Cents per mile bottom line.....what did i miss?

And there is an error in those numbers.


The mileage cost I had the formula messed up and didn't add the dh and loaded miles together.

The mileage cost should be (dh+loaded)*cpm

The actual spreadsheet I use for this has been corrected when I found the error.

 

i think 5 mpg is about right if your idling and dont have an apu you will never get 7 mpg if you idle your average can be as low as 4.5 mpg but doubtful you can get much better then 5.5 mpg. it is rather funny cause after running the numbers on ideling during your 10 hour break i have found it costs around the same price is a hotel room for the night would be something to think about.

 

Not always able to pull into a motel every night. Nor do I care to. Too much time is wasted checking in.

 

MNdriver. firstly, your fuel cost is way higher than mine has been averaging. It's okay to be conservative, especially in the beginning but more important to be accurate I think. Of course if you keep track of the dolllars along with gallons you will be able to replace that with a more accurate number after your IFTA filing.

The other thing is personally I do not include driver pay when I figure my operating cost. For me, I want to know as precisely as possible what money is coming out of my pocket. I mean maybe you actually pay yourself a check as driver, I don't know. Look, here's the way I see it. I am the driver, but I am also the CEO, the accountant, compliance officer, the load planner, the head of maintenance, etc... Now would it make sense for me to add an cost/mile for each of these positions. Of course not, my profit is what I get paid. I have to understand that because my number may be 1.20 per mile of course I am not making money if I pull a 1.21/mile load, of course I know that.

This is probably clear as mud, but the difference between say your fuel item and your driver pay item is the fuel is actually physically coming out of your wallet every mile you move. your item of driver pay is actually going into your wallet, see what I mean ?? While that may be practical to include for making some decisions it is really not a no choice cost when you are an owner/op in the same way as fuel and insurance.

I would just rather consider myself an owner/operator than a company with a driver who is actually paying the driver just like fuel. I understand that the money I earn on a load after real expenses is going to be my pay for all the work being an owner/operator entails including driving but everything else I do as well

to say it another way rather than saying, "well I'm sure gonna at least get paid 36 cents a mile to drive this thing" I just say my goal as O/O and all it entails is to make as much per week, month, year as possible. Then I try to be accurate with actual expenses vs gross to know how I'm doing.

 

My 75 cpm is both fuel AND maintenance cost. 13 cpm maint and 62 cpm fuel cost.

The fuelcost is also based off real miles driven with real fuel purchased recorded over 4 monthes from march to july when I was a company driver.

Same with miles driven daily and days out each much.

My "salary" is an allowance so that it is a "known" amount each week. Household has an entirely different set of books than a truck.

If one has to explain those reasons, this forum isn't the place for me to do that.

Profit for me is not mine. It belongs to the truck. Repairs, improvements, upgrades, additional trailers etc. Basically reinvested for ROI.

They aren't just "projections"

I'm on a phone so ill add more later if needed