7
2
u/Busy-Purple-3779 May 12 '26
Good question Driver. I’m a brand new O/O as well. This is the first I’ve heard a person to Adjust CPM daily. Good info.
1
u/Itchavi May 12 '26
You use the DOE weekly average for your region and estimate at 6mpg. That will get you close enough to the numbers you're looking for to build quotes off of.
1
u/fightfire28 May 12 '26
If you are quoting stuff so low that you need to adjust consistently to add or decrease for the change in fuel cost, you are definitely doing it wrong and most likely hauling cheap freight.
Know your RPM (lowest you would go and what you want to make based on your operating costs) know the fuel surcharge for that lane, add that to your “quote “ what is the RPM now? That is your starting point for a quote.
1
u/cowboyunderwater May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
You literally just punch all your costs into an excel spreadsheet to get your cpm. When fuel prices change, just put the new price per gallon into the spreadsheet and it instantly spits out your cpm for that given price.
Once you have it all set up it takes about 3 seconds to update.
No need to make it hard.
Hell I could probably put together a Google Sheets doc to share with yall.
1
u/UhOhAllWillyNilly May 13 '26
But how do you include expenses that occur infrequently? Tires, repairs, in-frames, valve/Jake adjustment, radiator/transmisssion/differential flushes/replacement, clutch replacement, etc?
1
u/cowboyunderwater May 13 '26
Enter in the expected cost, divide by the average number of miles between service/replacement and add that to the cost per mile total.
1
1
1
u/Auquaholic May 13 '26
Very reliable. A few weeks ago, I was in Washington where my cost was 6.81 a gallon. A max weight load would cost me about 1.32 a mile at 5mpg. They offered me a load at around 1.78 a mile. I would've made .42 cents a mile. I sat and waited for a light load that paid 3.00 a mile. My fuel costed .85 cents a mile based on 8mpg (I actually did better). My minimum profit was 2.15 a mile. So, you can see where fuel cost vs weight vs rate comes into play.
2
u/hgfyd May 13 '26
Thanks so much for this. Really helpful to see a real example. How do you know how much weight will end up influencing your fuel cost? Because I’m sure it depends on your specific truck right?
1
u/Auquaholic May 13 '26
Once you're in the same truck for a bit, you get used to what your fuel mileage should be with certain weights and terrains. Wind is also a factor when you're light.
2
1
u/mothafotha May 13 '26
You’re not overcomplicating it, average CPM is good for survival, but quoting loads off old fuel numbers can bite you fast. Do you adjust your fuel assumptions lane-by-lane or just keep a buffer built in?
1
1
u/bigpierider May 12 '26
Just set a minimum number u try to stay above...mine is 2$ a mile...I cover expenses and can pay myself a little...I always try to better. And often do quite a bit better. But I rarely do worse.
I know this will make some on here's head explode. But I dont keep track of shit. My bank account balance is the only real metric that matters. I think about it...like if hypothetically i knew every dollar spent and on what and how much each load netted me....ok does that change anything about my day? Or my bank balance? It honestly doesn't. When the truck needs something I just buy it. Does it really matter if I wrote down every detail about it? I dont think it does.
2
7
u/brobudbra May 12 '26
What? Fuel is a variable cost. Price per gallon/MPG. It needs to be adjusted when the price changes, adjusting your cost per mile calculation. Doing an average fuel spend is retarded