Rate Per Mile Calculator

Brokers quote rate per loaded mile. But your truck doesn't run on loaded miles alone — you burn fuel, time, and tire tread on every deadhead mile to the pickup. The rate on your confirmation says $2.90/mi. After 150 miles of deadhead, your actual rate is $2.56/mi. After 6% dispatch, it drops to $2.40/mi. This calculator shows you the real number.

Enter your load pay, loaded miles, empty miles, and any percentage-based fees. You'll see your gross rate per total mile, your net rate after fees, and a deadhead comparison showing how different empty-mile scenarios change your effective rate. The earnings projection extends your per-load numbers to weekly and monthly revenue based on how many loads you typically run.

Use this alongside our Cost Per Mile Calculator to see if your effective rate exceeds your operating cost — that gap is your profit per mile. For a per-load breakdown including fuel and tolls, try the Profit Per Load Calculator. Professional dispatchers target loads with minimal deadhead specifically to keep your effective rate high — see how in our dispatch vs self-dispatch comparison.

Rate per mile is the fundamental metric every owner-operator needs to track. It tells you how much revenue you earn for each mile your truck moves. But there are several ways to calculate it, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes carriers make.

Gross rate per loaded mile is the headline number — load pay divided by loaded miles only. This is what brokers advertise and what shows up on load boards. A $3,500 load over 1,200 loaded miles gives you $2.92/loaded mile. It sounds good, but it ignores the 180 miles you drove empty to reach the pickup.

Effective rate per total mile divides the same $3,500 by all miles driven (1,200 loaded + 180 deadhead = 1,380 total), giving you $2.54/total mile. This is a more honest picture of what your truck earns per mile of road covered. It accounts for the fuel, wear, and time spent on unpaid empty miles.

Net rate per mile goes one step further: it subtracts dispatch fees, factoring fees, and any other percentage-based costs from the load pay before dividing. On that same $3,500 load with 6% dispatch ($210) and 3% factoring ($105), you net $3,185. Divided by 1,380 total miles, your net effective rate is $2.31/mile. That's the number that actually matters for profitability — and it's a full $0.61 below the broker's advertised rate.

This is exactly why tracking rate per mile properly is non-negotiable. Owner-operators who only look at the gross loaded-mile rate often accept loads that barely cover their operating costs. Use this calculator on every load to see all three numbers before you commit. Then compare your net effective rate against your cost per mile — if the net rate doesn't exceed your CPM by at least 20-30%, the load may not be worth running.