Truck payment or its equivalent, insurance, plates and permits, parking, phone, software, accounting. Total them monthly. These costs don't care whether you drove; they must be carried by the miles you actually run — so divide by your honest monthly miles, and be pessimistic, because an optimistic denominator is how carriers lie to themselves.
Fuel at your real MPG (measure it — the sticker lies), a maintenance and tire reserve per mile (skipping this line is the single most common worksheet fraud carriers commit on themselves), and tolls where they're routine.
Pay the driver. Per mile, per hour, percentage, or flat — pick the model that matches reality, but the number cannot be zero. A business plan where the owner works free is a countdown timer.
Add the layers, divide, and you hold your floor. Then re-run it monthly: diesel moved, insurance renewed, miles changed. A floor from last quarter is a guess wearing a suit.
The example carrier from the walkthrough, on paper. Print the blank one below and beat these numbers with your own.
Built inside working truck fleets in the USA — by people who quote loads for a living. RateAnchor is decision support for professional carriers; nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.