Pilot Car Escort Run Profit Calculator — true profit, margin and lowest quote per run

1. What you quote

How you quote it

Your price ($ per loaded mile, or $ for the run)

Minimum charge or day rate ($)

If the miles times your rate come to less than the minimum, the minimum is what you bill.

2. Miles, hours and days away

Loaded miles (with the load)

Deadhead miles (to the start and home from the end)

Driver hours, including waiting

Days away

Hotel nights

Tolls and permits paid on the run ($)

3. What the run costs to drive

Driver pay ($ per hour, 0 if you drive it)

Vehicle miles per gallon

Fuel price ($ per gallon)

Maintenance and tires ($ per mile)

Meals ($ per day away)

Hotel ($ per night)

Card and invoicing fees (%)

4. The vehicle and your year

Vehicle cost ($)

Runs you expect over its life

Yearly insurance ($)

Yearly certifications, permits and training ($)

Yearly signs, lights, radios and gear ($)

Escort runs per year

Margin you want (%)

Fill in the numbers, then click Check this run.

Result

Line	Per run

5. Compare with a second run

Run A is everything above. Run B shares your pay, vehicle, fees and yearly overhead, and has its own quote, miles, hours and days. A short run that bills the minimum against a long run is the usual question.

Run B: how you quote it

Run B: price ($ per loaded mile, or $ for the run)

Run B: minimum charge ($)

Run B: loaded miles

Run B: deadhead miles

Run B: driver hours

Run B: days away

Run B: hotel nights

Run B: tolls and permits ($)

How it is built

Run costs: driver pay (driver hours × pay), fuel (loaded plus deadhead miles ÷ mpg × price), maintenance per mile driven, meals per day, hotel per night, tolls and permits, card fees on the whole price, the vehicle's cost ÷ expected runs, and a fixed share: yearly insurance, certifications and equipment ÷ runs per year. True profit is the price (or the minimum, if it is higher) minus those costs, before tax.

Lowest quote: the costs that do not depend on price, divided by (1 − card fees − target margin), as a total, or divided by the loaded miles for a per-mile quote. The test suite checks that quoting exactly that amount earns the target margin for hundreds of random runs. If your minimum charge is already above it, the tool says so.

Common questions

How do I price a pilot car escort run so it makes money?

Start from what the truck is really doing, not the miles on the permit: the loaded miles with the load plus the deadhead to the start point and home from the end point, the driver hours including waiting, tolls, meals and hotel nights on a multi-day move. Add fuel and wear for every mile driven, card fees, the vehicle's cost per run and a share of your yearly insurance, certifications and equipment. Divide the costs that do not scale with price by one minus card fees and your target margin to get the lowest total price, or per-mile rate.

Why does a short escort run lose money?

Because the miles and hours around the load are not billed. A 140-mile run with 60 empty miles to get there and home and five hours of driver time quotes $252 at $1.80 a loaded mile, so most operators set a minimum or day rate. The minimum has to cover the deadhead, the hours and a share of the yearly overhead, not just the fuel.

What should my minimum charge or day rate be?

Enter your shortest typical run: loaded miles, deadhead and hours. The calculator shows the total the run needs for your target margin. Set the minimum at or above that number and the short runs stop being the ones that lose money.

How many escort runs a year do I need to break even?

Take what one run earns above its direct costs, which is everything except the yearly insurance, certification and equipment share, and divide your yearly overhead by that. The calculator shows the runs a year at your price and warns if it is more than the runs you expect.

Should I take the long run or the short run?

Compare profit per run and profit per driver hour. If your days are the limit, the run with the higher profit per driver hour is the better use of a day, even if another run makes more money by itself.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser, there are no accounts, and nothing is sent to a server. Use Save to download a scenario file.

Is this tax, insurance or business advice?

No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type. State escort rules, insurance, permits and tax depend on where you operate. Check with an accountant, your insurer or your state permit office.