That Load Pays $2,000. What Does It Actually Pay You?
Fuel, wear, deadhead, dispatch and factoring fees, your overhead — every deduction between the rate con and your pocket, computed live from your numbers.
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/ This Load — Live /
Net profit on this load
-$157
This load loses money
Cash margin
-7.9%
Net / all-in mile
-$0.17
- All-in miles (100 empty)
- 950
- Gross / loaded mile
- $2.35
- Gross / all-in mile
- $2.11
- Total costs this load
- $2,157
Compare net / all-in mile against your weekly breakeven from the cost-per-mile calculator — one load can look fine while the week doesn't.
How the per-load math works
The same eight steps the calculator runs, worked through on its default load, so every line can be checked against the panel above. Change an input and it repeats them on yours.
- All-in miles850 loaded + 100 deadhead to the pickup950 mi
- Fuel950 mi ÷ 6.5 mpg × $6.285/gal (EIA U.S. average, week of Sep 14, 2026)$918.58
- Wear and driver pay950 mi × ($0.23 + $0.60)/mi$788.50
- Fees on the rate$2,000 × (5% dispatch + 3% factoring)$160
- Tolls, lumper, overhead$40 tolls + $0 lumper + $250 overhead share$290
- Total cost$918.58 + $788.50 + $160 + $290$2,157.08
- What it pays you$2,000 rate − $2,157.08 total costloses $157.08
- Cash margina $157.08 loss ÷ $2,000 rate7.9% loss
What the number cannot tell you
- It prices one load on its own. The empty miles after delivery belong to whatever you haul next, so a cheap load into a strong market can still be the right call — that is a decision about the next load, not a number for this one.
- Overhead share is a slice of the week's fixed costs, not a cost this load creates. Run fewer loads in a week and each one has to carry more of it.
- The diesel default is the EIA U.S. average for the week of Sep 14, 2026, not your pump price. Regional prices differ, so put in what you actually paid.
- The rate is taken as one all-in figure. If the rate con pays fuel surcharge or accessorials as separate lines, add them in, or the load will look worse than it is.
What to do with it
- Get your own overhead share from the cost per mile calculator: its weekly fixed cost divided by the loads you run in a week.
- Compare the net per all-in mile against your break-even rate before you accept, not after the settlement.
- If the margin is thin, read the rate con's detention and TONU terms before booking — a slow dock turns a thin load into a losing one.
- Keep the settlement. The real fuel, tolls and fees afterwards are the numbers to run the next load like it with.
Per-load math,answered straight
Because this load is why you're running them. If you deadhead 100 miles to a pickup, that fuel and wear exist only because you took this load — so they belong in this load's math. Rate per loaded mile flatters a load; rate per ALL miles tells you what it actually pays.
Your weekly fixed costs divided by the loads you run in a week. If your truck payment, insurance, and permits come to $1,100/week and you run four loads, each load carries about $275 whether you like it or not. The cost-per-mile calculator computes your weekly fixed figure — bring it here.
Usually, yes — and that's the point of running the numbers before you book. A load that grosses $2.35/mi can net under $0.80/mi after everything real is counted. Thin isn't automatically bad (repositioning to a hot market can be worth it), but it should be a decision you make, not a surprise you find at the bank.
In this calculator they apply to the linehaul rate. If your factoring company charges on gross including accessorials, fold that into the percentage you enter. And if you're paying a dispatch fee, the ROI calculator will tell you what rate lift makes it worth it.
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