ATRI just released its latest Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, and there’s one number in there that will make every motor carrier pay attention.
$2.336. That’s what it costs, on average, to run a truck one mile. That is up 3.4% from last year. If you take out fuel costs, it’s up 4.2%.
The number might be a surprise, but the fact that costs went up isn’t. Fuel’s expensive. Equipment’s expensive. Drivers are expensive. Insurance, repairs, tires, etc. Pick a line item and it’s probably moving in the wrong direction.
Trucking is expensive.
But what jumped out at me reading through the report was that almost every one of those cost categories can be influenced, at least a little, by how safely and efficiently a fleet runs.
Too many carriers still file safety under “stuff we have to do to keep the DOT off our backs.” But one thing I preach on a daily basis is that safety isn’t a compliance chore. It’s a strategy and it shows up directly on your P&L reports.
Let’s Start with Fuel
Fuel ran about 48 cents a mile in 2025. If you run a truck 100,000 miles a year, you’re looking at roughly $48,000 just to keep it moving.
Now think about the driver who’s constantly doing hard accelerations and consistently speeding. That’s not just a driving-behavior problem that can earn you roadside violations that will show up in the BASIC score. That driver is burning an unnecessary amount of fuel too.
Running the speed limit and holding a steady pace isn’t only about dodging a citation. It’s also about controlling one of the biggest expenses a trucking carrier has. You don’t need a fleet-wide overhaul to move that needle. Speed management, cutting idle time, smarter routing, and drivers who are actually held accountable will do it. Small changes, multiplied across a few hundred thousand miles, turns into real money fast.
Maintenance Costs Are Safety Costs
Repair and maintenance jumped 8.6%, landing around 21.5 cents a mile. Tires crept up to 5 cents a mile too. Those numbers sting on their own, but the repair invoice is never the whole story.
A truck that’s not properly maintained costs you more than just a repair bill. It costs you breakdowns on the roadside, which leads to expensive repairs. It leads to blown delivery windows, which leads to angry customers who might think twice about renewing a contract. It leads to huge upfront costs like tow trucks and rental equipment. And, it can lead to a driver who’s had enough and starts looking for a new place to drive.
On top of all of that, equipment not in proper working order will absolutely tank your Vehicle Maintenance BASIC score when an officer finds what you should’ve found first.
A real preventive maintenance program catches the problem before it becomes a roadside failure. A pre-trip inspection that drivers actually take seriously catches the defect before the officer does. A clean process for reporting and fixing issues stops small stuff from snowballing into expensive stuff. Deferring maintenance might make this month look good on paper. However, it tends to make next month a lot worse.
One of the ways ATRI found carriers making cost-cutting calls was maintaining and hanging on to older equipment. Keeping the equipment in good operational function means that trucking companies are able to stretch the life of the equipment and cut down on the surprise repairs. Safer trucks can become cheaper trucks over time.
Insurance Isn’t Always an Insurance Problem
Premiums ran about 10.6 cents a mile in 2025, and early 2026 numbers show another 6.4% increase on the way.
But the premium is just the sticker price. Your real cost of risk includes multiple variables like deductibles, self-insured losses, legal bills, and settlements.
A preventable crash isn’t a tidy little insurance claim. It’s equipment damage, downtime, cargo claims, legal fees, a bigger deductible, drivers walking out the door, and a higher premium waiting for you next renewal. One bad crash can wipe out years of margin.
Insurance companies aren’t raising rates for the fun of it. They’re looking at your losses, your violations, your driver quality, your maintenance habits, and which direction your operation appears to be heading.
A carrier that hires right, manages speed, keeps equipment maintained, and jumps on problems early gives itself a real shot at keeping those costs in check. Unfortunately there are no guarantees because there are parts of this that are just outside your control. But focus hard on the parts that aren’t.
Good Drivers Cost Money, Bad Drivers Cost More
For the first time in ATRI’s data, driver wages and benefits combined crossed the $1-a-mile mark to $1.028.
Drivers are the biggest expense most carriers have, and a good one is worth every penny.
The problem was never what a quality driver costs. The problem is what a bad hire costs you in the form of crashes, roadside violations, an countless other problems.
Safe carriers tend to be plain and simple companies. They have clear expectations and properly maintained equipment. They tend to handle problems the same way every time and have drivers that know exactly where they stand.
That’s what keeps people around. And when turnover drops, so does the costs for recruiting, training, and empty trucks sitting in the yard.
Safety Is the Operation
If there is one thing clear in the ATRI report it’s that margins in this industry are razor thin. ATRI’s numbers show only a handful of sectors and the biggest fleets are running what you’d call healthy margins in 2025.
At $2.336 a mile, there’s no room left for waste.
No room for fuel burned by a driver who won’t ease off the throttle. No room for roadside repairs that a real PM program would’ve caught. No room for a preventable crash that influences your insurance for years. No room for the same violations showing up over and over, dragging you toward intervention. No room for replacing equipment early because nobody kept up with it. And no room for losing good drivers because the operation’s a mess.
None of this requires a six-figure tech platform to fix. Sometimes it’s as simple as setting a speed standard and actually enforcing it. Reviewing roadside inspections every week instead of every quarter. Requiring a documented repair before the truck goes back out. Sitting a driver down after violation one instead of waiting for violation five.
The bad news is that it doesn’t look like costs are coming down anytime soon. But the good news is that small changes can save real money.
A safe fleet isn’t just one with fewer violations and fewer crashes on the books. A safe fleet also wastes less money.