fuel costs about 62 cents a mile. Use your own average mpg from fuel receipts and odometer readings, because it changes with weight, terrain, speed and idling.
Q-02How much does it cost to fill a semi truck?
Gallons needed to fill the tanks times the diesel price. That depends on your tank sizes and how much is left. Our semi truck fill-up cost calculator works it out from your tanks and current level; this calculator works out what a whole trip burns.
Q-03How do I include reefer fuel?
A reefer unit burns fuel by the hour, not by the mile. Multiply its gallons per hour by the hours it runs on the trip, including waiting at the shipper and receiver, and add that to the truck's fuel. Your unit's hour meter and fuel log give the best gallons-per-hour figure.
Q-04Should empty miles count in trip fuel?
Yes. The truck burns fuel getting to the pickup and back from the delivery, whether the load pays for those miles or not. Leaving them out makes a load look cheaper to run than it is.
Ryan, TruckSwing dispatch desk
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026 · EDITORIAL POLICY
Fuel is your biggest daily bill
We count it into every load, empty miles included, before the load reaches you. You approve every one.