Trip fuel cost calculator

How the calculator works

A trip burns fuel three ways, and the calculator adds all of them.

1. Driving. (Loaded miles + empty miles) / mpg. This is most of the fuel on most trips.
2. Idling. Idle hours x idle burn per hour. Waiting at docks, sleeping with the engine running in heat or cold, and traffic all count.
3. Reefer. On refrigerated loads, reefer run hours x the unit's burn per hour. A reefer burns fuel by time, not distance, so a slow trip with long waits costs more.

Total gallons x the diesel price gives the trip cost. If you enter the load's rate, the card also shows what share of the rate goes to fuel, and fuel per mile driven.

A worked example

A reefer load runs 1,150 loaded miles with 120 empty miles to the pickup. The truck averages 6.5 mpg, diesel is $3.90, the reefer runs 22 hours at 0.8 gallons an hour, and the driver idles 4 hours at 0.8 gallons an hour. The load pays $3,200.

Without the reefer, the same run would cost about $774 in fuel. The reefer adds about $69, and more in summer heat or with a frozen setpoint.

What the result means

Trip fuel cost is the biggest single number to check before you take a load. Compare it with the rate, then take the full picture to the load profitability calculator, which adds your other costs and shows profit per mile and per hour.

If the fuel share looks high, look at the empty miles first. A long deadhead to the pickup is fuel you pay for and nobody pays you back. If fuel is high on every load, check your fuel economy over several fill-ups with the semi truck MPG calculator, and plan your stops with the semi truck fill-up cost calculator.

Getting good inputs

• MPG from your own receipts. Use your real average, not the dashboard or a brochure. Heavy loads and hilly lanes lower it.
• Price where you'll buy. If you'll fuel in a cheaper state on the way, use that price.
• Realistic idle hours. Long dock waits, hot nights and cold mornings add up.
• Reefer hours for the whole trip. Include pre-cooling, loading time and waits at the receiver, not just driving time.

Fuel surcharge and trip fuel

Some loads pay a fuel surcharge on top of the linehaul, usually tied to the national average diesel price and the loaded miles. It helps when prices rise, but it rarely covers empty miles, idling or reefer fuel, because it's figured on loaded miles only. Compare the surcharge on the rate con with the trip fuel cost here. If the surcharge covers less than half the fuel, the linehaul has to carry the rest. When a broker quotes an all-in rate with no separate surcharge, treat the whole trip fuel cost as coming out of that one number.

Fuel on long runs

On long-haul trips, fuel is a big cost and so is time. A cross-country run can burn hundreds of gallons, and a few miles per hour of speed or a few hours of idling change the bill. Our guide to average miles driven by a truck driver per day explains how many miles a day really covers, which helps you estimate idle and reefer hours. The OTR truck driver guide covers what life on long runs is like.

Loads priced with fuel counted

Offers from our desk list the deadhead, the stops and the all-in rate per mile up front, which makes this fuel number easy to weigh before you commit. Long runs are planned the way our OTR dispatch page describes.