How Do I Include Truck Costs in My Pricing?

Add up one year of fixed and variable truck costs, divide that total by realistic business miles or productive hours, and recover the result once through your loaded rate, service-call fee, or job price.

Fuel is only the visible part. The truck costs money while parked, while driving, and while waiting for a repair. If pricing covers gas but ignores insurance, depreciation, tires, and downtime, the missing amount comes out of profit.

What to include in annual truck cost

Separate costs that exist regardless of mileage from costs that rise as the truck is used.

Fixed costs

• Lease cost or annual depreciation
• Registration, inspection, and vehicle taxes
• Commercial vehicle insurance
• Parking or garage space
• Fleet, GPS, or vehicle-management subscriptions

Variable costs

• Fuel or charging
• Oil, filters, and scheduled maintenance
• Repairs
• Tires
• Tolls and job-related parking
• Cleaning and job-specific vehicle supplies
• A reasonable allowance for downtime or replacement transport

Use business cost only. If a vehicle has both business and personal use, separate the business share with your accountant or tax professional. The pricing worksheet and the tax treatment do not have to use the same method, but each needs a consistent record.

Annual truck cost = fixed annual costs + variable annual costs

Do not use the loan payment by itself as the vehicle cost. A payment includes financing and cash timing; it does not tell you the truck’s annual economic cost. Choose a consistent lease or depreciation approach for the fixed-cost line, then keep financing and tax treatment with your accountant.

Calculate cost per mile and productive hour

Two rates answer different questions.

Truck cost per business mile = annual truck cost / annual business miles

Truck cost per productive hour = annual truck cost / annual productive hours

Per mile works when distance drives cost: rural calls, delivery, or extended service areas. Per productive hour works when the truck supports a technician’s working day and mileage does not vary sharply between jobs.

“Productive hours” means the hours your pricing system expects the truck to support. Define the term before using it. It might be billable on-site hours, revenue-producing technician hours, or scheduled service hours. Do not divide by every hour in the calendar simply to make the rate look smaller.

Truck cost per mile and hour example

Suppose an owner operates one service van and records these annual costs:

Annual truck cost = $10,800 + $10,500 = $21,300

The van travels 18,000 business miles and supports 1,200 productive hours during the year:

$21,300 / 18,000 miles = $1.18 per business mile

$21,300 / 1,200 productive hours = $17.75 per productive hour

Those are costs before profit. They do not include the technician’s drive time. If the employee spends an hour driving, the business incurs both vehicle cost and labor cost during that hour.

Replace every number with your records. A new financed van, an older repair-heavy truck, and a compact cleaning vehicle will produce different rates.

IRS mileage rate vs. actual truck cost

The IRS set the optional business standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents per mile for 2026. The agency says the rate is used to calculate deductible automobile operating costs and that eligible taxpayers may use actual costs instead.

That makes the IRS rate a useful reasonableness check, not your customer price.

In the example, actual truck cost is $1.18 per business mile, well above 72.5 cents. Charging or allocating only the IRS rate would leave 45.5 cents per mile unrecovered before technician time and profit:

$1.18 - $0.725 = $0.455 unrecovered per mile

The reverse can also happen. A low-cost, high-mileage vehicle may operate below the IRS rate. Use your actual records to price the work. Use the IRS figure to question your result, not replace it.

How to add truck cost to job pricing

There are three clean options.

Put the truck in the loaded rate

Use the productive-hour result when most jobs are local and similar. In the example, add $17.75 of truck cost for every productive hour the vehicle supports.

A 1.5-hour job would carry:

1.5 hours x $17.75 = $26.63 truck cost

The customer does not need a separate truck line. It sits inside the all-in labor or flat-rate price.

Put the truck in the service-call or minimum fee

Use an average truck-roll amount when local calls consume a predictable distance and time. If an ordinary visit averages 18 business miles in the example:

18 miles x $1.18 = $21.24 truck cost per typical visit

That cost can sit inside the service-call fee or minimum job price. The fee still needs to recover dispatch, technician time, overhead, and profit where applicable; $21.24 is only the truck component.

Put the truck in the job or travel price

Use the per-mile result when distance varies enough that a local allowance becomes unfair. A remote job can carry its actual mileage or a zone price built from expected mileage. Technician travel time remains a separate input.

How to avoid double-counting truck costs

Before changing prices, find where vehicle cost already sits:

• Is commercial insurance in general overhead?
• Is fuel included in the service-call fee?
• Does the loaded labor rate already carry a fleet allowance?
• Is there already a trip or mileage line on distant work?

If the full $21,300 is included in overhead, do not add another $1.18 per mile to every invoice unless you remove that amount from the overhead pool. If the service-call fee recovers the average local truck roll, charge only the exceptional travel beyond that allowance.

The goal is one complete recovery path, not the largest number you can assemble.

When to update your truck cost rate

Recalculate after buying, selling, or replacing a vehicle, changing insurance, or suffering a large repair. Review fuel, maintenance, and repair totals monthly or quarterly, then rebuild the complete annual rate at least once a year.

Also compare expected mileage with actual mileage. If the truck costs $21,300 but travels 15,000 miles instead of 18,000, cost rises from $1.18 to $1.42 per mile. A quieter schedule does not make the lease and insurance disappear.

Once the truck has a real cost per mile or productive hour, it stops being an invisible expense. Put that number in one pricing component and make every job carry the share it actually uses.

Frequently asked questions

Should I include a paid-off truck in job pricing?

Yes. A paid-off truck still loses value and incurs insurance, fuel, maintenance, repairs, tires, and eventual replacement cost. Removing the payment does not make the vehicle free.

Do tools stored on the truck count as truck cost?

Usually, keep shared tools in overhead or a separate equipment rate rather than vehicle operating cost. The storage system or modification fixed to the truck can stay in the truck cost pool.

How do I split truck costs across several crews?

Calculate each vehicle separately when their costs and use differ. Pool similar vehicles only when you allocate the fleet total by consistent business miles or productive hours.

Sources

• IRS 2026 business standard mileage rate
• Housecall Pro overhead costs guide
• ServiceTitan construction overhead guide