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Freigt Calculator

Get instant, accurate freight rate estimates for any haul.

Trip Details

Gross Load Pay

Total amount the broker is offering for this load.

Total Loaded Miles

Miles driven with freight on board.

Total Deadhead Miles

Empty miles to reach the pickup location.

Operating Expenses

Fuel Price Per Gallon

Truck Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

Average miles per gallon for your truck.

Non-Fuel Cost Per Mile ($)

Maintenance, tires, insurance, etc. (default $0.45/mi)

Broker / Factoring Fee

Dispatch or factoring company percentage cut.

● Awaiting Input

Live Calculation

Net Profit

—

Total Miles

—

True CPM

—

Gross RPM

—

Total Fuel Cost

—

Net Profit Per Mile —

Cost Breakdown

Gross Load Pay —

Fuel Expense —

Non-Fuel Operating Cost —

Broker / Factoring Fee —

Total Operating Cost —

General Profit Guidelines

> $0.70/mi net — Highly Profitable. Take the load.

$0.10–$0.70/mi net — Tight margins. Negotiate or review.

< $0.10/mi net — Losing money. Do not take this load.

This calculator provides estimates based on the inputs you provide and is intended for general guidance only. Actual results may vary, so please double-check all figures before making any financial or business decisions. .

Freight Calculator: Calculate Net Profit on Any Load

What Is a Freight Calculator?

A freight calculator takes the gross pay offered on a load and subtracts every real cost — fuel, non-fuel operating expenses, and any broker or factoring fee — to show the actual net profit and net profit per mile. Unlike a simple rate-per-mile check, it accounts for deadhead miles and fee percentages together, so dispatchers and ops teams can see whether a load is genuinely profitable before committing the truck, not just whether the headline rate looks decent.

How to Use the Freight Calculator

Enter the load details and operating costs once, and the calculator returns net profit, true cost per mile, and a full cost breakdown instantly.

Enter the gross load pay the broker is offering.
Enter total loaded miles and any deadhead miles to reach pickup.
Enter current fuel price per gallon and the truck's average MPG.
Enter non-fuel cost per mile covering maintenance, tires, and insurance.
Select the broker or factoring fee percentage that applies to this load.
Review net profit, net profit per mile, and the full cost breakdown to judge if the load is worth taking.

Who This Tool Is For

Built for dispatchers, fleet owners, and owner-operators evaluating load offers in real time. If you're fielding multiple broker calls a day and need to know within seconds whether a rate is genuinely profitable once deadhead, fuel, and fees are subtracted, this calculator gives a clear profit-per-mile number to base the decision on instead of a gut-check on the gross rate alone.

Key Terms Explained

Net Profit Per Mile: Net profit divided by total miles driven, including deadhead. This is the cleanest single number for comparing load offers, since it reflects actual earnings per mile after every cost is subtracted — not just the gross rate quoted by the broker.
True Cost Per Mile (CPM): The combined fuel and non-fuel operating cost spread across total miles driven. True CPM is the baseline figure that gross pay has to clear before any load can be called profitable.
Non-Fuel Operating Cost: Per-mile costs excluding fuel — typically driver pay, maintenance, tires, and insurance. Combined with fuel cost, this forms the full operating cost baseline for a load.
Broker / Factoring Fee: A percentage deducted from gross pay by a dispatch service, broker quick-pay program, or factoring company. Typical fees range from 1% to 10%, with 3% commonly cited as standard factoring and rates above 8% considered a high dispatch cut.
Gross RPM vs. Net RPM: Gross RPM is the quoted rate divided by loaded miles only. Net RPM (or net profit per mile) accounts for deadhead, all operating costs, and fees — making it the only number that reflects what the truck actually earned per mile driven.

Example: Evaluating an 800-Mile Load at $2,500

A broker offers $2,500 for an 800-mile load with 75 deadhead miles, for 875 total miles. Fuel runs $3.85/gallon at 6.5 MPG, non-fuel cost is $0.45/mile, and the dispatch fee is 3%. Fuel cost comes to roughly $518, non-fuel cost adds $393.75, and the 3% fee takes another $75 — for total costs near $986.75. Net profit lands around $1,513.25, or about $1.73 per mile across all 875 miles driven. By the calculator's own profit guideline, that clears the $0.70/mile "highly profitable" threshold comfortably, making this a strong load to accept.

Why Gross Rate Alone Doesn't Tell the Full Story

Two loads offering the same gross rate can have very different profit outcomes once deadhead, fuel burn, and fees are factored in. A load with long deadhead or a high dispatch cut can quietly underperform a lower-rate load with a shorter empty run and no fees attached. Checking net profit per mile — rather than reacting to the quoted gross number on a broker call — is what separates dispatchers consistently booking profitable freight from those filling the truck on rates that look fine until the fuel and maintenance bills come due.

Frequently Asked Questions

Above $0.70 per mile net is generally considered highly profitable, $0.10 to $0.70 is a tight-margin range worth negotiating, and below $0.10 per mile typically means the load is losing money once all costs are accounted for. These thresholds shift with fuel prices and operating costs, so they're a guideline rather than a fixed rule.

Gross load pay is the total amount the broker offers before any costs are subtracted. Net profit is what's left after fuel, non-fuel operating costs, and any broker or factoring fee are deducted — the number that actually reflects what the load adds to the business.

Yes. Deadhead miles still burn fuel and add wear even though they generate no revenue. Leaving them out of the calculation inflates the apparent profit per mile and can lead to accepting a load that's actually less profitable than it looks.

Factoring fees commonly run around 3%, while dispatch service fees can range up to 10% on the higher end. The exact percentage depends on the contract or service used, so it should always be confirmed before calculating expected profit on a load.

Rate per mile based on loaded miles alone ignores deadhead, fees, and cost differences between trips. Two loads can share the same headline rate but produce very different net profit once one load's longer deadhead run or higher fee percentage is factored in.