North America has felt the sting of inflation over the past few years. But for the trucking industry, it’s been a double whammy: an extended freight recession layered on top of rising costs across nearly every line item. 

Numbers and research tell a story. According to ATRI’s 2025 Operational Costs of Trucking report, the average cost to operate a truck dipped slightly to $2.26 per mile last year. But strip out lower fuel prices, and the picture changes: non-fuel operating costs climbed 3.6% to a record $1.779 per mile. Truck and trailer payments jumped 8.3% to 39 cents per mile. And average operating margins fell below 2% in every sector except LTL, with truckload carriers averaging negative 2.3%. 

Then, there’s insurance. Premiums continue to rise as nuclear verdicts and litigation trends reshape the risk landscape. Even carriers with strong safety records see rates climb. 

Should fleets throw up their hands and accept that cost per mile will only go up? 

Absolutely not. 

In a market defined by tight margins, fleets may be able to protect profitability by taking a hard look at operational efficiency and finding ways to eliminate the friction that quietly erodes margin mile by mile.  

Let’s look at some strategies fleets may be able to employ when trying to reign in costs. 

Where fleets can find cost-per-mile wins 

Gaining ground on CPM probably won’t culminate with chasing a single silver bullet. Instead, it pays to make disciplined improvements across an operation. 

Think a bit differently about your metrics 

CPM is the standard benchmark, but it may only tell part of the story. Cost per hour and cost per day reveal how efficiently you’re using time and not just distance.  

A load paying $2.10 per mile sounds solid, but if it takes 14 hours to complete, the hourly economics may put you underwater. Fleets that track all three metrics make smarter decisions about which freight to accept and which to walk away from. 

Focus on fuel efficiency where it counts  

Fuel remains the largest variable cost for most fleets, and the math on weight and terrain is unforgiving. An extra 10,000 pounds of freight can drop fuel economy by a full mile per gallon, adding $85 or more in fuel costs on a 1,000-mile run.  

Multiply that across dozens of loads per month and the impact compounds fast. The fleets controlling fuel spend are routing smarter, managing idle time, and factoring load weight into rate negotiations. 

Manage the asset lifecycle proactively  

Maintenance costs start low and climb steeply as trucks age. Industry operator data shows that trucks operating at 2 cents per mile in year one can hit 10 cents per mile by year five and costs accelerate from there.  

Fleets that track maintenance trends unit by unit, rather than relying on fixed schedules, can time trade cycles more precisely and avoid the exponential cost curve on aging equipment. 

Cut administrative drag 

Back-office inefficiency is one of the quietest margin killers. Manual document handling, delayed billing, and slow exception resolution all add days to the cash cycle and labor hours to the cost structure.  

The 2025 ATRI study found that fleets reduced non-driver staff by 6.8% over the year assessed, which may be a sign that automation is taking hold. The carriers seeing the best results are connecting driver workflows directly to billing and settlement, so administrative cost per mile drops alongside the operational gains. 

Balance asset utilization 

Empty miles remain a persistent challenge and have risen to an average of 16.7% according to ATRI. Every deadhead mile burns fuel and time without generating revenue. Fleets minimizing empty miles through better load planning, tighter reload windows, and smarter positioning are protecting revenue per mile while reducing wear on equipment. 

How Transflo helps fleets tighten cost per mile 

The strategies above all share a common thread: they require visibility, coordination, and speed across the operation. That’s where disconnected systems become the enemy. When driver workflows, vehicle data, and back-office processes live in silos, inefficiencies stack up between them. 

Transflo’s connected ecosystem is designed to eliminate that friction from the cab to the back office. 

Mobile+ keeps drivers moving 

Inside the cab, Transflo Mobile+ combines document scanning, truck-specific navigation, weigh station bypass, and in-app communication in one platform.  

Drivers send documents directly to the back office without stopping at truck stops. They route around low bridges and avoid out-of-route miles. Check calls and manual status updates drop because the system handles communication in context. 

Telematics and ELD solutions deliver real-time visibility 

Transflo’s telematics and ELD offerings surface vehicle and driver insights in real time, allowing dispatchers and fleet managers to address idle time, HOS issues, and routing inefficiencies as they happen. Connected alerts tie directly to driver workflows, so small adjustments protect margin mile by mile instead of showing up as surprises on the monthly balance sheet. 

Telematics data also helps balance asset utilization by identifying which trucks are underused or overworked, enabling smarter rotation and lifecycle decisions. And when paired with camera solutions, fleets gain documented evidence that can help mitigate nuclear verdicts and reduce insurance premiums. 

Workflow AI accelerates the back office 

Transflo Workflow AI automatically classifies and routes documents as they’re scanned, resolves exceptions earlier through intelligent automation, and accelerates billing with fewer manual touchpoints. When documents, telematics data, and workflows connect, administrative cost per mile drops and cash flow improves. Settlement that used to take days can happen in hours. 

The common thread across these solutions is connectivity. Driver actions feed real-time visibility. Real-time visibility informs back-office execution. And back-office automation closes the loop by getting drivers paid faster. Instead of treating each area in isolation, Transflo connects them so the efficiency gains compound instead of getting lost between systems. 

CPM doesn’t have to point up and to the right 

Rising operating costs are a reality fleets can’t ignore, but they’re not always inevitable. The carriers protecting profitability in today’s market are the ones eliminating friction between the cab, the vehicle, and the back office.  

With connected systems working together, cost per mile becomes a lever you can actually control. And in a market defined by tight margins, that control makes all the difference.