WASHINGTON — The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is releasing the 2026 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, its flagship benchmarking report.
“Freight rates are finally turning a corner in 2026, but the acceleration of industry-wide costs means that fleets must continue with aggressive cost discipline,” said Chad Marsilio, PGT Trucking Inc. COO. “ATRI’s Operational Costs and the customized benchmarking reports provide vital intelligence for balancing cost management and performance as we prepare our fleet for the much-needed trucking recovery.”
Fuel Costs on the Rise
The industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, 3.4 percent higher than the previous year and the highest per-mile cost in the report’s history. Excluding fuel, costs rose by 4.2 percent to $1.854 per mile.
Costs were up in all major line-items in 2025, with the largest percentage gains in tolls (13.2%), repair and maintenance (8.6%), driver benefits (6.6%), and tires (6.4%). Only two line-items rose at sub-inflationary rates: fuel and, for the second year in a row, driver pay. Truck and trailer procurement costs varied by fleet size amid high prices and low freight volumes. Small fleets spent less on trucks and trailers in 2025 than in 2024, while truckload fleets with more than 1,000 trucks spent 16.1 percent more. First-quarter 2026 data show a continuation of most 2025 cost trends.
Reduction in Freight Capacity
Faced with rising costs and stagnant rates, carriers executed their largest reduction in freight capacity since the start of the freight recession in 2022 – reducing truck counts by 2.4 percent and leaving another 10 percent of trucks unseated on average. Other key metrics show the impact of this prolonged downturn on operations. Average truck age and annual mileage increased, deadhead mileage remained elevated, and non-driver staffing levels were cut by 7.8 percent.
Despite these austerity efforts, carrier profitability remained poor. Operating margins in the truckload and refrigerated sectors improved slightly but were still below 1.0 percent, while tank carriers averaged 4.0 percent. Only LTLs and fleets with more than 1,000 trucks had healthy – but flat year-over-year – margins in 2025. Flatbed carriers, however, had an average operating loss of -0.5 percent.
The full report is available here. Participating carriers receive a customized report directly comparing their operations to an anonymized peer group of the same sector and size.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
