TruckMarginIn this hypothetical USD example, a $500 offer covers $400 in modeled costs, including $180 for the owner-driver’s time, and leaves $100 in business profit. Add an hour of waiting plus 30 unpaid miles and 45 minutes of driving, and only $22 remains at the same offer.
First, turn the offer into a whole working day
A $500 route sounds concrete. The work behind it may not be. Before accepting it, pin down travel to the pickup, delivery miles, the return trip, unloading time and the work before and after driving. A price that covers the planned route can leave little room for the route you actually run.
This is a constructed example, not a reported job, current market rate or recommended wage. We assume one owner-driver, no helper and one route per working day. Every amount below is USD. Replace each assumption with your own records.
| Input | Illustrative assumption |
|---|---|
| Delivery miles | 90 miles |
| Unpaid pickup / return miles | 30 miles |
| Total driving | 120 miles in 3 hours |
| Delivery stops | 8 × 15 minutes = 2 hours |
| Loading and closeout | 1 hour |
| Total owner-driver time | 6 hours |
| Vehicle running cost | $0.85 per total mile |
| Owner-driver compensation | $30 per hour |
| Helper | None: $0 |
| Fixed overhead | $2,000/month ÷ 20 route-days = $100/day |
| Route fees | $18 |
| Offered route revenue | $500 |
The $0.85 per mile covers fuel, maintenance, repairs and tires only. Owner pay and fixed overhead are separate, so they are counted once. The $100 overhead allocation assumes this route carries the day’s share of truck payments, insurance and other fixed costs. For several jobs in one day, allocate that day’s overhead across them consistently instead of charging the full day to each job.
The $100 left is separate from your $180 pay
| Cost | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle running costs | 120 miles × $0.85/mile | $102.00 |
| Owner-driver pay | 6 hours × $30.00/hour | $180.00 |
| Helper cost | $0.00/hour | $0.00 |
| Fixed overhead | $2,000.00 ÷ 20 route-days | $100.00 |
| Route fees | Illustrative route-specific costs | $18.00 |
| Total modeled cost | All of the above | $400.00 |
The owner-driver’s $180 pays for six hours of work. The remaining $100 is business profit after the costs included in this model. Leaving out your pay would make the job appear to earn $280, while treating your labor as free.
Profit margin here is $100 ÷ $500 = 20%. At a 20% target margin, the minimum quote is total modeled cost ÷ 0.80. Adding 20% to the cost would produce a markup, which is a different calculation.
Two small changes can use most of the margin
Keep the offer at $500 and change the work. An extra hour waiting costs $30 in owner pay. Another 30 unpaid miles plus 45 minutes of driving adds $25.50 in vehicle costs and $22.50 in owner pay: $48 altogether. These scenarios keep all other inputs, including the daily overhead, unchanged and remain within one working day.
| Scenario | Cost | Profit | Margin | 20% target quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As planned | $400.00 | $100.00 | 20% | $500.00 |
| + 1 hour waiting | $430.00 | $70.00 | 14% | $537.50 |
| + 30 unpaid miles / 45 min | $448.00 | $52.00 | 10.4% | $560.00 |
| Both changes | $478.00 | $22.00 | 4.4% | $597.50 |
The combined changes consume $78 of the original $100 profit. The route still shows a positive $22 in this model, but its margin falls from 20% to 4.4%. That is a different decision from the one suggested by the original $500 offer.
Make the unknowns part of the quote
- Confirm where the paid route starts and ends. Include the pickup and return or repositioning trip in your own cost calculation.
- Ask what loading, unloading and waiting the offered amount covers. Record the assumed stop count and service time.
- Clarify what happens to pay if a stop is added, fails or is cancelled. A per-stop price does not protect you when the work remains but the billable stops disappear.
- Compare the full-day result with another realistic job or an idle day. Include the time and cost of reaching that alternative.
- After the route, record actual miles, hours, revenue and costs. Use the difference to improve the next quote.
In this case, eight equally paid stops would imply $62.50 per stop. If one stop becomes unbillable while the same work and costs remain, revenue falls to $437.50 and modeled profit falls to $37.50. If the cancellation saves work, recalculate the miles and time too. The agreement and actual scope determine which scenario applies.
The free delivery calculator opens with its own illustrative defaults. Enter the assumptions in this article to reproduce the example, then replace them with your own. TruckMargin Pro can save a cost profile and quote, then compare it with the actual results you enter.
Using the method in Canada
The arithmetic also works with CAD, provided revenue, wages and every cost are all entered in CAD. That does not convert the USD example or make these assumptions representative of a Canadian route.
Match the distance and cost units: kilometres × CAD per kilometre, or miles × CAD per mile. Do not multiply kilometres by a per-mile cost. The free delivery calculator is labelled USD and miles; this example uses those units. Pro profiles support CAD with kilometres or miles. Neither option automatically converts your currency or operating inputs.
This example does not make claims about US or Canadian wages, tax treatment, operating rules or current freight rates. Those require current sources for the relevant country and jurisdiction.
Sources & method
- TruckMargin delivery pricing calculator and formulaThe cost breakdown and scenario table are calculated from the same model used by the free tool.
- TruckMargin methodologyHow we distinguish sourced data, illustrative assumptions and user-entered figures.
Published October 20, 2026. This article uses illustrative assumptions, not live market data. For a correction, use the contact details on our About page and include the article URL and figure in question.