Dear trucker friend — when you spot a load on the board, or dispatch hands you one, how do you run the numbers? Is fuel and tolls really enough to know what you'll actually keep?
Let me show you how a real load gets figured. Fill in the one below and you'll see what's been hidden from you — or what you just never stopped to count.
Here's a real one: 458 loaded miles plus 93 miles of deadhead just to reach the pickup — one full shift. Broker rate $1,350, about $3 a mile. Sounds like easy money, until you count the deadhead and the tolls nobody pays you for.
Run it. Change the numbers. Then look hard at what you make per hour — that's the number that really runs your week.
Step out of the simulation. This load is already in — just hit Calculate below, and I'll show you what it really pays.
The math behind the card, in plain text
LoadWizz is a load profitability calculator for owner-operator truckers. It turns your real fixed and variable costs into a personal cost per mile, then shows any load's true net profit, margin, rate per loaded mile, and dollars per hour — after deadhead, fuel, tolls, and fees — before you say yes.
Napkin math = rate − fuel − tolls Real math = rate − fuel − dispatch % − factoring % − (your CPM × total miles) − tolls − extras Fuel = (loaded + deadhead miles) ÷ MPG × diesel $/gal Hours = (loaded + deadhead miles) ÷ 50 mph + dock time $ per hour = net profit ÷ hours
| Method | What it counts | Net | Per hour (12.5 h shift) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napkin math | Rate − fuel ($336) − tolls ($210). Deadhead, drive hours, dispatch & factoring not counted. | +$804 | $64/hr |
| Real math | Rate − fuel − dispatch ($40.50) − factoring ($40.50) − operating cost ($529) − tolls. | +$194 | $15.50/hr |
| The gap | What the napkin never shows — on this one load, on that date. | $610 | — |
Full guide: How to calculate load profitability as an owner-operator →
Miles are unlimited. Your hours are not.
You're allowed 70 hours over 8 days — on-duty and driving combined. Drive more, earn more… until the clock runs out. Then it's a 34-hour reset, parked.
The law doesn't cap your miles, but HOS rules are strict. Deadhead, loading, and waiting all burn hours nobody pays you for.
That's why a per-mile rate hides the truth. LoadWizz shows your dollars per hour — the number your whole week is built on.
Don't be the average driver.
When a load comes up, the average trucker checks fuel and maybe tolls — and the smart ones stop there too. Everything else just… happens.
Don't be one of them. Learn what a load really costs you.
Sometimes “no” is the most profitable word you'll say all week.
You'll never sell it for what you paid.
The 2021 truck you bought in 2023 will never sell for what you paid — every mile bleeds value. That drop is a real cost, even when no one bills you for it.
Ignore it and you'll keep refinancing, enriching banks and dealers instead of yourself.
Ask your accountant one question: do you factor my truck's depreciation into my taxes?
Profit on paper isn't money in your pocket.
Fellow driver — we carry this country on our trucks and our taxes. Here's the simple math.
Drive 120,000 miles at a net $0.50/mile and you've got $60,000 in “profit.” Then comes income tax, self-employment tax, IFTA, and the rest.
Don't plan for it and you'll think you made money — and end the year with almost nothing.
Are your tires immortal?
They wear out. You'll replace them. You'll change the oil and the fluids. You'll do the maintenance.
If you're not counting these, there isn't much left for me to say.
You either build them into the number, or you lose money. The choice is yours.
ELD. Load boards. Phone. Internet.
You pay for ELDs, load boards, internet, phone, and a dozen other things just to operate. It trickles out so quietly you don't notice.
Some years it adds up to over $5,000.
Fellow driver — LoadWizz is the CFO in your pocket: your accountant and your best friend. Its only job is to crunch the numbers. The rest is up to you.
Your numbers — now with an AI that reads the load with you.
Download the app, build your real cost per mile, and run any load in seconds. Whenever you want, the built-in AI breaks the result down in plain English — what's strong, what to negotiate, what it does to your week.
Build your CPM
Answer thirteen quick questions in the app — truck, fixed costs, the miles you plan to run. LoadWizz turns them into one honest number: your real cost per mile.
Run real loads
Enter any load and see the true result — net take-home, dollars per hour, margin. The real math, not the broker’s napkin.
Ask the AI
Whenever you want, let the built-in AI read the load with you — plain answers, what to negotiate, and what it means for your week.
Enter a load, see the real result, then ask the AI — representative screens.
One honest tool. Best price when you subscribe directly.
Subscribing directly on LoadWizz.com gives you our lowest price — same app, same login, wherever you set it up.
Mobile apps are on the way — the store badges go live the day the listings do. Until then, subscribe here on the web.