Rate per mile
What a load pays divided by the miles you drive for it, the number that tells you if a load is worth taking.
Rate per mile, often just RPM, is what a load pays divided by the miles you drive for it. It is the quickest way to compare loads, because a big flat number like $2,500 means nothing until you know whether it is 800 miles or 1,600.
The trick is which miles you count. Loaded rate per mile uses only the miles with freight on the trailer, so it looks the best, which is why brokers quote it. All-in rate per mile divides the pay by loaded plus deadhead miles, the empty run to the pickup included, and that is the honest number for what the trip really earned per mile.
Rate per mile only means something next to your cost per mile: fuel, truck payment, insurance, maintenance. The gap between what a load pays per mile and what it costs you per mile is your profit. The rate per mile calculator works out both the loaded and all-in figures for you.
Related: deadhead, fuel surcharge, broker.