Lower Fuel Costs Reduce Overall Operating Expenses, Report Shows

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Trucking operational costs fell 6% per mile last year on a year-over-year basis, helped by a 31% drop in fuel prices that outweighed higher driver pay, insurance and truck payment expenses, a new survey by the American Transportation Research Institute found.

The survey by the research arm of American Trucking Associations found that the average per-mile operating cost was $1.593, down 11 cents from its 2014 survey.

For the first time in at least eight years, driver pay was the largest cost center, accounting for 31% of total expense at 49.9 cents per mile. Pay surpassed fuel, which finished at 25%, or 40.3 cents per mile, the lowest percentage since the cost study began. Fuel figures exclude surcharges. Insurance costs rose 29% to 9.2 cents per mile, and equipment payments rose 7% to 23 cents per mile.

Repair and maintenance costs were little changed at 15.6 cents per mile. So were costs for tires, permits and licenses, and tolls.



“Despite an overall decline of 6% in a carrier’s cost per mile, it is highly likely that this trend will not continue,”  according to the report. “Given the potential increase in fuel prices, coupled with continuing in driver pay and benefits, carriers are likely to see increases in operational costs in the coming year. The driver shortage is expected to continue to grow in the face of an aging workforce and increased demand for freight.”

Factors such as a persistent driver shortage, an aging driver corps and the potential attractiveness of jobs in other industries such as housing were cited as factors that drove up driver pay, with a year-over-year increase about 8%.