Free calculator
Hotshot Load Profit Calculator
Check a load before you take it. This hotshot load profit calculator subtracts fuel for every mile (deadhead included), maintenance, tolls and percentage fees from the pay, and shows what's left, the true rate per mile and what the load earns per hour of your time.
Updated · Runs in your browser, nothing you type is sent to us · Estimates, not advice
EXAMPLE defaults. Replace them with the load you're looking at.
True rate / mi
$3.03
Net / mi
$2.25
Net / hour
$95.19
Net here is before fixed costs (payments, insurance). Compare net per mile with your fixed cost per mile.
This load leaves $857 before fixed costs, $95.19 an hour. Want loads like it found and negotiated for you, with the next one lined up?
Apply for dispatchHow to read the result
- Net before fixed costs is what this load adds toward your payments, insurance and income. If it's negative, the load costs you money even before those.
- True rate per mile is the pay divided by loaded plus empty miles. Compare loads with this, not the rate per loaded mile on the posting.
- Net per mile tells you how much each mile contributes. If it's below your fixed cost per mile, a month of loads like this won't cover your bills.
- Net per hour is the load's pay for your time, including waits and loading.
How it's calculated
- Total miles = loaded miles + deadhead miles
- Fuel = total miles ÷ MPG × diesel price
- Maintenance = total miles × maintenance per mile
- Fees = load pay × percentage fees
- Net = load pay − fuel − maintenance − tolls − fees
- True rate per mile = load pay ÷ total miles
- Net per mile = net ÷ total miles
- Net per hour = net ÷ hours on the load
Assumptions
- Fuel is based on one average mpg for the whole trip. Loaded miles with a heavy load burn more than empty ones; use your real average. Current regional diesel prices are on the EIA's weekly update.
- Maintenance per mile covers tires, brakes, oil and repairs averaged over your miles. Track yours for a few months to get a real number.
- Percentage fees default to our 7% dispatch fee; set it to 0 if you book your own loads, or to your factoring rate if you factor.
- Fixed costs aren't included, because they don't change with one load.
- The defaults are EXAMPLE numbers.
How to use it before you accept a load
- Enter the posted pay and the loaded miles.
- Enter the deadhead from where you'll be when you're empty.
- Estimate the hours honestly, including loading and any likely wait.
- Compare two offers by true rate per mile and net per hour, not by pay alone.
- If a load's net per mile is below your fixed cost per mile, counter or pass.
Most loose loads come off boards, and the hotshot load boards guide covers how to search for ones that fit your trailer. Steady freight with predictable numbers is covered in hotshot contracts. Or let our dispatchers run this math on every load for you; see how hotshot dispatch works.
FAQ
Calculator FAQ
How do you calculate profit on a hotshot load?
Start with the load pay, subtract fuel for loaded and empty miles (miles ÷ mpg × diesel price), maintenance and tires per mile, tolls, and any percentage fees like dispatch or factoring. What's left is the load's contribution before fixed costs such as payments and insurance.
What is the true rate per mile?
The load pay divided by all the miles the load takes, loaded plus the empty miles to get to it. It's lower than the rate per loaded mile the broker quotes, and it's the honest one to compare loads with.
Why look at profit per hour?
Because time is the other thing you sell. A short load can pay well per mile and badly per hour once loading, waiting and unloading are counted. Comparing per hour shows which loads are worth your day.
Does this include insurance and truck payments?
No, on purpose. Those fixed costs are the same whether you take the load or not, so the calculator shows what the load adds toward them. Compare its net per mile with your fixed cost per mile, or use the hot shot rate calculator for an all-in minimum.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update (checked October 2026)