Fuel gets all the attention, but it's the quiet fixed costs — the ones that hit whether or not the truck turns a wheel — that decide whether a small carrier makes money. Here's the full picture.
Every dollar you spend falls into one of two buckets. Variable costs rise and fall with miles — fuel, tires, maintenance, tolls, lumpers. Fixed costs, your overhead, stay roughly the same each month no matter how far you drive. A truck parked all week still owes its payment and its insurance. That's the danger: overhead doesn't take a day off.
| Cost | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Truck & trailer payment | Financing or lease on your equipment |
| Insurance | Primary liability, cargo, and physical damage |
| Plates & permits | IRP apportioned plates, IFTA account, UCR registration |
| Federal & state fees | Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (Form 2290), state filings |
| Software & back office | Dispatch/TMS, ELD subscription, accounting, phone |
| Yard & parking | Truck parking, office or shop space |
None of these care how many loads you booked this week. They show up on the first of the month regardless.
Total dollars can be misleading. What you really want is overhead per mile: add up your fixed costs for the month and divide by the miles you actually ran. Run 12,000 miles instead of 8,000 and the same overhead spreads thinner — your cost per mile drops. Sit idle or rack up empty miles and it climbs. This is the core of your true cost per mile, and it's why deadhead miles hurt twice: you burn fuel and you spread your fixed costs over fewer paid miles.
A load rate only becomes profit after it covers the fuel it burns and its slice of your overhead. Miss that math and a "$2.40 a mile" load can quietly lose money. Knowing your overhead per mile is what lets you set a floor and protect your profit margin instead of guessing — and it's a foundation of steady cash flow management.
TruckSpot Dispatch tracks your fixed and variable costs, spreads overhead across the miles you actually run, and shows true profit per load — deadhead included — so you know your floor before you say yes. Settlements, IFTA and invoicing live in the same place, so the numbers stay honest.
See your real cost per mile — free 14-day trial →Overhead is your fixed cost — the money you owe whether the truck moves or not: the truck payment, insurance, permits and compliance fees, plates, software, and office or parking costs. Fuel, tires and maintenance are variable costs that rise and fall with miles.
Add up your fixed costs for the month, then divide by the miles you actually ran that month. Fewer miles means a higher overhead-per-mile, which is why downtime and empty miles quietly raise your cost of doing business.
A load's rate only turns into profit after it covers both the fuel it burns and its share of your fixed overhead. If you price loads without knowing your overhead per mile, a rate that looks fine can actually lose money.