Pilot 3, open data
What does a mile really cost on three different corridors?
Three of the biggest federal freight corridors, one short (PA to NJ, about 210 miles), one regional (MI to OH, 409) and one long (CA to TX, 1465). With the placeholder costs below, a loaded mile runs from $2.92 to $3.36. Diesel, weather and truck parking come from public files. Your own costs go in the calculator.
SnapshotEIA, NOAA, BTS parking and FAF6Data period: Diesel to Oct 5, 2026. Weather: 2021 to 2025. Parking: survey compiled 2019. Flows: 2022 (modeled)Retrieved Oct 9, 2026, 12:03 UTCretrieved Oct 9, 2026
Open data, retrieved Oct 9, 2026EXAMPLE VALUES applies only to the placeholder cost inputs
The three lanes
Chosen by rule, not by hand: the biggest truck flow by weight in the FAF6 top 200 whose estimated distance falls in each band (200 to 400, 400 to 800, 800 and up). Click a state or a table row.
- State at the end of a compared lane
- 1 to 3Numbered arc = lane, in the order of the table
What the open data says about each lane
| # | Lane | Est. road miles | Origin diesel $/gal | Weather event-days, October | Worst month (event-days) | Reported parking spots, both end states | Parking facilities, both end states | State rank by spots (of 48) | Thousand tons, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PA to NJ Short haul | 210 | $6.485 | 1.8 | 10.5 (Jul) | 2,405 | 93 | 7 and 18 | 25,910 |
| 2 | MI to OH Regional | 409 | $6.286 | 2.1 | 10.4 (Jul) | 4,245 | 171 | 8 and 2 | 18,665 |
| 3 | CA to TX Long haul | 1,465 | $8.082 | 7.3 | 17.8 (May) | 2,488 | 149 | 9 and 10 | 13,681 |
Weather event-days = for each end state, the highest monthly average count (2021-2025) of days with at least one recorded event in any hazard group, averaged over the two end states. It counts recorded events, not delay and not severity. Parking spots are counts from the 2019 federal survey in the two end states only; states between them are not counted. Rank 1 is the state with the most reported spots in the survey. A big state has more spots because it has more road, so the count shows where the survey found parking, not how hard it is to find a space.
Cost per loaded mile, by component
Placeholders: 6.5 mpg, $1.50 other cost per mile, 15% empty miles, 500 miles per driving day, 2 hours lost on an affected day, $60 per hour of delay, 30 minutes lost per overnight stop [estimate]. Replace them in the calculator.
- Fuel
- Other costs
- Weather
- Parking
Your numbers
The diesel and weather figures are filled from the files. Change the costs to match your books.
True cost, per loaded mile
| Lane | Fuel | Other | Weather | Parking | Total / loaded mi | Per trip |
|---|
Formula: all miles = loaded miles / (1 - empty share). Fuel = all miles x origin diesel / mpg. Other = all miles x other cost. Weather = (event-days / 30) x trip days x hours lost x hourly cost. Parking = overnight stops x minutes / 60 x hourly cost. Total / loaded mile = sum / loaded miles. The diesel price and the event-days come from the files below. Everything else is yours.
What to do tomorrow
Pick the lane you run most and find its row
If your lane is not one of the three, use the calculator's miles from the freight corridors page.
Replace the placeholder costs with your own
Take non-fuel cost per mile from last quarter's books: driver pay, maintenance, insurance, payments, tolls, divided by all miles.
Compare the total per loaded mile with the rate you were quoted
If the quote is below the total, the lane loses money before empty miles are paid for. The minimum rate tool does the full check.
Look at the worst-month column before you commit a lane for winter or storm season
It is a count of recorded event-days, not delay. It tells you which lane to plan buffer time on.
Where the numbers come from
Questions
Why are weather and parking so small in the chart?
With these placeholders, they are small per mile. They matter on specific trips. If your lane is slow in winter or you lose hours every night looking for parking, raise the inputs and watch the total move.
Are the cost numbers real?
The diesel price and the event-days are from the files. The other costs, hours and minutes are placeholders marked [estimate] for you to replace.
Why these three lanes?
A rule picked them: the biggest FAF6 truck flow by weight in each distance band. The pick does not say they are the best lanes, only that they are big and different.
Does the parking count mean there is room for my truck?
No. It is a 2019 survey count at the two end states. It is not live and not availability.
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