Cost per mile rolls every expense — fuel, maintenance, insurance, driver pay, truck payment — over the miles run. It’s the break-even floor: any rate below CPM loses money.
The example
$5,400 costs, 3,600 miles.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Value |
| 2 | 5400 / 3600 | — |
| 3 | CPM | → $1.50/mi |
The formula
The formula:
How it works
How it works:
- Split costs into fixed (truck payment, insurance, permits) and variable (fuel, tires, maintenance).
- Sum both and divide by total miles for the all-in CPM.
- Fixed cost per mile rises when miles fall — idle weeks hurt the rate.
- Add driver pay if you want fully-loaded CPM including labor.
Fixed cost per mile is a moving target. A $2,000/month truck payment is $0.50/mile at 4,000 miles but $1.00/mile at 2,000 — so a slow month doubles that portion of CPM and quietly erodes margin. Track fixed and variable separately: variable CPM is roughly stable, but fixed CPM is entirely about keeping the truck moving. The whole game is miles.
Try it: interactive demo
Total costs and miles.
Variations
Variable CPM
Fuel, tires, maint:
Fixed CPM
Spread fixed cost:
Profit per mile
Rate − CPM:
Pitfalls & errors
Fixed and variable. Include both for the true break-even CPM.
Total miles. Use all miles run, including deadhead.
Zero miles. No miles gives #DIV/0! and an infinite CPM.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate cost per mile in Excel?
Why split fixed and variable costs?
Is CPM my break-even rate?
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