Power only means the tractor arrives and pulls a trailer that somebody else owns. The rate per mile sits below van because the carrier is not supplying the trailer — but the load also moves faster, because drop-and-hook removes live loading from the equation entirely.
A single "rate per mile" hides four different things. Brokers and shippers argue about the wrong one all the time, so here is the whole stack, using the live numbers above.
| Component | Per mile | Who it belongs to |
|---|---|---|
| Line haul | — | The truck’s core revenue — driver pay, tractor, trailer, maintenance, insurance. |
| Fuel surcharge | — | Moves with the DOE average. Quoted separately in contract freight, buried inside the number in spot freight. How fuel surcharge works → |
| Carrier total | — | What actually lands on the carrier’s rate confirmation. |
| Broker margin | — | Covers coverage work, credit risk, claims exposure and the brokerage’s own cost of doing business. |
| Shipper pays | — | The all-in number, before any accessorial actually incurred on the load. |
The line haul and fuel split shown is an industry-typical approximation — roughly 78/22 at current diesel levels. On a real load it moves with the lane and the week, which is exactly why fuel is normally quoted as its own line.
Most failed bookings are not arguments about money — they are a load that physically does not fit the trailer that showed up. These are the numbers to put in a posting.
| What the carrier supplies | Tractor and driver only |
| What you supply | The trailer, loaded, legal and roadworthy |
| Typical use | Drop yards, trailer pools, shipper-owned fleets |
| Fifth wheel | Standard height suits most van and reefer trailers; confirm for specialised equipment |
| Turn time | Minutes, not hours — that is the entire point |
Commonly shipped on power only: Anything already loaded in a shipper-owned or broker-owned trailer — retail distribution, large manufacturers, drop-yard networks, trailer-pool programmes.
Benchmark rate per mile multiplied by real lane distance. Useful as a starting point for a conversation, not as a quote — direction, season and appointment requirements all move the true number.
| Lane | Distance | Carrier gets | Shipper pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN → Dallas, TX | 450 mi | — | — |
| Harrisburg, PA → Atlanta, GA | 700 mi | — | — |
| Ontario, CA → Phoenix, AZ | 360 mi | — | — |
Distances are practical truck miles and will differ slightly from a car routing. Work out your own cost per mile →
| Period | What happens |
|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | Softest, tracking general freight. |
| Mar–Aug | Steady — power only tracks distribution volume more than seasonal peaks. |
| Sep–Nov | Firms up with retail build, especially around large distribution networks. |
| Dec | Drops with everything else once holiday freight is positioned. |
Use a standard dry van when you do not own trailers or run drop yards. Power only only makes economic sense when the trailer is already there, already loaded, and genuinely ready to move.
Power only is the fastest coverage you can offer and the cheapest per mile — but only when the trailer is genuinely ready and genuinely legal. One driver turned away for a bad tire costs you that lane’s reputation with every carrier he tells, and drivers tell each other. Verify the trailer before you post, not after.
If you own trailers and run drop yards, power only is usually the lowest all-in cost per load available to you. The trade is that trailer maintenance becomes your problem, visibly and immediately — a driver refusing your trailer is a public event in a way a maintenance log never is.
Line haul is the number everyone negotiates. Accessorials are the number that decides whether the lane was actually profitable. LoadBoot publishes its terms rather than renegotiating them load by load, so both sides know before the truck moves.
| Accessorial | LoadBoot standard | When it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Detention | $60/hr after 2 free hours | Four hours at a dock can exceed the whole margin on a short lane. |
| Layover | $250/day | A missed appointment that pushes delivery to the next day. |
| TONU | $250 | Truck ordered, then the load is not there or does not fit. |
| Lumper | Reimbursed with receipt | Grocery and food distribution, almost every time. |
Worth knowing whichever side of the load you are on. A broker who understands the carrier’s floor covers freight faster; a shipper who understands it stops wondering why the cheapest quote keeps falling through. Against a typical all-in operating cost of $1.90 per mile for a small carrier, the current power only benchmark leaves:
$1.90 is a working average for a one-truck operation. Fleets with newer equipment and better fuel programmes run below it; an older truck with high maintenance can sit well above. Calculate your actual number →
Rate is rarely the reason a power only load sits. It sits because a carrier cannot tell from the posting whether the load is legal on his trailer, how long he will wait, or what he gets paid if it goes wrong. Five things fix most of that.
| Confirm the trailer is legal before you post | Tires, lights, brakes and a current annual inspection. A driver refused at your gate tells every other driver he knows. |
| Give gate hours and the check-in procedure | Yard congestion and guard procedures eat the time advantage that makes power only cheap in the first place. |
| Say whether there is an empty to take out | If the carrier deadheads out of your yard, that cost lands on the outbound rate whether you see it itemised or not. |
| State the trailer type and any special requirements | A reefer trailer means the driver is responsible for running the unit and monitoring temperature. Say who pays for reefer fuel. |
| Give the trailer number and where it is parked | Sounds trivial. A driver circling a 400-trailer yard for forty minutes is detention you will end up paying. |
Post a power only load → · Why posting is free for brokers →
A national benchmark is an average of very different markets. Direction matters as much as distance — the same lane run the other way can price completely differently.
| Versus national | Markets |
|---|---|
| Above national | Markets with few drop yards, where the carrier cannot chain power-only work together. |
| Around national | Major distribution corridors — Memphis, Harrisburg, the Inland Empire, Dallas. |
| Below national | Dense drop-yard networks where a driver can run several power-only turns a day. |
The carrier provides the tractor and driver only. The trailer is supplied by the shipper, the broker, or a trailer pool.
The carrier is not supplying, maintaining or insuring the trailer, and drop-and-hook removes loading and unloading time from the trip.
The driver receives the DOT violation, which is exactly why carriers inspect before hooking and will refuse a trailer with bad tires, lights or brakes.
Yes, or access to a trailer pool. Power only assumes the trailer already exists and is already loaded.
Yes, though the carrier needs to be comfortable running the reefer unit, and responsibility for fuel and temperature monitoring should be written down before the load moves.
It can be excellent, because there is no loading delay. It only works if the trailer is genuinely pre-loaded and ready at the gate.
A set of trailers kept at a shipper location so carriers can drop an empty and take a loaded one without waiting. It is what makes power only economics work.
Posting is free for brokers and shippers — no subscription and no per-post fee. Every carrier who can accept your load has had authority, insurance and safety checked first, every load carries live GPS, and the accessorial terms above are written down before the truck moves rather than argued about after.