Report: Cheaper Fuel Skews Drop in Trucking Costs

The cost of operating a commercial truck dropped slightly in 2024, but lower fuel costs masked increased expenses elsewhere, according to one report.

The average cost of running a truck was estimated at $2.260 per mile in 2024, a 0.4% drop from 2023, according to a summary of an American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) report. However, when fuel prices were excluded, the cost ballooned 3.6% over 2023’s average expenses to $1.779 per mile, the highest ever recorded, according to ATRI’s An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking.

Amid the “trucking industry recession” — as ATRI described it — carriers struggled with sharp increases in truck and trailer payments, which climbed 8.3% to a record $0.390 per mile, and in driver benefit costs, which rose 4.8% to cost $0.197 per mile. The report also noted some positive signs; driver wages rose 2.4% in 2024, half a point below the inflation rate, while maintenance costs actually dropped.

That said, truck capacity fell 2.2% as carriers sold off vehicles, and empty miles climbed 16.7%, the report found.

“The trucking industry is facing the most challenging freight market in years, with loads down and costs increasing,” according to Groendyke Transport President and CEO Greg Hodgen, who was cited in the summary.