TruckerPro

FREE FREIGHT PLANNING TOOL

Deadhead & load rate calculator

Your figures. The whole trip. No account required.

Trip figures
i
Use one currency for every amount. CAD/USD does not convert money. Switching kilometres and miles converts distances and the cost per distance.

Payment & distance

i
The complete payment you expect to receive, including agreed surcharges and accessorials. Enter the total, not a per-mile or per-kilometre quote.
CAD
i
Distance travelled carrying this paying load. Use your actual planned route distance, not straight-line distance.
km
km
i
Include the empty return or repositioning you expect after delivery. Leave out future loaded trips and their revenue; evaluate those as a separate trip.
km

Your costs

i
Your cost for each kilometre or mile, applied to loaded and empty travel. Include fuel, driver pay, maintenance and allocated overhead. Do not count the same expense again below.
CAD/km
i
Tolls, permits or other fixed trip costs not already included in your operating cost.
CAD
i
A percentage deducted from the entire load payment, such as a dispatch or factoring fee. If your fee uses another basis, calculate its amount separately and put it in additional trip expenses.
%

All amounts must use the same currency. No exchange-rate conversion.

How the calculation works

Total distance
Loaded distance + empty travel to pickup + empty travel after delivery
Revenue after deadhead
Total payment ÷ total distance
Estimated margin
Payment − (total distance × operating cost) − trip expenses − percentage fee
Break-even payment
(Distance-based operating cost + trip expenses) ÷ (1 − fee percentage ÷ 100)
A worked example

For an illustrative CAD 900 payment, 350 loaded kilometres and 70 empty kilometres, total distance is 420 km. Revenue after deadhead is CAD 2.14/km. At CAD 1.40/km operating cost, CAD 35 additional expenses and a 3% fee, costs are CAD 650 and estimated margin is CAD 250. Break-even payment is CAD 642.27. These numbers are an example, not market rates or an available load.

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Calculator questions

How do I calculate a load rate including deadhead?

Add loaded distance, empty travel to pickup and empty travel after delivery. Divide the total load payment by that total distance. For example, CAD 900 over 350 loaded kilometres and 70 empty kilometres is CAD 2.14 per kilometre before costs. These are illustrative figures, not a market quote.

What does estimated trip margin include?

The calculator subtracts your operating cost for all loaded and empty distance, additional trip expenses and a percentage fee on the total payment. Include fuel, driver pay, maintenance and allocated overhead in your own cost estimate. The result is before tax and any costs you leave out, not guaranteed profit.

How is the break-even payment calculated?

Add distance-based operating cost and additional trip expenses, then divide by one minus the percentage fee expressed as a decimal. A 3% fee uses a divisor of 0.97. This covers only the entered costs and assumes the fee applies to the entire payment.

Does the calculator convert Canadian and US dollars?

No. CAD and USD label the currency of your figures; changing currency does not convert amounts. Enter revenue and every cost in the same currency. Switching kilometres and miles converts distances and the operating cost per distance using 1 mile = 1.609344 kilometres.

Are my calculator figures published on the load board?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and does not create a freight posting. Calculator figures are not submitted to TruckerPro or stored by the calculator. The tool uses your inputs, not live market rates.

Distance conversion: NIST international mile definition (1 mile = 1.609344 km).