How does HaulProfit calculate if a load is profitable?

HaulProfit compares the load's rate per mile against your true cost per mile, which includes fuel, truck payment, insurance, maintenance, permits, and driver pay. If the rate exceeds your costs plus profit margin, you get green. If it covers variable costs but not fixed, you get yellow. If it loses money, you get red.

What is break-even RPM?

Break-even RPM (Rate Per Mile) is the minimum rate you need to cover all your operating costs. It's calculated from your true cost per mile including fuel, payments, insurance, maintenance, and other expenses. Any load paying below this rate loses you money.

How do service partners use HaulProfit?

Service partners provide HaulProfit free to their trucking clients. This helps clients make profitable decisions, survive their first year, and become long-term customers. Partners can white-label the platform with their branding.

Does HaulProfit work on load boards?

Yes. Our desktop app adds profitability badges directly into the major load boards you already use. You see green/yellow/red indicators next to each load without leaving the board.

What types of partners can use HaulProfit?

HaulProfit partners include service partners, fuel card providers, insurers, ELD providers, freight brokerages, and trucking associations. Any organization serving owner-operators can white-label HaulProfit as a value-add for their trucking clients.

What data products does HaulProfit offer?

HaulProfit offers trucking intelligence products including route profitability indexes, lane analytics, cost-per-mile benchmarks, and market signals for the US-Mexico-Canada corridor. Data is available via API or bulk licensing for freight platforms, insurers, and financial services.

How does HaulProfit data licensing work?

Data buyers can license HaulProfit's Intelligence Network data through APIs or bulk feeds. Products include cross-border lane profitability indexes, regional cost benchmarks, and freight market signals. Custom packages are available based on geography, data type, and volume.

What is the HaulProfit Intelligence Network?

The Intelligence Network aggregates anonymized cost and profitability data from thousands of owner-operators across the US-Mexico-Canada corridor. It powers lane-level market intelligence, cost benchmarks, and predictive freight signals used by partners and data buyers.

Diesel price jump: Recalculate your per-load fuel budget for Q4

Diesel just spiked — update your per-mile fuel cost, surcharge assumptions, and break-even rate now. Practical steps and a worked example for owner-ops and small fleets.

Your tank price just changed. Now what?

You rolled into a truck stop and your pump number made you grind your teeth. Happens. Don’t wait until you’re two weeks into a string of bad loads and burning cash. Recalculate the fuel side of every load today so your paperwork actually covers what you’ll pay at the pump.

The news that kicked this off is over at FreightWaves: Diesel export ban — why it could backfire fast. Read it for the market angle. For us, the takeaway is simple: fuel costs can move fast and that changes your per-mile fuel math.

Also — the EIA’s weekly retail numbers for the week of 2026-09-21 show U.S. diesel at $6.529/gal (that’s up $0.244 vs last week; regionals vary). Use your local number if you run a region: Midwest is $6.680/gal, West Coast $7.456/gal, etc. Treat those as the market anchor, not gospel for your truck. Adjust to the pump price you actually see.

What to update, right now

Tank price: use the actual price you paid or the current terminal price in your area. Don’t guess. If you run cross-country, use route-weighted averages or update per leg.
Actual MPG: don’t use manufacturer claims. Pull your last 10,000 miles or at least the last month. If you run with 48k loads and cruise at 64 mph with A/C, you’ll get different MPG than empty runs. If you don’t track MPG, use a conservative number you can live with, not one you hope for.
Deadhead miles: count them. Every mile you drive without freight is fuel and wear.
Reserve buffer: add an extra 5–10% to the fuel line to cover detours, idling at a cold shipper, or fuel price swings mid-run. When diesel jumps this fast, the buffer stops you from taking losses.
Fuel surcharge assumptions: check your contracts. If the surcharge is tied to a baseline below today’s number, the surcharge may not cover the spike. That’s on you to calculate.

How to convert pump price to per-mile fuel cost

Quick formula:

per-mile fuel cost = (price per gallon) / (actual MPG)

Add your buffer: per-mile w/buffer = per-mile fuel cost * (1 + buffer%).

Example numbers (worked example):

Pump price you’re paying: $6.53/gal (use what you paid — this matches the EIA national weekly number for 2026-09-21).
Truck average MPG: 6.5 mpg (your real number may be different).
Buffer: 10%.

Step 1 — base per-mile fuel: 6.53 / 6.5 =

.00 per mile (rounded). Step 2 — with 10% buffer:

.00 * 1.10 =

.10 per mile.

So for a 500-mile paid run you’d budget 500 *

.10 = $550 in fuel. If your broker says the all-in rate is

.20/mile, your fuel alone eats most of that. That’s not math — that’s cash.

If your MPG drops to 6.0 on this route, base cost becomes 6.53 / 6.0 =

.09/mile. With the same 10% buffer you’re at

.20/mile just for fuel.

Where fuel surcharge fits — don't assume it saves you

Fuel surcharge is nice when it moves with the market and the baseline matches your region. But surcharges are applied to the line-haul; they might not cover deadhead, detention, or stops at a lumper. Also, many surcharges use a lagged index or a baseline lower than current prices.

Do this: calculate the load two ways — with surcharge and without. If the surcharge uses an index that lags or is tied to a number lower than your current pump price, treat the surcharge as partial relief only. Figure the uncovered remainder and bake it into your minimum acceptable rate.

Break-even and the per-load check

Break-even rate (simple) = (fixed cost per-mile + variable cost per-mile + per-mile fuel w/buffer) * paid miles + deadhead costs + any fixed trip costs (lumpers, permits) — divided by paid miles.

Keep it simple. Here’s a short checklist to run before you accept a load:

Enter pump price you’re actually paying.
Put in recent route MPG.
Plug in deadhead miles.
Add reserve buffer (5–10%).
Include extra trip fees (lumper, tolls, detention risk).
Recompute per-mile fuel and break-even.

This is where a per-load calculator pays off. A tool like HaulProfit lets you plug your own tank price, MPG, deadhead and the load’s rates, then re-run the math fast. It doesn’t guess market averages — it uses your numbers so you can see whether that load leaves you money or leaves you holding the pump tab.

Quick adjustments when prices keep moving

Update tank price weekly. With the EIA showing week-over-week movement, don’t rely on last month’s number.
If diesel jumps repeatedly, raise your buffer from 10% to 15% until the market stabilizes.
Revisit contracts: consider negotiating a surcharge or a different baseline tied to a published weekly number you both accept.
Short hauls with lots of detents or lumper fees become worse when fuel spikes. Say no more often.

One-minute routine at the truck stop

Check your pump price and note it on your phone (or put it into your per-load calculator).
Open your MPG log and grab the last 30 days’ average.
Run the per-mile fuel calc and compare to the all-in rate offered.
If fuel + costs ≥ offered rate, walk away. Don’t argue for 25 cents more unless you know the customer will pay.

Worked recalculation on a sample load

Load: 800 paid miles, all-in rate

.45/mile. Deadhead 120 miles.

Your numbers:

Pump price: $6.53/gal
MPG: 6.5
Buffer: 10%
Fixed costs (insurance, truck note, etc.) allocated: $0.28/mile
Variable costs excluding fuel (tires, maint reserve): $0.12/mile
Lumpers/tolls: $60 total

Fuel per-mile: 6.53 / 6.5 =

.00. With buffer =

.10. Total per-mile cost (fuel + fixed + variable) =

.10 + $0.28 + $0.12 =

.50/mile. Break-even on the paid 800 miles = 800 *

.50 + deadhead fuel/toll costs + $60. Deadhead fuel = 120 *

.10 =

32. So total cost =

,200 +

32 + $60 =

,392. Divide that by 800 paid miles =

.74/mile required. The offered

.45/mile loses you money.

Don’t accept that load. Not unless they add a fuel bump or a deadhead reimbursement.

Final points (what to tell dispatch or a broker)

Say it plain:

"My per-mile break-even for this route is $X with today’s diesel at $Y. If you can’t get to that, I’m passing."

Let them haggle over fuel, not over a number you didn’t calculate. You’ll sound professional and you won’t be guessing.

Takeaway

Diesel moves fast. The EIA shows national diesel at $6.529/gal for the week of 2026-09-21, up week-over-week. Update your tank price, use real MPG, add a buffer, and rerun your per-load math before you say yes. A per-load profitability calculator like HaulProfit helps by taking your actual pump price, MPG, deadhead and fees and showing the true break-even before you commit. Don’t drive blind — drive profitable.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I update my per-mile fuel cost?

At least weekly when prices move, and every time you see a big pump-price jump. Use your actual pump price and recent MPG.

What buffer should I add for diesel volatility?

Start with 5–10% for normal wiggles. If prices are spiking repeatedly, raise it to 15% until things calm down.

Will a fuel surcharge cover a diesel spike?

Sometimes partially. Check how the surcharge is calculated and whether its baseline or lag leaves you exposed. Always calculate the uncovered remainder.