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Truck operating costs rose 3.4% in 2025, ATRI finds
Repair, maintenance costs climbed 8.6%; wages rose 2.5%
The average mileage trucks are driven before replacement increased by nearly 50,000 miles to 633,772. (grandriver/Getty Images)
Key Takeaways:
- The American Transportation Research Institute said truck operating costs rose 3.4% year over year in 2025 to $2.336 per mile, the highest since 2016.
- Costs increased across all major categories including tolls, maintenance and driver benefits, pressuring margins as stagnant rates led carriers to cut capacity and extend equipment life.
- Profitability remained weak with most segments under 1% margins, prompting further capacity discipline and operational adjustments by fleets, while LTL carriers maintained stronger 11.6% margins.
The cost of operating a truck rose 3.4% year over year in 2025 on a per-mile basis, reaching the highest level in at least a decade and capping fleets’ operating margins, according to the American Transportation Research Institute.
The industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, 3.4% higher than 2024’s $2.260 and the highest per-mile cost since ATRI’s Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking was launched in 2016.
Excluding fuel, costs rose 4.2% to $1.854 per mile from $1.779, the study released July 15 said.
Costs increased in all major line items in 2025, with the largest percentage increases seen in tolls (13.2%), repair and maintenance (8.6%), driver benefits (6.6%) and tires (6.4%).
The average cost for repair and maintenance per mile rose to 40.4 cents from 39 cents, while tolls rose to 4.3 cents from 3.8 cents and tires to 5 cents from 4.7 cents.
Meanwhile, driver wages rose to 81.8 cents from 79.8 cents, an increase of 2.5%, and driver benefits climbed to 21 cents from 19.7 cents.
As a result of the climbing costs and stagnant rates, carriers enacted the largest freight capacity reduction since the longest freight downturn in industry memory began in 2022.
Truck counts were culled by 2.4%, while another 10% of trucks were left unseated on average, respondents to the survey said.
In addition, the average mileage trucks are driven before replacement increased by nearly 50,000 miles to 633,772.
Consequently, carrier profitability remained weak.
Operating margins in the truckload and refrigerated sectors improved to 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, but were still below 1%, while tank carriers averaged 4%, more than double the prior year’s 1.9%. Truckload carriers made a 2.3% loss on average in 2024.
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(THEPALMER/Getty Images)
Only less-than-truckload carriers posted healthy — but unchanged year over year — margins as a sector in 2025. Carriers in that segment posted an average margin of 11.6% in 2025.
Flatbed carriers, however, ran at an average operating loss of 0.5% after posting a 0.4% positive operating margin in 2024.
In the truckload segment, carriers’ cost per mile averaged $2.21 in 2025, a 3.7% rise from $2.13 in 2024.
LTL carriers’ cost per mile averaged $2.58 in 2025, a 3.6% increase compared with $2.49 in 2024.
Truckload carriers represent 57.3% of the freight market, while LTL carriers account for 28% and other segments 14.7%.
Respondents to the survey were led by the LTL segment of the market at 47.8%, while truckload carriers accounted for 33.3% of respondents. Participants from other segments of the freight market comprised 18.9% of replies.
Data was collected directly and confidentially from for-hire motor carriers from February through May via online and PDF submissions.
