Rate per mile calculator
Enter a load's rate, loaded miles, deadhead, and diesel to see the real all-in rate per mile, your net profit, and a straight book / negotiate / skip verdict. Nothing is saved; the math runs in your browser.
Line-haul RPM
$8.52
rate ÷ loaded miles
All-in RPM
$7.86
rate ÷ (loaded + deadhead)
- Line-haul rate
- $3,850
- Fuel490 mi @ 3.95
- -$307
- Tolls452 mi
- -$41
- Driver pay28%
- -$1,078
- Truck costmaint + ins
- -$167
Net profit
$2,257
$4.99 / loaded mile
Read the rate con’s real rate per mile
Every broker quotes a lump-sum rate, but a truck earns dollars per mile. To compare two loads fairly — or to know whether one is worth leaving the yard for — you have to convert that rate into a per-mile number. And not just any per-mile number: the all-in rate per mile, which spreads the rate across the loaded miles and the deadhead you’ll run to reach the pickup.
Rate per mile is only half the answer
A high RPM still loses money if fuel is expensive, the driver pay is steep, or the deadhead is long. That’s why this tool goes past the ratio and nets the actual costs out of the rate: fuel from your diesel price and MPG, tolls, driver pay, and a truck cost per mile. The leftover is your profit, and the verdict tells you whether to book it, push the broker for more, or pass.
Negotiate with the number, not a feeling
When you know a load nets $1,900 at $7.86 all-in, you can hold your price or counter with confidence. When it comes back thin or negative, you have the exact figure to ask the broker to close. Small carriers who price every load this way stop hauling cheap freight by accident.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good rate per mile for freight?
- It depends entirely on your costs, the equipment, and the lane — but the honest number to judge is the all-in rate per mile: the total rate divided by every mile the truck turns, loaded plus deadhead. A $3,850 load over 452 loaded miles looks like $8.52/mile, but add 38 deadhead miles and it is really $7.86/mile before a single cost comes out. Compare the all-in RPM to your own cost per mile to know whether a load actually pays.
- What is the difference between line-haul RPM and all-in RPM?
- Line-haul RPM is the rate divided by the loaded (paid) miles — the number the rate con implies. All-in RPM divides the same rate by loaded miles plus your deadhead to the pickup, because that empty distance still burns fuel and puts wear on the truck. All-in RPM is always the lower, more honest figure, and it is the one you should negotiate against.
- How do I know if a load is worth booking?
- Subtract your real costs — fuel (diesel ÷ MPG × total miles), tolls, driver pay, and truck cost — from the rate to get net profit. This calculator does that and returns a book / negotiate / skip verdict: it books when the load clears every cost comfortably, flags it as thin when the margin is marginal, and tells you to skip or renegotiate when it loses money.
- Does deadhead really matter that much?
- Yes. Deadhead is unpaid distance, so it lowers your all-in rate per mile and adds fuel and truck cost with no revenue against it. A load that pays well on paper can turn thin once you factor in a long empty run to the shipper — which is exactly why you should price against the all-in RPM, not the line-haul RPM.