Current dry van spot rates are still strong compared with last year. DAT reported an average dry van spot linehaul rate of $2.19 per mile in early September 2026, up 32.4% year over year. But that doesn’t mean every load paying above $2.00 is automatically profitable.
Before you say yes to the next load, check these seven numbers.
1. Total Miles
Don’t look only at the loaded miles.
A broker might offer:
500 loaded miles × $2.80 = $1,400
Sounds good.
But if you have 100 miles of deadhead to pickup, you’re actually running:
600 total miles
Now your revenue is:
$1,400 ÷ 600 = $2.33 per total mile
That is a completely different number.
Always calculate revenue using total miles, not just the miles shown on the rate confirmation.
Deadhead directly cuts into your margin because you’re burning fuel and putting miles on the truck without generating revenue.
2. Deadhead Miles
Before booking a load, ask one simple question:
How far am I going empty to get it?
A 20-mile deadhead is one thing.
A 150-mile deadhead is another.
And if you’re already in a weak freight market, a long empty move can make your next load even harder to book.
For example:
Load pays: $2,000
Loaded miles: 700
Deadhead: 200
Total miles: 900
Your real revenue per truck mile is only:
$2.22
The load didn’t suddenly become cheaper. You just calculated the number that actually matters.
OOIDA’s owner-operator data has also shown how significant deadhead can be: its 2024 survey reported respondents averaging about 20% of miles as deadhead.
3. Fuel Cost
Never look at a load without thinking about fuel.
Your truck doesn’t care what the broker offered. It still needs diesel.
Take the estimated total miles and calculate your fuel consumption.
For example, if your truck averages 7 MPG and you run 900 total miles:
900 ÷ 7 = about 129 gallons
Now multiply that by your actual fuel price.
That gives you a much better idea of what the load is really leaving you after fuel.
And remember: the rate you see may be a linehaul rate that excludes fuel surcharge. DAT specifically notes that its published spot linehaul rates exclude fuel and fuel surcharges.
4. Revenue Per Total Mile
This is the number many owner operators should be checking before anything else.
The basic calculation is:
Total Load Revenue ÷ Total Miles = Revenue Per Total Mile
Don’t stop at the broker’s advertised RPM.
Include:
- Loaded miles
- Deadhead miles
- Any extra miles required for the trip
A $2.50 load with almost no deadhead may be better than a $3.00 load requiring a long empty move.
The goal isn’t to find the highest RPM on the load board.
The goal is to find the load that leaves the most money after the truck does the work.
5. Time Required
Miles aren’t the only thing your truck is spending.
It’s also spending time.
A 400-mile load that takes 10 hours can be very different from a 400-mile load that keeps you tied up for 24 hours.
Check:
- Pickup appointment
- Delivery appointment
- Loading time
- Unloading time
- Overnight waiting
- Detention risk
- Weekend delivery
- Appointment restrictions
If a load pays $1,500 but keeps your truck occupied for two days, compare it with what you could realistically make during those same two days.
OOIDA’s operating-cost guidance emphasizes calculating revenue against both variable and fixed costs rather than judging a load by gross revenue alone.
6. Destination Market
This is where experienced truckers often have an advantage.
Don’t just ask where the load is going. Ask what you’re likely to get after you deliver.
You might have a $2,800 load going into an area where the next available freight is weak.
Another load might pay $2,500 but deliver into a strong outbound market where you can quickly find another good load.
That second load may produce more money over the entire week.
Before accepting a load, check:
Pickup → Delivery → Next Load
Think about the entire move instead of treating every load as a separate transaction.
7. Your Minimum Profit Number
Every owner operator should know their minimum acceptable number.
Not the number other truckers post on Facebook.
Your number.
Your operating costs can include:
- Truck payment
- Insurance
- Fuel
- Maintenance
- Tires
- Repairs
- Permits
- Tolls
- Taxes
- Dispatch fees
- Factoring fees
- Driver wages, if applicable
DAT also points out that owner operators have both fixed and variable expenses that need to be included when determining profitable trucking rates.
Once you know your cost per mile, you can set a realistic floor for the freight you accept.
If a load doesn’t cover your costs and leave enough profit, it doesn’t matter how busy the load board looks.
It’s probably not your load.
Don’t Let a Big Rate Fool You
Here’s the mistake many truckers make:
They see:
$3.20 RPM
And immediately think:
“That’s a good load.”
But the better question is:
“How much money will this load actually make me?”
A load paying $2.40 with 30 miles of deadhead, quick loading, quick delivery, and a strong reload market can beat a $3.20 load with 200 miles of deadhead and a bad destination.
That’s why professional load planning is about more than finding freight.
It’s about finding profitable freight.
The 7 Numbers to Check Before Booking
Before you accept the next load, check:
- Total miles
- Deadhead miles
- Fuel cost
- Revenue per total mile
- Time required
- Destination market
- Your minimum profit number
If you check these seven numbers consistently, you’ll start looking at loads differently.
You won’t just ask:
“What does it pay?”
You’ll ask:
“What does it leave me?”
That’s the question that matters.
Final Word for Owner Operators
You don’t need to take every load just because it’s available.
You don’t need to chase the highest RPM on the board.
And you definitely don’t need to keep your truck moving just to say you’re running.
You need to make profitable decisions.
The best owner operators understand that trucking is a business. Every mile costs money. Every hour has value. Every empty mile matters. And every load should have a reason behind it.
Stop taking loads by rate alone. Check the numbers first.
Keep Loadings LLC helps owner operators and carriers with professional truck dispatching, load planning, freight negotiation, and finding better load opportunities so you can spend less time searching and more time running profitable freight.