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Multi-Load Trip Profit Calculator for Owner Operators

Price two to five loads as one trip: true profit, profit per day, empty miles, and which load drags the trip down.

Your truck

$/gal
$
$

The loads below are examples. Change every number to match your trip.

$
$
$
$
days
$
$
$
$
days

The whole trip

True profit

$358

after fuel, running cost and other costs

Profit per day

$105

over 3.4 days

Pay per loaded mile

$3.65

$2.90 per mile with empty miles

Empty miles

21%

300 of 1,450 miles

Pay
$4,200
Fuel
$1,345
Running cost
$2,393
Tolls, lumpers, other
$105
Empty miles home (100)
$248 (in fuel and running above)
True profit
$357.58

Load by load

Pay, cost, true profit, profit per day and minimum pay for each load
LoadPayMilesCostTrue profitPer dayPay needed for your target
Load 1Highest per day$2,400780$2,051$349$224$2,051$349 over
Load 2Lowest per day$1,800570$1,544$256$156$1,544$256 over

Pay needed is the pay that covers that load's fuel, running cost and other costs, plus the profit per day you asked for, for the days the load takes. With a target of $0 it is the break-even pay. Empty miles home are counted in the trip totals, not in any one load.

Want a quick ACCEPT, NEGOTIATE or REJECT on one load? Use Should I Take This Load?. To work backward from a weekly goal, use the Weekly Profit Target Calculator. To find your cost per mile, use the Cost Per Mile Calculator.

Each load's cost is fuel (loaded miles over loaded MPG plus empty miles over empty MPG, times the diesel price), plus miles times your running cost per mile, plus tolls, lumper and other costs. Days are miles divided by the miles you cover on a driving day, plus any extra days you enter. Trip profit per day is trip profit divided by trip days. Your numbers stay in this browser. This is an estimate for planning, not tax or legal advice.

Numbers tight? Let a dispatcher find better loads.

This tool is free. If it shows you are leaving money on the road, Grow Trucking finds loads, negotiates rates and does the paperwork for owner-operators and small fleets.

Talk to a dispatcher Call (845) 400-9179

Also: About Grow Trucking · Refer a carrier · Trucking blog

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Have questions about using our multi-load trip profit calculator? All our tools are free to use with no registration required. Save your inputs locally and come back anytime.

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How do you work out the profit on several loads in a row?

Work out each load's true profit from its pay, fuel, running cost and other costs, then add the loads and take away the empty miles home. Divide by the trip's days to get profit per day. The load with the lowest profit per day is the one dragging the trip down.

  1. Enter your diesel price, loaded and empty MPG, and cost per mile without fuel.
  2. Enter each load's pay, loaded miles, empty miles to pickup and extra costs.
  3. Add extra days for layovers, waiting or detention.
  4. Enter the empty miles home after the last delivery.
  5. Read true profit and profit per day for the whole trip.
  6. Check which load has the lowest profit per day, and what it would need to pay to hit your target.
How each number is worked out
NumberHow it is worked out
FuelLoaded miles / loaded MPG plus empty miles / empty MPG, times the diesel price
Running costAll miles times your cost per mile without fuel
True profitPay minus fuel, running cost, tolls, lumper and other costs
DaysAll miles / miles on a driving day, plus extra days
Profit per dayTrue profit / days
Pay neededCosts plus your target profit per day times days

Diesel price starts from the live EIA U.S. average when it loads. The industry average cost per mile is from ATRI's 2026 Operational Costs of Trucking report (2025 data, released July 15, 2026): $2.336 a mile, or $1.854 without fuel, for fleets including driver pay. Your own costs will differ. True profit is before income tax.

Last reviewed September 2026. Sources: ATRI: 2026 report on accelerating costs and low profitability; ATRI: Operational Costs of Trucking; EIA: weekly U.S. on-highway diesel prices.

Frequently Asked Questions - Multi-Load Trip Profit Calculator

How do I calculate profit on a trip with several loads?
For each load, add fuel, running cost per mile times all miles, and tolls, lumper and other costs. Take that away from the pay. Then add the loads together, and take away the cost of the empty miles home after the last one. This calculator does all of that and shows the profit for each load and for the whole trip.
Why is profit per day better than rate per mile?
Two loads can pay the same per mile and use very different amounts of time. A load that sits a day at the dock earns nothing that day. Profit per day is the trip's true profit divided by the days it took, so it shows what your truck earned for the time it was tied up.
How do I count empty miles between loads?
Enter them on the load they lead to, as empty miles to pickup. They cost fuel at your empty MPG and running cost per mile, but earn no pay. The empty miles home after the last load are counted in the trip total, and the tool shows what share of all your miles were empty.
What cost per mile should I use?
Use your cost per mile without fuel: truck payment, insurance, maintenance, tires and other costs, per mile. The tool works out fuel from your MPG and the diesel price, so leaving fuel in your cost per mile would count it twice. ATRI's 2026 report puts the industry average at $2.336 a mile including fuel and $1.854 without fuel, but that is for fleets and includes driver pay, so use your own numbers.
How much do owner-operators make per day?
It depends on your rates, miles and costs, so there is no single number. That is why this tool shows your own profit per day. Enter your real cost per mile and the loads you are looking at, and set the profit per day you want to see how much pay each load needs.
What is the pay needed for my target?
It is the least a load can pay and still give you the profit per day you asked for, over the days that load takes. It adds the load's fuel, running cost and other costs to your target profit per day times the days. With a target of zero it is the break-even pay.
Is a load with a low rate per mile ever worth taking?
Sometimes. A short, low-rate load that lands you where the next load pays well can beat a high-rate load that leaves you far from freight. Put both loads in the tool and compare the trip's profit per day, not each load's rate.
Does this include taxes, per diem or depreciation?
No. It shows true profit before income tax. Put items like truck payment and insurance in your cost per mile. For tax questions, use the Per Diem Calculator and the Quarterly Tax Estimator, or ask your accountant.

Related Trucking Tools

Should I Take This Load? Calculator

Know right away if a load is worth taking: ACCEPT, NEGOTIATE, or REJECT. It is based on true profit, not just the posted rate.

Weekly Profit Target Calculator

Find what your truck must gross each week to keep the profit you want, then check every Friday how the week went.

Deadhead Miles Calculator

Track empty miles cost and revenue lost. Industry benchmark: keep deadhead under 15%.

Cost Per Mile Calculator

Know your exact CPM — fixed, variable, and break-even rate.

Go Further With Multi-Load Trip Profit Calculator

Guides, services and reference pages that go with this tool.