Why a rate per mile means less on RGN than anywhere else
On dry van, rate per mile is a reasonable shorthand. On RGN it is close to meaningless in isolation. A four-dollar-a-mile load with three state permits, a pilot car and a route survey can net less than a lower-rated load that runs legal and straight through. The number that matters is what lands after permit cost, escort cost, unpaid planning time and deadhead — and that calculation has to happen before you accept, because none of it is negotiable afterwards.
What actually moves the number
Loaded dimensions first: height, width, length and weight against each state’s legal limits decide whether you are running legal, permitted, or superload. Route difficulty second — bridge restrictions, low clearances, curfew hours and urban routing all add cost and time. Equipment configuration third: how many axles, whether jeeps or flip axles are needed. Then the ordinary factors that move every rate — lane density, season, how far the machine is from where the next one is, and who is negotiating.
Permits and escorts are line items, not overheads
This is where RGN carriers lose money quietly. Multi-state permits, pilot cars, police escorts and route surveys are real costs with real invoices, and they should be priced into the rate or billed as separate accessorials — never absorbed. If a broker is vague about who is paying for permits, that is the conversation to have before the rate confirmation, not after the load is on.
Deadhead hurts more here
Heavy-haul freight is lumpier than van freight. Machinery moves between job sites, not between distribution centres, so the reload density in your delivery market is often thin. An RGN running two hundred empty miles to the next machine is normal and has to be in the arithmetic. The lane that looks best on rate per loaded mile is frequently not the lane that pays best per working day.
Where the ranges published on this site come from
The typical market range shown on our equipment pages is an estimate to orient you — it is not a quote and not a promise. Where a specific load lands inside or outside that range is decided by the factors above. We publish ranges rather than precise figures deliberately: a single number stated as fact would be wrong for most carriers reading it, and we do not publish figures we cannot stand behind.
Getting a real number for your lanes
Send your last ten RGN or lowboy loads with the rate, the loaded and empty miles, and what you paid in permits and escorts. We will show you what we would have negotiated on each and where the cost should have been billed rather than absorbed. If your numbers are already strong we will say so — that happens, and it is a more useful answer than a sales pitch.
If you want this handled rather than researched: broker negotiation and route planning.
Worth reading next: Deadhead math: why a $3.10 load can pay less than a $2.60 load, and The owner operator profit guide: what your cost per mile is really telling you.
Unfamiliar with a term used above? The trucking glossary defines the words brokers, dispatchers and auditors actually use.
Want a straight answer about your own operation? Send your last ten loads. We will tell you what we would have done differently — including "nothing, you are doing fine", when that is the honest answer. Book a free audit, or read who runs the desk first.
Sources and further reading
This site publishes no performance statistics of its own, because none could be independently verified. Where a fact is checkable, here is where to check it — primary sources, not summaries of summaries.
- US Bureau of Transportation Statistics — Freight Facts and Figures — Official US freight volume and modal data.
- US DOT — Federal Bridge Formula — Axle spacing and weight limits, which drive permit cost.
Regulations, fees and processing times change. Verify current requirements directly with the issuing agency rather than relying on any third-party summary, including this one.