Try the Freight Metrics Truck Operating Cost Calculator to estimate the operating cost of your truck or truck-and-trailer combination. Enter your own fuel, vehicle, finance, labour, maintenance and operating information to calculate estimated truck operating costs.
Using the Trial Calculator
This trial calculator provides access to selected features so you can see how Freight Metrics works.
Subscribe to Freight Metrics to unlock all yellow input cells and enter your own operating information for complete calculations and results.
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About the figures in this calculator
The values that load when you choose a country and vehicle are starting points only. They are there so you can see how the calculator works before you enter your own numbers.
Truck and trailer values come from asking prices on public sales sites in October 2026, including trucksales, TradeTrucks, TruckWorld, Trade Me and TruckPaper. Australian values are for vehicles up to two years old and sit toward the upper end of the listings we found. New Zealand and United States values are for vehicles about three years old and sit near the middle. Where we could not find a suitable listing, an older Freight Metrics figure has been kept.
Registration and government charges are taken from published schedules: Transport for NSW and the WA Department of Transport for Australia, NZ Transport Agency licensing and road user charges for New Zealand, and federal and state sources for the United States. Compulsory third party insurance is not included. Wage on-costs follow the ACC levy and KiwiSaver in New Zealand and Social Security, Medicare and workers compensation in the United States. United States running costs are drawn from the American Transportation Research Institute’s 2026 cost study and Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Australian and New Zealand servicing, tyre and overhead costs are carried over from earlier Freight Metrics data and have not been rechecked for this trial. Fuel price links point to AIP, MBIE and the US Energy Information Administration.
Selecting the United Kingdom, South Africa, Europe or Metric Units changes the units and currency symbol only. The vehicle list and default values shown for those selections are the New Zealand figures.
Please note: these figures are indicative and should not be relied on as firm. Many rest on a small number of advertised prices, which are asking prices, not sale prices, and in some cases it is not clear whether GST is included. Costs vary by state, operator, vehicle specification and time, and fuel prices in particular are moving quickly. Check every value against your own quotes and records before using the results for pricing, tendering or finance. Freight Metrics does not guarantee the accuracy of any default value.