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.

Meets minimum means the offer covers modeled expenses and the chosen earnings requirements on stated occupied days. Below minimum means a higher rate is needed; below expenses means the offer does not cover modeled truck costs. When the working-day commitment is unknown, remaining earnings are compared with the daily goal. Unexpected waiting can change daily earnings without automatically triggering a counter. A higher negotiating ask is separate and optional, and requires a saved goal or comparable lane evidence.

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 an illustrative 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, a 14-day solo trial starts with your first successful full check.

Lead with your minimum rate and the costs behind it, including deadhead, tolls, and occupied working days. Recheck any higher offer using the same cost and fee rules. A higher optional ask can come from your saved goal or comparable lane evidence; the fixed $2.57 illustrative reference on this page is not a current lane quote.

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.