Lane Economics Calculator: evaluate the full operating cycle.
Evaluate the complete operating cycle: paid miles, empty positioning, return freight, fuel, dwell, and the costs you choose to include.
Example values are fictional and for demonstration only — they are not LaneFoundry estimates of your operating costs. Replace them with your own numbers.
Strong outbound. Weaker full cycle.
The outbound load looks better than the complete movement once empty and return miles are counted. Judge the lane by the cycle, not only the paid movement.
Loaded RPM measures the paid movement. Lane economics evaluates the operating cycle.
A load can pay well while still sending the truck into a weak market, creating empty repositioning, dwell, or a low-value return move. Total-cycle math forces those effects into the same frame.
Why loaded RPM can mislead
Loaded RPM ignores miles the truck still has to drive without revenue. A $3.00 loaded-mile number can compress sharply once pickup deadhead, destination repositioning, or return-market weakness enter the cycle.
Read the LaneFoundry breakdown of why a $3/mile load can still be a bad lane.
Why total cycle miles matter
The truck experiences every mile, not only the paid ones. Revenue per total mile is not a universal profitability benchmark, but it is a cleaner denominator for comparing two lane cycles built on different amounts of empty movement.
What break-even means here
Break-even is only as good as the cost model you enter. Simple mode uses your all-in CPM; Detailed mode uses the fuel and non-fuel assumptions shown in the calculator. It is an operating estimate, not tax or accounting advice.
What to do with the result
If the same destination repeatedly weakens the cycle, treat that as a commercial-development signal—not proof that any specific shipper will have freight.
How the Lane Economics Calculator works
The arithmetic is deterministic. LaneFoundry does not insert a hidden market rate or profitability score.
- Outbound loaded RPM = outbound revenue ÷ outbound loaded miles.
- Combined loaded RPM = all entered revenue ÷ all loaded miles.
- Revenue per total truck mile = all entered revenue ÷ loaded + empty miles.
- Deadhead share = empty miles ÷ total cycle miles.
- Break-even revenue = modeled operating cost for the cycle.
- Break-even loaded RPM = break-even revenue ÷ total loaded miles.
Industry context, not a default: ATRI reported an industry-average operating cost of $2.336 per mile for 2025 and $1.854 per mile excluding fuel. Your truck can differ materially by equipment, utilization, financing, insurance, driver compensation, maintenance, geography, and operating model. Read ATRI’s 2026 Operational Costs update.
OOIDA likewise recommends adapting cost-of-operation inputs to the operator’s own fixed and variable expenses rather than treating an example as universal. See OOIDA’s cost-per-mile methodology.
Methodology reviewed September 17, 2026. Calculated outputs use only the values entered above.
Use the Deadhead Cost Calculator to isolate what one empty movement is costing.