How much is dry van freight per mile?
Dry van freight per mile depends on the lane, and on our Los Angeles to Las Vegas dry vans a full truckload comes to about $6.62 a mile today, with most loads between $5.97 and $6.99 a mile (our estimate for October 22, 2026). Short runs and busy outbound markets cost more per mile, while long runs and return trips cost less, so a national average tells you little about your own load. Lifetime Logistics Services LLC prices your exact lane when you request a quote in the form above.
Today's numbers
Computed October 22, 2026 (Pacific) from our own lane history and that morning's diesel price. Full truckload, US dollars.
| Lane | Trailer | Miles | Typical | Most loads | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles to Las Vegas | Dry van | 272 | $1,800 | $1,625 to $1,900 | $6.62 |
| Las Vegas to Los Angeles | Dry van | 272 | $1,100 | $1,100 to $1,125 | $4.04 |
Diesel this week: $6.659 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's average retail price for the West Coast outside California for the week of October 19, 2026.
Full truckload, linehaul including fuel, before accessorials such as detention or lumper.
These are estimates, not quotes. Ask for a firm quote on your load.
Why a per mile number is only half the story
Truckload freight is priced by the load, not by the mile. A carrier quotes one figure to move your trailer from the pickup dock to the delivery dock, and the per mile number is that figure divided by the loaded miles. It is a handy way to compare two lanes, but it hides what actually drives the price: how long the truck is tied up, where it ends the day, and whether a load is waiting for it on the other end.
Take two loads of the same weight in the same 53 foot dry van. One runs about 270 miles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, the other runs well over a thousand miles to the Pacific Northwest. Both spend roughly the same time waiting at the shipper and the receiver, and that dock time costs the same on either trip. Spread over a short haul it adds a lot to every mile; spread over a long haul it barely shows. That is why short runs almost always cost more per mile than long ones.
Direction matters as much as distance
The two directions of one lane rarely price the same. A market that receives more freight than it ships has trucks sitting empty after they unload, and those drivers will take a lower rate to get home loaded. A market that ships more than it receives has to pull trucks in, and the shipper pays for it. Compare the two rows in the table above: same trailer, same road, two different numbers.
Season moves the gap. Harvest in the Central Valley, holiday retail in the Inland Empire warehouses and summer heat in the desert all change how many trucks are free in a market from one week to the next. A per mile number from a month ago, or one averaged across the whole country, is a guess about your lane. Today’s number for your own pickup and delivery cities is not.
What the per mile price includes, and what it does not
Our estimates are linehaul with fuel included: the move from dock to dock in a standard dry van. They do not include extra charges that only some loads run into. Detention is billed by the hour once the truck has waited past its free time at a dock, and it holds up only when the arrival and departure times are written on the bill of lading. Lumper fees cover paid unloading at warehouses that require it. Extra stops, a truck ordered and then cancelled, and a driver held overnight for a missed appointment are each priced on their own.
Ask any carrier or broker which of those are in the number they give you. A low per mile price with every extra left out often costs more than a fair one that tells you up front how free time, stops and appointments are handled.
How diesel feeds into the number
Fuel is the largest cost a truck carries after the driver, so it moves the per mile price more than anything else on the road. Diesel in the western states runs higher than the national average, and California runs higher still, which is part of why a West Coast lane can price above a lane of the same length in the middle of the country. The diesel line above shows this week’s price from the U.S. Energy Information Administration for the region the load starts in, and our estimates are built on it.
If you ship the same lane again and again, ask whether your price carries a fuel surcharge that moves with that weekly price or a flat rate that already includes fuel. Both are fair; you just want to know which one you are getting.
How to get a per mile price you can book
Give the carrier or broker what changes the number: the pickup and delivery cities, the date, the weight, what the freight is, the dock hours at both ends, and whether a drop trailer works for you. With those, a real per mile price on your lane is a short conversation, not a guess.
We run dry vans, flatbeds and power only across eleven western states, on our own tractors and with partner carriers we screen before they touch your freight. Los Angeles to Las Vegas is a regular lane for us in both directions, and so is the run to Phoenix. The quote form at the top of this page reaches our dispatch desk directly.
From our own loads
Our Los Angeles to Las Vegas dry vans are live loads, not drop trailers: the truck is loaded while it waits, then runs the desert the same day. Most go with partner carriers we screened, and our own tractors take a share in both directions. The trip back from Las Vegas prices lower, because those trucks are heading home to the Los Angeles basin for their next load.
Questions shippers ask
- Is a per mile rate the same as a quote?
- No. A per mile figure is an estimate for comparing lanes. A quote names the full price for your load from your pickup to your delivery, with the extras it includes and the ones it does not. Ask for the quote before you book.
- Why does a short haul cost more per mile than a long one?
- Because the time a truck spends at the shipper and the receiver costs about the same on any trip. On a short haul that dock time is spread over few miles, so each mile carries more of it.
- Does a dry van per mile price include fuel?
- Ours do: the estimates on this page are linehaul with fuel included. Some carriers quote a base rate plus a fuel surcharge that changes with the weekly diesel price, so ask which one you are being given.
- Is a drop trailer cheaper per mile?
- Often, on lanes with steady volume. With a drop trailer the truck does not wait while you load, so the carrier’s time costs less and the shipper loads on its own schedule. It works best on a lane you ship again and again.
Ready to price a load?
Send the quote form or call us. A person on our team replies with a price.