Box truck load profit calculator

A load board shows you a rate and a mileage. It doesn't show you the 35 miles to get there, the fuel at today's price, the toll road, or the three hours at the dock. This box truck load profit calculator puts those back in so you can decide on one specific load in about a minute, before the broker gives it to someone else.

How to read the result

• Gross pay is the linehaul plus any extra-stop pay.
• Fuel covers loaded and deadhead miles at your mpg and fuel price.
• Other costs is your non-fuel cost per mile (truck, insurance, maintenance share) times total miles, plus tolls.
• Dispatch fee is the fee percentage of the gross.
• Net profit is what this load leaves after all of that.
• True rate is gross divided by total miles, deadhead included. Loaded rate ignores deadhead; it's shown so you can see the gap.
• Profit per hour divides net profit by the hours you enter for driving, loading and waiting.
• The stamp says Accept when the true rate meets your minimum, Negotiate when the load makes money but falls short of your minimum, and Pass when it loses money.

How it's calculated

Total miles   = loaded miles + deadhead miles
Gross         = load pay + extra stops × pay per stop
Fuel          = total miles ÷ mpg × fuel price
Other         = total miles × other cost per mile
Dispatch fee  = gross × fee %
Net profit    = gross − fuel − tolls − other − dispatch fee
True rate     = gross ÷ total miles
Per hour      = net profit ÷ hours
Short by      = minimum rate × total miles − gross (when positive)

An EXAMPLE load

The defaults are one EXAMPLE 26 ft load: $780 for 230 loaded miles, 35 miles of deadhead, 9 mpg, diesel at $6.28 (EIA U.S. average was $6.276 the week of Oct 19, 2026), $0.64 a mile of other costs, a 7% dispatch fee, seven hours on the job and a $2.09 minimum.

Line	Amount
Gross	$780.00
Fuel, 265 mi	−$184.91
Other costs	−$169.60
Dispatch fee	−$NaN
Net profit	about $371
True rate	$2.94 per total mile
Profit per hour	about $53

It clears the $2.09 minimum, so the stamp says Accept. Now change the pay to $520. The load still makes about $129, but the true rate falls to $1.96 and you're about $34 short of your floor, so the stamp says Negotiate. That $34 is your counteroffer, and then some.

How to use it before you accept a load

1. Get your other cost per mile once from the box truck cost per mile calculator: cost per mile minus fuel per mile.
2. Enter real deadhead: from where the truck will be empty, not from home.
3. Be honest about hours. Shippers that load by appointment and receivers with a line out the door both eat your day.
4. Look at the reload. A load that pays slightly under your floor into a strong market can beat a better rate into a dead one. Our box truck load boards guide covers how to check what's posted out of the delivery area, and box truck contracts explains when steady route work beats chasing spot loads.

Where dispatch fits

Running this math on every posting while you drive is the part of the job most owners hate. It's the core of what our box truck dispatch desk does: we check the true rate, the hours and the reload on every load, counter the ones that are close, and send you only the ones worth approving.