Cost per mile, week ending September 7, 2026
The US retail on-highway diesel average was $4.157 a gallon for the week ending September 7, 2026, +0.086 on the week before. Run through the cost model for one Class 8 truck running 120,000 miles a year at 6.5 mpg, that is what the figures below come to. Nothing here is an estimate: every number is a calculation over that price.
Diesel
$4.157
+0.086 on the week
Fuel per mile
$0.640
+0.013 on the week
Total cost per mile
$1.350
+0.013 on the week
Rate you must be paid
$1.932
per loaded mile at 88% loaded, $0.35 profit
Fixed costs are $0.388 a mile and accrue whether the truck moves or not; variable costs are $0.962 a mile. Over 120,000 miles that is $161,985 for the year ($46,600 fixed, $115,385 variable).
Where the mile goes
| Line | $/mile | Kind | Share of the mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $0.640 | Variable | |
| Truck payment | $0.200 | Fixed | |
| Maintenance | $0.180 | Variable | |
| Insurance | $0.117 | Fixed | |
| Fuel tax | $0.070 | Variable | |
| Tyres | $0.042 | Variable | |
| Parking and overhead | $0.035 | Fixed | |
| Tolls | $0.030 | Variable | |
| Permits and plates | $0.029 | Fixed | |
| ELD and software | $0.008 | Fixed | |
| Total | $1.350 | ||
The reference operation: one Class 8 truck running 120,000 miles a year at 6.5 mpg, $24,000 a year on the truck, $14,000 insurance, $0.18 a mile maintenance. Change any of these in the calculator; the diesel figure is this week’s.
What a hired driver earns per mile
The national mean wage for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers was $59,716 (May 2025), which over 120,000 miles is $0.498 a mile. That is a wage a fleet pays a driver, not part of the owner-operator cost above, and it is why a company driver and an owner-operator are not comparing the same number.
Employment-weighted mean of state mean wages, BLS OEWS. BLS OEWS.
Diesel by region, this week
| Region | $/gal | Change | Fuel $/mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. average | $4.157 | +0.086 | $0.640 |
| East Coast | $4.031 | +0.094 | $0.620 |
| New England | $4.189 | +0.093 | $0.644 |
| Central Atlantic | $4.240 | +0.123 | $0.652 |
| Lower Atlantic | $3.860 | +0.077 | $0.594 |
| Midwest | $3.894 | +0.047 | $0.599 |
| Gulf Coast | $3.685 | +0.067 | $0.567 |
| Rocky Mountain | $4.314 | +0.048 | $0.664 |
| West Coast | $5.362 | +0.156 | $0.825 |
| California | $5.678 | +0.158 | $0.874 |
U.S. Energy Information Administration, weekly retail on-highway diesel, read from eia.gov for the week ending September 7, 2026. This report is regenerated whenever that price is refreshed.