CALCULATOR / FREE
Break-even rate calculator
Enter your monthly fixed costs, fuel, maintenance and weekly miles to get the rate per mile, and per load, that covers every cost after the dispatch fee, plus the floor rate that also pays you what you need each week.
How it is calculated
All costs are turned into a week first, using 52 weeks ÷ 12 months.
- Fixed costs a week = (truck payment + insurance + other fixed costs) ÷ (52 ÷ 12)
- Variable cost per mile = diesel price ÷ miles per gallon + maintenance and tires per mile
- Weekly cost = fixed costs a week + variable cost per mile × miles a week
- Break-even rate = weekly cost ÷ (1 − dispatch fee %) ÷ miles a week
- Floor rate = (weekly cost + take-home goal) ÷ (1 − dispatch fee %) ÷ miles a week
- Per load = the rate × the miles on a typical load, empty miles included
The dispatch fee is divided out because it is charged on gross: to keep a dollar, you have to gross a little more than a dollar. Set it to 0 if you book your own loads.
A worked example
An EXAMPLE one-truck owner pays $2,400 a month for the truck, $1,300 for insurance and $600 for everything else fixed. Diesel is $6.38, the EIA U.S. average for the week of Sep 28, 2026, at 6.8 mpg, with 17 cents a mile for maintenance and tires. The truck runs 2,500 miles a week, the owner wants to take home $1,600, and the dispatch fee is 5%.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fixed costs, weekly share | ($992.00) |
| Fuel at $0.94/mi | ($2,346.00) |
| Maintenance and tires at $0.17/mi | ($425.00) |
| NET | ($3,763.00) |
SOURCE: U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, WEEKLY RETAIL DIESEL PRICE, WEEK OF SEP 28, 2026
The truck costs about $3,764 a week. Break-even is $1.58 a mile, or $948 on a 600-mile load. The floor, with the owner's $1,600, is $2.26 a mile, or $1,356 on the same load. If the truck is earning $2.10 a mile all-in today, it clears break-even by 52 cents a mile but pays the owner about $1,224 a week, not $1,600.
What a good or bad result means
If what you earn today sits between break-even and your floor, the truck is paying its bills but not you: the fix is better rates, fewer empty miles or more miles, usually in that order. If you are below break-even, every week digs a hole, and borrowing or factoring only moves it. Well above the floor, you have room to turn down bad loads and to build a maintenance reserve.
Fuel is now the biggest single line for most trucks. At the EIA's $3.75 a year earlier, the same truck's fuel cost about 55 cents a mile instead of 94, so a break-even worked out last year is likely too low today. Re-run it whenever diesel moves.
Once you know your floor, judge offers against it with the rate per mile calculator, and decide what to ask for with the counter-offer calculator. For context on what loads pay, see owner-operator rates per mile. A dispatcher who knows your floor is the point of dispatch for owner-operators; apply when you are ready.
Calculator questions
Q01What is a break-even rate in trucking?
It is the lowest rate per mile at which your truck covers all of its costs: fixed costs like the truck payment and insurance spread over your miles, plus fuel, maintenance and any dispatch fee. Below it, every mile loses money. At it, the truck pays for itself but pays you nothing.
Q02What is the owner-operator break-even cost per mile in 2026?
It depends on your truck, but fuel moved it a lot this year. With diesel at the EIA's U.S. average of $6.38 for the week of Sep 28, 2026, fuel alone costs about 94 cents a mile at 6.8 mpg. Our EXAMPLE truck breaks even at $1.58 a mile; put in your own numbers for yours.
Q03What is the difference between break-even and a floor rate?
Break-even covers the truck's costs. A floor rate also covers your take-home pay. The floor is the lowest rate you should accept on a normal week; break-even is the line you only go near to reposition the truck or get home.
Q04Should empty miles count in my break-even rate?
Yes. Count every mile the truck moves, loaded and empty, because both burn fuel and wear the truck. Then compare offers on an all-in basis: the load's pay divided by loaded plus empty miles.
By Daniel
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Never haul below your floor by accident
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