Hotshot cost per mile: how to calculate your real number

Updated: November 14, 2026

Average rates you see online do not tell you whether a load pays for your truck. Your cost per mile does. Here is how to work it out in ten minutes.

Step 1: Fixed costs per month

These you pay whether you drive or not: truck payment, gooseneck or flatbed trailer payment, insurance, ELD and phone, permits and registration, parking, accounting. Add them up for one month.

Step 2: Miles per month

Use your real average, loaded and empty together. Fixed cost per mile = fixed costs per month / miles per month

Step 3: Fuel per mile, loaded and empty

A pickup pulling a loaded gooseneck burns a lot more than the same rig running empty, so use two numbers. Fuel per mile = diesel price / MPG

Step 4: Maintenance and tires per mile

Take what you spent on repairs, oil, brakes and tires over the last year and divide by the miles. If you are new, set aside a fixed amount per mile and adjust later.

Example (made-up numbers, use your own)

This is before paying yourself. Add the money you need to take home per mile, and you have the lowest rate per mile that makes sense for you.

Why per-day matters too

Fixed costs run every day, even when you wait at a shipper. That is why our calculator charges fixed costs per day a load ties you up, and compares loads by profit per day. See is this load worth it.

Estimates for planning only, not tax or legal advice.