Dry Van Load Profit Calculator

What the result means

• Net profit is what the load leaves after the costs it causes: the dispatch fee, fuel for every mile including deadhead, maintenance and tires, tolls and a lumper you aren't reimbursed for. It's before your fixed costs like insurance and truck payments, and before your own pay.
• True rate per mile is revenue over every mile you drive for the load. It's lower than the posted rate whenever there's deadhead.
• Net per mile is what each mile actually left you.
• Profit per hour spreads the net across driving, loading and unloading, and waiting time. It's the number that catches loads that look good on paper and eat your day at a dock.
• The bars show where the money went, from revenue down to net.

How it's calculated

total miles      = loaded miles + deadhead
detention pay    = max(0, hours waiting - free hours) x detention rate
revenue          = load pay + detention pay
dispatch fee     = revenue x fee %
fuel             = total miles / mpg x diesel price
running costs    = total miles x maintenance and tires per mile
lumper cost      = lumper fee, unless the broker reimburses it
net profit       = revenue - dispatch fee - fuel - tolls - lumper cost - running costs
true rate/mile   = revenue / total miles
hours            = total miles / average speed + loading hours + hours waiting
profit per hour  = net profit / hours

Assumptions

• Example defaults (diesel price, mpg, maintenance per mile, average speed) are placeholders, not market data. Replace them with your own numbers.
• Detention is only what the rate confirmation says you'll be paid after free time. If the rate con doesn't list it, set the rate to zero.
• Average speed should include fuel stops and breaks, not just highway speed.
• The calculation runs in your browser, and the result link keeps your inputs in the URL so you can compare loads side by side.

How to use it before you accept a load

1. Put in the rate con total and both mileages, loaded and deadhead.
2. Add the dock reality: expected wait at a busy receiver, lumper fees at grocery warehouses, and the detention terms you actually got in writing.
3. Compare two or three loads, not just one. Copy each result link and look at net and profit per hour together.
4. Think about the next load. A load into a market with few outbound vans may need an empty run afterward. Add those miles to deadhead to see the real cost.
5. Check it against your weekly needs. Your floor rate comes from fixed costs and your pay; a load that nets less than your share of those costs is a load to counter or pass.

Finding loads worth putting in this calculator is the hard part. Our guide to load boards for dry vans covers where to look, dedicated dry van lanes covers how to get steadier freight, and our dry van dispatch service does the searching, countering and reload planning for you.