It's a Team's Life

Cost Per Mile

I used to worry constantly that I was not figuring our CPM correctly.   What if I was doing this wrong? I asked questions of everyone I knew and even attended a conference with just this thought in mind – I am finally going to learn how to figure my CPM right!   Never mind that I was paying all of our bills and our savings was growing I still might be doing something wrong. Wow, was I in for a surprise. The correct answer is there is no RIGHT way.   I knew exactly what our expenses are for the truck, I know how many miles we drive, and I know how much we make that is all I needed to know.   There is no magic formula to know your CPM.   When I first started I knew what I needed to pay us, what our fixed expenses were and then as time went on I learned what our other expenses would be.   I keep a spreadsheet by the month for our fuel costs and update from month to month what our CPM is for fuel (miles/gallons). I figure all of our expenses, including what I pay us and what I put back for replacement cost and maintenance for the truck.   I have always used a budget to keep track of our expenses.   At the end of each month and at the end of the year I run a profit and loss statement from Quicken.   From the P/L statement I take our miles and can easily figure our costs.   I do the same for the year to get a broader picture of what our running costs are.

The longer I have our business the easier I have found it to keep track of our cost per mile.

My bottom line on what I finally learned was have a budget and when you make more then you have budgeted for save it as you will need it in a short month.

Bob & Linda Caffee
Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters 5 years been out here on the road ten years
[email protected]

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.