Box truck route pay calculator for final mile routes

A route offer usually comes as a single number: so much per stop, or so much a day. This box truck route pay calculator turns that number into what is actually left after fuel, a helper and the truck's fixed costs, per day and per week. Use it before you sign a route contract, and again when a program changes its rates.

How to read the result

• Route pay is stops times pay per stop, or the flat route rate if you untick "paid per stop."
• Fuel is route miles divided by your mpg, times the fuel price.
• Daily net is route pay minus fuel, helper pay and other daily costs.
• Pay per stop and pay per mile let you compare routes of different shapes: a short dense route and a long rural one can pay the same per day and very differently per mile.
• Net per hour is daily net divided by the hours a route day really takes, including loading at the station and the drive back.
• Weekly net after fixed costs takes out your truck payment and insurance for the week. If it is negative, the route doesn't pay for the truck.

How it's calculated

Route pay       = stops × pay per stop   (or the flat route rate)
Fuel            = route miles ÷ mpg × fuel price
Daily net       = route pay − fuel − helper pay − other daily costs
Weekly net      = daily net × route days per week (max 7)
After fixed     = weekly net − fixed costs per week
Pay per stop    = route pay ÷ stops
Pay per mile    = route pay ÷ route miles
Net per hour    = daily net ÷ hours per route day

Negative inputs are treated as zero, and a zero for stops, miles, mpg or hours shows zero rather than dividing by zero.

Where the example defaults come from

Every default is an EXAMPLE, not a typical rate. No public source publishes average box truck route pay, and programs set their own.

Input	Default	Where it comes from
Stops and miles	14 stops, 160 miles a day	The EXAMPLE route in our box truck contracts guide
Pay	$38 per stop, or $520 a day flat	EXAMPLE; the flat rate matches the contracts guide example
Fuel	$6.28 a gallon at 9 mpg	EIA U.S. diesel average, week of Oct 19, 2026; mpg is an EXAMPLE for a 26 ft truck
Helper	$160 a day	EXAMPLE
Other daily costs	$25	EXAMPLE: tolls, scanner or app fees, phone
Days and hours	5 days, 10 hours	EXAMPLE
Fixed costs	$604 a week	The truck payment and insurance defaults in our business profit calculator, turned into a weekly figure

With these defaults the route pays $532 a day, fuel is about $112, and about $235 is left per day, or about $1,177 for a five-day week. After $604 of fixed costs, about $573 a week remains for maintenance, taxes and your own pay. That is about $23.50 an hour before those costs. Change one line and watch how fast it moves.

How to use it before you take a route

Routes or freight?

Routes give you a schedule and home every night. Freight gives you control over which loads you take and what you charge, but the week is less predictable. Many small fleets run both. We dispatch freight, not routes: if this calculator shows a route that barely covers the truck, a 26 ft box truck on broker freight may do better, and that is the work our box truck dispatch service does. The dispatch fee calculator shows what that would cost on your weekly gross.