Power only trucking rates per mile

How power only pricing works

Power only freight is almost always priced per load: a flat amount for moving that trailer from A to B. Rate per mile is something you calculate from it. Three things push the number up or down:

• The lane. Busy outbound markets with lots of trucks pay less; loads into hard-to-reload areas pay more.
• The load type. Preloaded drop and hook, live loads, tow aways and load outs all price differently. A live load should pay for the waiting; a light tow away often pays less per load but takes less time.
• The trailer owner's alternatives. A program with hundreds of approved carriers on a lane can post a lower fixed price than a broker trying to cover a single trailer at 6 p.m.

Compared with van freight on the same lane, power only rates usually sit a bit lower, because the carrier is not supplying a trailer. How much lower varies too much to put a number on honestly.

Sourced references and EXAMPLE ranges

No public source publishes a national average for power only rates. The closest dated public reference is the van market:

Source: DAT monthly release, October 13, 2026. These are van rates, not power only rates. Use them only as a sense check.

Your costs are the other side of the equation. The American Transportation Research Institute put the industry-average cost of running a truck at $2.336 per mile for 2025, or $1.854 excluding fuel. Diesel averaged $6.276 per gallon nationally in the week of October 19, 2026 (EIA), which is why fuel is such a large share right now.

Deadhead and trailer pickup time

The empty leg to the trailer is where power only carriers lose money without noticing. Two loads that both say $2.90 per loaded mile can be very different once you add 20 miles to one trailer and 120 miles to the other.

Add two more costs that don't show up in loaded miles:

• Trailer pickup time. Finding the trailer in a yard, checking the seal, inspecting it and sometimes dropping an empty first. Usually 20 to 60 minutes.
• The leg after delivery. If the drop leaves you 150 miles from the next pool, those miles belong to this load's math too.

Write all-in rate as: load pay ÷ (deadhead to trailer + loaded miles). If you also know the empty miles after delivery, add them for a stricter number.

Your minimum rate

A floor rate stops you from running loads that look busy but lose money. Build it in three steps:

1. Find your cost per mile. Add a month of fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, permits, phone, ELD) and variable costs (fuel, tires, maintenance, tolls), then divide by total miles including empty ones. If you don't have your own numbers yet, the ATRI average is a starting point, not a substitute.
2. Add the profit you need per mile. Think in weekly take-home: what do you need to clear per mile at your usual weekly miles?
3. Adjust for fees. If you pay a dispatcher a percentage, divide by one minus that percentage. A $2.60 floor with a 5% fee becomes about $2.74 per all-in mile before fees; with a 10% fee, about $2.89.

The power only rate per mile calculator works out all-in rate, deadhead share and deadhead cost for any load. Insurance is one of the largest fixed costs in that first step, especially with trailer interchange coverage; see power only insurance.

Program rates vs broker rates

Trailer-pool programs often post fixed prices that you accept or bid on in their app. Brokers usually negotiate. Programs give volume and fast booking; brokers give room to push the rate on hard lanes. Most carriers do best with both, which is covered in power only carrier programs. If you are new to the model, what is power only trucking explains the basics first.

Fleets have one more lever: committing capacity to a lane can earn steadier pricing, which is part of how our power only fleet dispatch works. For single trucks, our power only dispatch service negotiates every load against your floor rate, and you approve each one before it is booked. We never promise a rate; markets change week to week.