Trip Cost Estimator

Estimate all-in trucking cost between two US ZIP codes. Truck-aware routing, live diesel pricing, industry-standard operating costs.

Load details

Plug in a route and equipment type. Defaults are ATRI industry averages — tune the advanced fields if you know your actual numbers.

5-digit US ZIP (Dallas example)
5-digit US ZIP (LA example)
Sets a default MPG. Dry van = 6.5 MPG, reefer = 5.5, sprinter = 16. Full table in the methodology below.
Advanced — tune MPG & margin
Override if your truck is newer (better MPG) or heavily loaded (worse). A typical new Class 8 runs 7–8 MPG; an older rig running grossed out can drop to 5.
Profit over total cost. Industry benchmark is 15–20%. Broker-direct loads trend lower; contract freight with repeat shippers trends higher.
Ready to estimate
Enter an origin and destination ZIP, pick your equipment. Truck-aware routing + live fuel pricing. Takes about 2 seconds.

How we calculate this

Everything this tool outputs is cost-based: what it actually costs to move the load, not what brokers are paying this week. We combine truck-aware routing with weekly-updated fuel pricing and industry-standard operational cost per mile. Sources listed per component.

Distance & drive time

Truck-specific routing via HERE Maps — respects weight limits, low-clearance bridges, HAZMAT restrictions. Not a car route.

Source: HERE Routing API v8

Diesel price

National retail diesel average, updated weekly. When unavailable, a rolling national estimate is used.

Source: U.S. EIA Weekly Retail Diesel

Fuel economy defaults

MPG per equipment type reflects Class 8 sleeper averages from the ATRI operational cost surveys. Override the MPG field if your truck runs better or worse.

Source: ATRI — Operational Costs of Trucking

Driver pay — $0.60/mi

Combined driver wage + benefits per mile, drawn from ATRI 2024 marginal cost data. This is the blended OTR rate — dedicated contracts and owner-operators trend higher.

Source: ATRI Operational Costs 2024

Operating overhead — $0.45/mi

Truck and trailer lease, physical damage + liability insurance, repair & maintenance, tires, permits/licenses. The full non-fuel, non-driver per-mile figure from ATRI.

Source: ATRI Operational Costs 2024

Target margin

Percentage applied on top of total cost to arrive at a rate. Default 18% reflects the midpoint of typical broker-direct engagements; contract freight often sits higher.

Industry benchmark — 15–20%
# simplified formula
fuel_cost = distance ÷ mpg × diesel_price
driver_pay = distance × $0.60/mi
overhead = distance × $0.45/mi
total_cost = fuel_cost + driver_pay + overhead
recommended = total_cost × (1 + margin_pct)

What's not included: tolls, lumper fees, detention, accessorials, fuel surcharges negotiated with a specific broker, or market-demand pricing. If you need live market rates for a lane, check your load board — we don't pull that.

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