Cost Per Mile (CPM): Cost per mile (CPM) is the total cost of running your truck divided by the miles you drive. It combines fixed costs such as truck payment and insurance with variable costs such as fuel, maintenance and tires.
Why it matters to owner operators
CPM tells you the minimum rate you can accept without losing money. A load that pays well per loaded mile can still lose money once empty miles and all your costs are counted.
Example
If your monthly costs are $14,000 and you drive 10,000 miles, your CPM is $1.40. Any load that pays less than that per total mile loses money.
Free tool: Try our Cost Per Mile Calculator to put this into numbers.
Related terms
Business & Finance: Questions about invoicing, fees or getting paid on time? Our dispatch team handles invoicing and broker follow-up for the carriers we work with. Talk to our dispatch team or browse the full trucking glossary.
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