Freight shipping cost estimator: a rough truckload price
Enter the miles and equipment for a truckload range, or your pallet size and weight for the LTL class. The freight shipping cost estimator gives a dated, honest starting point before you ask for quotes.
ROUGH TRUCKLOAD COST
$2,390 to $3,233
about $2,811, $3.12 a mile all in
- Linehaul
- $1,953
- Fuel estimate
- $858
A rough national estimate, not a quote. Real rates swing by lane, direction, season, lead time and freight. The range is our assumption, set by the slider.
POSTED: DAT, Dry Van Report, Sep 28, 2026 (week ending Sep 25, 2026) · checked Oct 2026
Hauling freight like this yourself? Our dispatchers find loads for carriers and negotiate the rate, and plan loads around your hours and home time. Dispatch runs 5% of gross for one truck, and you confirm every load.
By Nathan Beck · Updated October 2026
Whether you are shipping freight or hauling it, the first question is the same: roughly what should this cost? This freight shipping cost estimator gives a starting point without pretending to be a quote. For a full truckload it builds a range from a dated national average rate plus fuel. For smaller shipments that go less-than-truckload, it works out the freight class, which carriers need before they will quote.
Truckload: a range, not a quote
The estimate starts from DAT's national average spot linehaul rate for the equipment, which excludes fuel:
- Dry van: $2.17 a mile, week ending September 25, 2026.
- Flatbed: $2.59 a mile, week ending September 25, 2026.
- Reefer: $2.71 a mile, the week before October 1, 2026.
It then adds a fuel estimate from the EIA diesel price and a truck's MPG, standing in for a fuel surcharge, plus any extras you expect. Because a single lane can sit far from a national average, the result is a range; the spread is our assumption, and you can change it.
POSTED: DAT Dry Van, Flatbed and Reefer Reports (Sep 28 and Oct 1, 2026); EIA weekly diesel · checked Oct 2026
How to calculate freight class
LTL shipments are priced partly by freight class, and for many items the class comes from density. The NMFC uses 13 density tiers from under 1 lb/cu ft (class 400) to 50 lb/cu ft or more (class 50), in effect since July 19, 2025. Measure each unit with its pallet, find cubic feet, divide weight by cubic feet, and read the class from the table in the tool. The NMFC item for your commodity has the final word.
POSTED: NMFTA, FCDC 13-subprovision density scale (Docket 2025-1) · checked Oct 2026
How it is calculated
- Linehaul: miles times the per-mile average for the equipment.
- Fuel: miles divided by MPG, times the diesel price.
- Middle estimate: linehaul plus fuel plus extras; the range spreads it up and down by your percentage.
- Freight class: length times width times height over 1,728 for cubic feet, weight over cubic feet for density, then the tier on the scale.
What a good and a bad estimate look like
A good estimate is a budget and a sanity check before you ask for quotes, and a reason to ask what makes a quote differ from it. A bad one is treating a national average as the price for your lane, or guessing a class without measuring. Tolls can be a big extra on some routes; the truck toll cost estimator adds them. Carriers checking whether an offer pays should run it through the rate per mile calculator and compare it with their own trucking cost per mile. Good truck route planning software gives you the real miles, and our guide to trucker discounts covers costs a carrier can cut.
For carriers: loads that pay your rate
If you haul freight, the national average is not your number. Our dispatchers find loads for carriers, negotiate to your rate, and plan loads around your hours and home time. You confirm every load and the rate con comes straight to you. See how it works for owner operators, or apply in about two minutes.
Questions about this calculator
How do I calculate freight class?
Measure each handling unit, pallet included, in inches; multiply length by width by height and divide by 1,728 to get cubic feet. Divide the weight, pallet included, by the cubic feet to get density in pounds per cubic foot. Then read the class off the NMFC density scale: 50 pounds per cubic foot or more is class 50, under 1 is class 400.
Is this an FTL freight quote calculator?
It gives a rough truckload range, not a quote. It starts from DAT's dated national average spot linehaul rate for your equipment, adds an estimate for fuel, and spreads it by a percentage you choose. Real quotes depend on the lane, direction, season, lead time and the freight itself, and can sit well outside any national average.
Why does the estimator not price LTL?
Less-than-truckload prices come from each carrier's tariff, discounts, accessorial rules and fuel surcharge tables, which we cannot see or average honestly. What the estimator can do is work out your freight class, which every LTL carrier needs before it quotes. Use that class, the weight and the dimensions to request two or three quotes.
What makes a truckload cost more than the average?
Short lead times, lanes where more freight leaves than comes back, peak produce or holiday seasons, hard-to-reach pickup or delivery locations, extra stops, special handling like tarping, and long wait times all push prices up. Flexible dates, easy docks and lanes trucks want to run tend to price below the average.
Carriers: loads priced on your numbers
We negotiate the rate. You approve every load and get the rate con.