Trip fuel cost calculator for semi trucks

Fuel is the cost that moves with every mile

Of all the costs that come with a load, fuel is the one that grows with each mile you drive, loaded or empty. It's also the one most likely to change week to week with the price at the pump. Knowing the fuel cost of a trip before you accept the load tells you how much of the rate is already spent before anything else is paid.

This trip fuel cost calculator works for any truck. Put in the miles for the whole trip, including the empty miles to the pickup, your real average miles per gallon and the price you expect to pay. If you pull a reefer, add the hours the unit will run and its burn rate, because reefer fuel comes out of the same pocket.

How trip fuel cost is calculated

Gallons for the truck are trip miles divided by miles per gallon. The reefer's gallons are the hours it runs times its gallons per hour. Multiply the total gallons by the price for the trip's fuel cost. Fuel cost per mile for the truck is simply the price divided by your mpg, and it's worth knowing by heart, because it's the biggest piece of your cost per mile.

• EXAMPLE

  EXAMPLE TRIP

  650 miles with a reefer running 10 hours

  At 6.5 mpg, the truck burns 100 gallons. At an EXAMPLE $4.00 a gallon, that's $400. The reefer runs 10 hours at an EXAMPLE 0.8 gallons an hour, another 8 gallons and $32. Trip fuel is $432. Truck fuel alone is about 62 cents for every mile.

Fuel cost per mile for a semi truck

Fuel cost per mile changes with two things: the price and your mpg. A truck that averages 6 mpg spends a sixth of the diesel price on every mile. Lift that to 7 mpg and the share drops to a seventh. At a $4.00 EXAMPLE price, that's the difference between about 67 cents and 57 cents a mile, around 10 cents on every mile you drive for the year.

That's why mpg is worth tracking from real fuel receipts, not the dash display. Speed, idling, tire pressure, weight and route all move it. The speed vs fuel savings calculator shows what a few miles an hour is worth over a trip.

How much does it cost to fill up a semi truck?

People often ask what it costs to fill a semi truck, and the honest answer depends on the tanks and how empty they are. A trip's fuel cost and a fill-up's cost are different questions. A fill-up covers whatever the tanks can hold, while a trip uses whatever the miles need. For the fill-up question, the semi truck fill-up cost calculator works from tank size and the gauge.

For pricing a load, the trip number is the one that matters. A load uses the fuel its miles need, whatever was already in the tanks when you started, so judge each load on its own trip fuel.

Reading your result

• +Fuel is a big share of the rate. If trip fuel is more than about a third of what the load pays, look hard at the empty miles and the rest of your costs before you say yes.
• +Reefer fuel adds up. Long waits at docks and hot weather raise the unit's burn. Detention terms matter more on reefer loads for that reason.
• +The price on your route differs. Diesel prices vary by state and by stop. Plan fuel stops where it's cheaper when the route allows.

Fuel surcharges on some loads pay back part of the fuel cost when prices rise. The fuel surcharge calculator shows how much a schedule pays. Our guides to freight rates and rates per mile explain how fuel feeds into posted rates.

Fuel and the loads we book

Our dispatchers count fuel on every mile of a load, the empty ones included, before they counter. A load that looks good per loaded mile but needs a long deadhead gets countered or passed. Loads wait for your yes, and the rate confirmation goes from the broker straight to you. See how we work with owner-operators.