How this trucking rates calculator works
Every load has two rates per mile, and mixing them up is one of the most common ways carriers take loads that lose money.
- Total pay = linehaul + fuel surcharge + accessorials
- Loaded rate per mile = total pay ÷ loaded miles
- All-in rate per mile = total pay ÷ (loaded miles + empty miles)
- Empty miles share = empty miles ÷ total miles
Brokers quote the loaded number because it's higher and it's the same for every truck. The all-in number is yours alone: it depends on where your truck is when the load is offered. That's the one to judge a load by. Two trucks offered the same load at the same rate can earn very different all-in numbers, simply because one is parked next door and the other is two hours away.
A worked example
A dry van is offered a load paying $1,500 linehaul, $300 fuel surcharge and $100 for an extra stop. It's 700 loaded miles, and the pickup is 100 miles away.
- Total pay
- $1,900
- Loaded RPM
- $2.71
- All-in RPM
- $2.38
- Empty miles
- 12.5%
The broker's number, $2.71, looks strong. The trip's real number, $2.38, is 33 cents a mile lower because of the empty run. If this carrier's floor is $2.40, the load is just under it, and a counter-offer of about $20 more, or a closer truck, fixes it.
Average rates as a reference
National averages give you a sense of the market, not a target. As one snapshot, DAT's national average spot linehaul for the week ending September 25, 2026 was $2.17 per mile for dry vans and $2.71 per mile for reefers, both before fuel.
Source: DAT Dry Van Report, national average spot linehaul (excludes fuel), week ending September 25, 2026, October 2026
Source: DAT Reefer Report, national average spot linehaul (excludes fuel), week ending September 25, 2026, October 2026
Those numbers move every week and swing with seasons and lanes. A load out of a busy produce region can pay far above the average; a load into a market with little outbound freight can pay below it. For reefer freight, see our reefer rates guide.
Rate per mile by equipment
The same math works for every truck, but what counts as a good number doesn't. Reefers carry the cost of the unit and its fuel, so their floor sits higher than a dry van's. Flatbeds and step decks earn tarp pay and securement time that belong in the accessorials box. Hotshots and 26 ft box trucks often run shorter loads where a long empty run hurts the all-in number far more, and multi-stop box truck routes are often better judged per load or per hour than per mile. Pick your equipment in the calculator and use a floor that fits that truck, not a general rule of thumb.
Common rate per mile mistakes
- Judging a load on the loaded rate and forgetting a 150-mile deadhead.
- Counting a lumper reimbursement as income. It pays you back for money you spent; leave it out of accessorials unless it's pay for your time.
- Comparing an all-in spot rate with a contract rate that pays fuel separately.
- Using the miles on the rate con when your real route is longer.
A note for shippers
This is a carrier's tool: it shows what a truck earns per mile on a load. If you're a shipper looking for a freight shipping rates calculator or a quote to move your freight, we can't help with that. We dispatch carriers and don't sell shipping or quotes to shippers.
Reading your result
Compare the all-in rate per mile with your floor, the lowest rate you can run for after all costs. If it's above, the load pays. If it's below, you can counter, look for a reload that makes up for it, or pass. The result line shows exactly how much more the load would need to pay to reach your floor, which is a useful number to have in hand when you call the broker.
Don't have a floor yet? Work it out with the trucking cost per mile calculator, then come back. And if you'd rather have someone else run these numbers on every offer, our dispatch desk checks each load against your floor before it reaches you. You still say yes or no to every one. See pricing.