An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: A 2013 Update

Given the thin operating margins experienced by the trucking industry, it is necessary to monitor current, accurate costs associated with operating a truck. With changing economic conditions, current cost information provides high-level benchmarking data for motor carriers as well as government agencies for transportation improvement analyses. Previous studies have generated cost calculations that trucking industry stakeholders have questioned as being unreasonably high or low, while other analyses have utilized “value of travel time” calculations that may not accurately reflect direct carrier-borne costs. This research documents and quantifies motor carriers’ key marginal costs per mile (CPM) and costs per hour (CPH) derived directly from fleet operations for 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. These costs were then compared to the revised operational costs published in the 2008 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking from the American Transportation Research Institute. A survey was distributed to a representative group of for-hire motor carriers in late 2010 and the resulting data were analyzed in aggregate form. The average marginal CPM was $1.45 in 2009 and $1.49 in Q1 2010 which were lower than the average marginal CPM of $1.65 found in the revised 2008 analysis. These costs were translated from per-mile calculations to hourly figures, using an empirical average industry operational speed of 39.98 miles per hour. Thus, the total average industry CPH was $59.61 in Q1 2010, which was higher than the $58.00 found in 2009, but below the revised $66.07 found in 2008.