The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) recently released the 2026 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, its flagship benchmarking report.

ATRI found that the average cost to operate a truck reached $2.336 per mile in 2025, up 3.4% from the previous year and the highest per-mile cost recorded in the report. Excluding fuel, operating costs increased 4.2% to $1.854 per mile.

Every major operating cost category increased during 2025. The largest percentage increases were in tolls, repair and maintenance, driver benefits, and tires. Fuel and driver pay were the only major line items that increased at rates below inflation, with driver pay doing so for the second consecutive year.

Equipment spending varied by fleet size as carriers responded to high equipment prices and weak freight demand. Small fleets reduced truck and trailer spending compared to 2024, while truckload fleets with more than 1,000 trucks increased procurement spending by 16.1%. ATRI said first-quarter 2026 data indicates these cost trends are continuing.

Carriers also took significant steps to reduce expenses as rising costs outpaced freight rates. Truck counts declined 2.4%, marking the largest reduction in freight capacity since the freight recession began in 2022. Fleets also reported an average of 10% of trucks sitting unseated, increased average truck age and annual mileage, elevated deadhead mileage, and a 7.8% reduction in non-driver staffing.

Despite those measures, profitability remained limited across much of the industry. Operating margins for truckload and refrigerated carriers improved slightly but remained below 1.0%. Tank carriers averaged 4.0%, while only LTL fleets and carriers with more than 1,000 trucks maintained healthy, flat-year-over-year operating margins. Flatbed carriers posted an average operating loss of 0.5%.

“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,” Chad Marsilio, COO of PGT Trucking, stated. “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.”

What this means for the trucking industry

The report underscores that improving freight rates alone may not be enough to restore fleet profitability if operating costs continue rising. Fleet executives may need to closely monitor maintenance, equipment, labor, and other operating expenses while benchmarking performance against peers. The findings also suggest that carriers are continuing to make difficult operational decisions, including reducing capacity and staffing, to manage costs until stronger freight market conditions improve financial performance.