Truck Operating Costs Reach Record $2.34 Per Mile
Vehicle operating costs per mile are increasing. We can help
"There was no single contributor to cost increases in 2025, as every line-item aside from permits and licenses increased year-over-year," the report stated.
Rising Maintenance, Tire and Equipment Costs
Repair and maintenance costs were among some of the greater increases, rising 8.6% to 21.5 cents per mile, up from 19.8 cents the previous year. The category includes parts, internal and purchased labor, and roadside service, but excludes tires, towing and recovery.
Tire costs increased 6.4%, driven in part by tariffs affecting natural and synthetic rubber, while combined truck and trailer procurement costs increased 3.6%.
Due to the soft freight market, many fleets kept trucks longer, and the average truck age rose for the first time since 2022, to 3.6 years. The annual mileage per truck increased to nearly 86,000 miles from 82,677 to 85,991. Fleets also extended the average tractor replacement threshold to 633,772 miles, nearly 50,000 miles more than the previous year.
At the same time, average mileage between breakdowns or unscheduled repairs dropped to 36,891 miles from 38,249 miles the previous year. Increased downtime can lead to higher costs due to missed delivery windows, decreased driver and equipment utilization, and reduced customer satisfaction.
Margins Remain Thin Despite Capacity Reductions
ATRI added that the freight market was still working through excess capacity, and motor carriers reduced the number of trucks actually moving freight by 5.5% in 2025 through a combination of fleet downsizing and leaving trucks unseated.
Operating margins improved in some sectors but remained slim. Truckload carriers reported an average operating margin of 0.4%, refrigerated carriers averaged 0.6%, and flatbed and oversize carriers posted an average operating loss of 0.5%.
The Importance of Controlling Fleet Costs
The report stated that “cost discipline will continue to be vital for fleets to be profitable in an environment where margins are razor-thin and new freight demand is likely limited.” Penske offers several solutions to help fleets control costs where they can, including:
Leased Equipment
A full-service lease can replace fluctuating equipment and maintenance expenses with one monthly cost. Penske full-service leases include maintenance, which helps fleets avoid sudden repair expenses, as well as roadside assistance and replacement vehicles, to improve uptime. ATRI noted that repair and maintenance costs “are likely to continue rising at elevated rates.”
Rental Trucks
Rental trucks and trailers give fleets flexible access to capacity without committing to long-term equipment costs. Fleets can use rentals to meet seasonal demand, cover planned maintenance or unexpected downtime, and test new routes or applications before adding permanent vehicles. This flexibility can help improve utilization and prevent fleets from carrying the fixed costs of underused equipment during softer freight periods.
Used Equipment
Purchasing pre-owned equipment can provide a lower-cost alternative to new equipment. Penske Used Trucks offers a wide range of trucks and trailers, and most equipment is owned and maintained by Penske, so buyers benefit from well-maintained equipment with detailed condition reports.
Robust Preventive Maintenance
Penske’s maintenance programs use vehicle data and analytics to tailor preventive maintenance to a unit’s age, condition, specifications and reliability trends. Dynamic PM® helps technicians get ahead of issues before they cause bigger problems or lead to downtime. Remote diagnostics and intelligent maintenance tools can also help distinguish between faults requiring immediate attention and those that can be addressed during scheduled service.
Maintenance Support
For fleets with internal maintenance operations, Penske can complement existing capabilities through contract, managed mobile or on-site maintenance. Benefits include access to Penske’s nationwide network of more than 900 shops, discounted rates on tire retreading and DPF filter cleaning, roadside support and fleet services.
Fuel Program
Penske's fuel program offers competitive prices at more than 375 fueling locations available in 42 states. Penske has a strategic fuel team that monitors market conditions around supply, logistics and prices. Fueling locations are full service, which can save drivers time, and Penske’s employees walk around the tractor and trailer to check for maintenance issues.
Equipment Evaluations
Penske can work with fleets to review utilization, fuel economy, maintenance history, application, specifications and downtime to help fleets determine if a vehicle should be kept, reassigned or replaced. Plus, Penske’s Life Cycle Extension Calculator can model how extending or shortening replacement cycles can affect operating costs.
Benchmarking Data
Industry averages provide an important view of broader cost trends, but individual fleet performance can vary significantly based on vehicle class, geography, duty cycle, operating weight, specifications and customer requirements. ATRI’s report found a swing of more than a quarter per mile in total costs between the least and most expensive regions. Catalyst AI™ enables Penske customers to compare their operations with similar fleets using more than 100 billion data points annually and 300 models. The platform provides apples-to-apples comparisons across several metrics, including maintenance costs, fuel efficiency and vehicle utilization.
A Fantasy Fleet
Within Catalyst AI, the Fantasy Fleet capability creates a comparison group made up of the top-performing vehicles most similar to each vehicle in a customer’s fleet. Fleet managers can see what an optimized version of their operation could look like, which can help inform vehicle specifications and replacement priorities while uncovering performance gaps within the existing fleet.
Download the free ATRI report today, or contact Penske to learn more.