Use total miles
Loaded miles plus deadhead miles produce total miles. Fuel, maintenance, and fixed-cost allocation apply to the entire movement, so deadhead can raise the break-even revenue and break-even rate per mile.
Know the floor
Hotshot Break-Even Rate Calculator
Modeled break-even is the gross revenue required to cover the costs included in your estimate. It is a cost floor—not automatically a desirable rate, market quote, or guarantee.
Handle percentage dispatch correctly
When dispatch is a percentage of gross revenue, the needed gross must cover both non-dispatch costs and the percentage fee.
Break-even gross = non-dispatch costs ÷ (1 − dispatch rate)
Break-even is not the target
A load at break-even covers the modeled costs but does not necessarily provide the owner take-home, margin, time value, risk allowance, or positioning benefit you want.
Add an owner goal
Compare projected take-home per total mile with your own minimum. Negotiation and What-If tools can show what load pay would better meet that target.
Planning results are estimates based on the information you enter. They are not guaranteed earnings, fuel, routing, tax, legal, accounting, safety, or regulatory advice. Verify routes, equipment limits, costs, and requirements before operating.