Truck Fuel Cost Calculator
Gallons, trip diesel cost, and fuel cost per paid mile — deadhead included.
Use left and right arrow keys to adjust by 10 mi. Page Up and Page Down for larger steps. Home for 10, End for 3000. Or type a value into the number field above.
Use left and right arrow keys to adjust by 5 mi. Page Up and Page Down for larger steps. Home for 0, End for 500. Or type a value into the number field above.
Use left and right arrow keys to adjust by 0.1 mpg. Page Up and Page Down for larger steps. Home for 3, End for 12. Or type a value into the number field above.
Use left and right arrow keys to adjust by 0.05 /gal. Page Up and Page Down for larger steps. Home for 1.5, End for 8. Or type a value into the number field above.
Deadhead is 11% of your miles and adds $0.071 to every paid mile.
How the fuel cost math works
Every diesel cost question comes down to three numbers: how far you drive, how many miles you get per gallon, and what you pay per gallon. Everything else is arithmetic.
Total miles = loaded miles + deadhead miles
Gallons = total miles ÷ MPG
Trip fuel $ = gallons × diesel price per gallon
Fuel $ / mile = trip fuel $ ÷ total miles
Fuel $ / paid mile = trip fuel $ ÷ loaded milesWith the numbers currently in the calculator, the trip burns about 86.2 gallons for roughly $332 of diesel, which works out to about $0.66 per paid mile.
Worked example: 500-mile load with 60 miles of deadhead
A dry van runs 60 empty miles to the shipper, then 500 loaded miles to the receiver. The truck averages 6.4 MPG and diesel is $3.85 a gallon.
- Total miles: 60 + 500 = 560
- Gallons: 560 ÷ 6.4 = 87.5
- Trip fuel cost: 87.5 × $3.85 = $336.88
- Fuel cost per total mile: $336.88 ÷ 560 = $0.601
- Fuel cost per loaded (paid) mile: $336.88 ÷ 500 = $0.674
The two per-mile numbers differ by about 7 cents. That gap is the deadhead. The broker pays on 500 miles, but the truck bought fuel for 560, so the rate has to cover $0.674 per paid mile of diesel before a single other bill gets paid.
Why fuel cost per loaded mile is the number that matters
Load boards and rate confirmations are quoted per loaded mile. If you compare a rate against fuel cost per total mile, you will consistently underestimate what the load actually costs you. Quote and screen loads using the per-loaded-mile figure, then add the rest of your operating costs on top with the cost per mile calculator.
Getting your real MPG instead of guessing
Fill the tank, reset the trip odometer, run normally, then fill it again and divide miles driven by gallons added. Do this three or four times across different loads and average the result. Reefer units, heavy loads, mountain grades, headwinds, and idle time all pull MPG down, so a single tank is not representative. A truck you believe gets 7 MPG but actually gets 6.2 is understating diesel cost by roughly 11 percent on every quote.
Diesel price: pump price vs. the EIA average
The calculator defaults to the U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly on-highway diesel average and lets you switch PADD regions, because the price you pay in California is not the price you pay in Texas. For planning a lane, the regional average is usually close enough. For reconciling a trip you already ran, override it with the price on your receipts — especially if you use a fuel card with discounts, since your net cost per gallon can be 20 to 40 cents below the posted average. Current regional numbers are on the live diesel prices page.
Fuel cost is not a fuel surcharge
This page tells you what the diesel costs. A fuel surcharge is how much of that cost a shipper or broker reimburses above a contract base price, and it is calculated differently: (current diesel − base diesel) ÷ MPG. Run that separately on the fuel surcharge calculator. Use both together: fuel cost tells you your exposure, the surcharge tells you what is covered.
Three ways to lower diesel cost per mile
- MPG. Slowing from 68 to 62 mph, keeping tires at spec, and cutting idle time are the cheapest gains available. A tenth of a MPG on 10,000 monthly miles is worth roughly $90 at $3.85 diesel.
- Price per gallon. Fuel-card discounts and planning fuel stops in low-tax states move your effective price more than most drivers assume.
- Empty miles. Deadhead is pure cost. Dropping from 15 percent empty to 8 percent lowers fuel cost per paid mile without changing MPG at all — the deadhead optimizer shows the trade-off on a specific load.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate truck fuel cost for a trip?
Divide total trip miles (loaded plus deadhead) by your truck's MPG to get gallons, then multiply gallons by the diesel price per gallon. Example: 620 total miles ÷ 6.4 MPG = 96.9 gallons × $3.85 = $373 of diesel.
What is a typical fuel cost per mile for a semi truck?
It depends entirely on diesel price and MPG, not on an industry average. At $3.85/gal, a 6.5 MPG truck burns about 59 cents of diesel per mile; at 5.5 MPG the same diesel price costs about 70 cents per mile. Use your own fuel receipts and odometer to get your real MPG.
Should deadhead miles be included in fuel cost?
Yes. You buy diesel for empty miles too, but nobody pays you for them. This calculator shows both fuel cost per total mile and fuel cost per loaded (paid) mile so you can see exactly what deadhead adds to the miles you actually get paid for.
Where does the diesel price in this calculator come from?
The default price is loaded from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly on-highway diesel average, nationally or by PADD region. You can override it with the price you actually paid at the pump.
Is fuel cost the same thing as a fuel surcharge?
No. Fuel cost is the diesel you actually burn on a trip. A fuel surcharge is the contract mechanism a shipper or broker uses to reimburse part of that cost above a base diesel price. Calculate fuel cost here, then calculate the surcharge on the fuel surcharge page.
How do I lower my fuel cost per mile?
The three levers are MPG, price per gallon, and empty miles. One tenth of a MPG on 10,000 miles a month is worth roughly $90 at $3.85 diesel, and cutting deadhead from 15 percent to 8 percent lowers fuel cost per paid mile without touching MPG at all.
Next steps
- Cost Per Mile Calculator — add insurance, payments, maintenance, and pay on top of fuel.
- Load Profit Calculator — apply this fuel cost to a real rate and see what is left.
- Break-Even Calculator — the minimum rate per mile you can accept.
- Fuel Surcharge Calculator — how much of the diesel a contract reimburses.