Load profit calculator: is this load worth it?

A load is worth it when the rate clears your all-in cost for the whole run — loaded plus deadhead miles — with enough left for the margin you want. Revenue isn't profit: a $2,000 load that costs $1,600 to run keeps $400, while a $2,400 load with 200 deadhead miles and tolls can keep less. Price the run, not the rate. This calculator spreads the pay over total miles and shows what you'd keep before tax.

It quietly can. Brokers quote rate per loaded mile, but your truck burns fuel, tires, and hours on the empty miles to the pickup too. A $2.25 loaded-mile rate with 150 deadhead miles can pay worse than a $2.05 load with 10. Always fold deadhead into the miles before you judge the money — this calculator asks for it on purpose.

Take it means the rate clears your floor plus target margin and sits near what the lane pays — say yes fast. Counter means the load works at a better number, so you get the ask: floor plus margin, never opening below the lane anchor. Pass means even a realistic counter can't clear your floor — walking away is the profitable move, because the most expensive load is the one you haul at a loss.

There's no fixed dollar — it depends on the miles and your cost per mile — but the honest target is your cost floor plus a margin you set, commonly 15–25%. What matters is that the keep number is real: after fuel at this week's diesel, your fixed cost share, a maintenance reserve, tolls, and any factoring or dispatch fee. A load that looks profitable on rate per mile can keep very little once those come out.

It depends entirely on your cost per mile and the deadhead. If you run around $1.49 a mile all-in and the load has little empty distance, $2.00 a loaded mile leaves real margin. If your costs are higher or the pickup is 150 miles away, the same $2.00 can thin out fast. That's why a flat rate-per-mile number isn't an answer — you have to run it against your floor and the empty miles.

Yes — it runs on this page with no account, no email, and no card, using a typical owner-operator cost profile stated under the form. When you want it on your own truck, this week's diesel, the real route, and the broker's FMCSA record, the first 3 checks are free too.

Lead with a number and a reason, not a complaint. This check gives you both: the rate you need — floor plus your margin, anchored to what the lane pays — and why, whether that's deadhead miles, tolls, or a rate sitting under market. "I can do it for $2,050; that's 150 empty miles into the pickup and the lane's running $2.57" lands better than "that's too cheap." Knowing your keep number also fixes your walk-away point before the call starts, so you don't talk yourself into a loss.

Sometimes. A cheap load that covers its own cost and repositions you toward a better-paying lane can beat driving empty for free. Run both options through the math: a load that clears its cost floor even by a little usually beats deadhead miles you pay for and earn nothing on. But a load that pays below its cost floor loses money and still puts wear on the truck — so "anything beats empty" stops being true once the rate drops under what the run actually costs.