DRIVING THE NUMBERS:
A look at the trucking industry’s financial landscape
Average Carrier Costs per Mile
Motor Carrier Costs 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Vehicle-Based Costs
Fuel Costs $0.645 $0.583 $0.403 $0.336 $0.368
Truck/Trailer Lease or Purchase Payments $0.163 $0.215 $0.230 $0.255 $0.264
Repair & Maintenance $0.148 $0.158 $0.156 $0.166 $0.167
Truck Insurance Premiums $0.064 $0.071 $0.074 $0.075 $0.075
Permits and Licenses $0.026 $0.019 $0.019 $0.022 $0.023
Tires $0.041 $0.044 $0.043 $0.035 $0.038
Tolls $0.019 $0.023 $0.020 $0.024 $0.027
Driver-Based Costs
Driver Wages $0.440 $0.462 $0.499 $0.523 $0.557
Driver Benefits $0.129 $0.129 $0.131 $0.155 $0.172
TOTAL $1.676 $1.703 $1.575 $1.592 $1.691
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highest cost-per-mile of $1.735. The
analysis attributes the higher operating
costs in the Northeast to extremely
dense population centers, major toll
facilities, and untenable levels of traffic
congestion. The latter is corroborated
by the fact that 27 of the nation’s top
100 truck bottlenecks in ATRI’s annual
listing are located in the Northeast.
Beyond looking at operating costs,
fleets can also use the ATRI Ops Costs
findings to benchmark their equipment
utilization. The average age of the
truck-tractors in ATRI’s sample was
4.9 years, with those trucks averaging
89,804 miles per year.
Respondents reported holding trucktractors
for more years compared to
last year’s analysis, although the trucks
were logging fewer miles. This indicates
that trucks are being used less intensively
each year, allowing fleets to hold on to
these power units for longer due to the
slower accumulation of wear and tear.
Truck-tractors in the ATRI sample were
held for an average of 7.6 years before
replacement, up from 6.3 years in 2016.
Trailers were held for 12.7 years in 2017
compared to 12.4 years in last year’s
report.
As with all of ATRI’s research, a free
copy of the 2018 Operational Costs
of Trucking is available from ATRI’s
website at TruckingResearch.org.
For-hire motor carriers interested in
participating in the 2019 Operational
Costs of Trucking data collection
should contact ATRI via email at ATRI@
trucking.org
Interested in controlling your
fleet’s operational costs? Do you
have expenses dragging down
your bottom line that haven’t
been studied by ATRI?
Learn more and have a role in
the research process at NAFC’s
Annual Conference from June
10-12 in Indianapolis. Rebecca
Brewster will present ATRI’s
findings on operational costs
trends and you can take part in
shaping the 2019 Operational
Costs Report through NAFC’s
partnership with ATRI.
For conference details, the full
agenda and registration, follow
this link: trck.ng/nafc
/nafc
link
link
/TruckingResearch.org
/trucking.org
