Haul & Load Cost Calculator

Why most haul rates are too low

The usual way to price a load is to look at what other haulers charge, or to cover fuel and the driver's wage and call the rest profit. Both miss the costs that don't show up on the run itself:

• Labor burden. Payroll taxes, workers' comp and benefits add 25–40% to every driver hour. A $30 wage really costs about $39.
• Idle hours. You pay the driver for the whole day, but the truck only fits a whole number of loads in it. Leftover time still costs money.
• Fixed costs on slow days. The payment and insurance don't stop when the truck sits. Spread them over the days you actually work.
• Maintenance per mile. Tires, brakes and repairs on a loaded dump truck often run $0.40–$0.80 a mile.

This calculator puts all of those into one break-even price per load, then shows the price you need for the margin you want.

Load, ton or hour: how to check any quote

Switch You charge by the to match how you quote. The calculator converts your rate to revenue per load (per ton × capacity, or per hour × time per load) and compares it with your break-even cost. If a site has long waits, raise the wait minutes and watch the per-load cost climb. That's when hourly billing protects you.

Where a spreadsheet stops working

One truck and one average job is fine on a sheet. Once you run several trucks, the averages hide which customers and runs actually lose money.

• SpreadsheetOne truck at a time
  Haul Log appEvery truck with its own costs and margin
• SpreadsheetTyped-in averages
  Haul Log appDrivers log each load on their phone, with a photo of the scale ticket
• SpreadsheetDoesn't bill anyone
  Haul Log appPer-load, per-ton or per-hour invoices built from the tickets
• SpreadsheetPaper tickets get lost
  Haul Log appEvery ticket saved with date, truck, customer and photo