Cost per kilometre is one of the most useful numbers in a carrier’s daily work. If it is too low, a load can look profitable only because some expenses were left out. If it is too high, you may reject a good offer. The goal is not to find one universal “market number”, but to calculate the real cost of your own vehicle and business.
1. Separate fixed and variable costs
Fixed costs exist even when the truck is parked. Typical examples include lease or depreciation, insurance, administration, part of payroll, telematics, parking and other recurring expenses.
Variable costs increase with activity and kilometres:
- diesel and AdBlue;
- tyres, repairs and maintenance;
- road tolls;
- washes, parking and other trip expenses;
- driver costs when your model allocates them by work or trip.
2. Use realistic monthly or annual mileage
Fixed costs need to be spread across the kilometres the truck really travels. Overestimating mileage artificially lowers the cost per kilometre. Use your own history and monitor total, loaded and empty mileage separately.
3. Calculate fuel from your real consumption
Fuel price alone does not give you the fuel cost
4. Include empty kilometres and tolls
5. Cost is not the selling price
Simple workflow
Calculate your true truck cost per kilometer
truck cost per kilometer calculator
Updated: 2026-08-31