Know what every kilometre costs, and which loads really pay
A complete operating system for owner-operators, small fleets and courier founders: a workbook and calculator, forms, brand-ready paperwork, message scripts and a Friday money review, in any currency, in km or miles.
- Trucking Business Workbook (17 sheets): cost per km, loads with true trip profit, fuel log, invoices, lanes, maintenance, compliance, 13-week cash forecast and a traffic-light dashboard
- Load and Lane Rate Calculator: break-even, target and ask-for freight for any offer, with a take, negotiate or decline verdict
- 5 fillable PDF forms, 10 brand-ready paperwork templates and 32 messages and phone scripts for brokers, customers and the road
- A 10-chapter e-book that follows one owner-operator's month, 25 AI prompts, 4 cheat sheets, a cab print pack, a calendar and a task board
The Owner-Operator Trucking System · Bodhih Pro Kits · 289 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
How do I work out my cost per km (or mile) as an owner-operator?
Add your fixed monthly costs, including loan, insurance, permits and a fair wage for yourself, and divide by the distance you plan to run. Add fuel per km and running reserves for tyres and maintenance. The Owner-Operator Trucking System from Bodhih Training does this in a workbook and turns it into break-even and target rates for every load.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Calculate Your Truck's Cost per Mile or Kilometre.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
Busy month, thin bank account
The truck ran all month, yet the EMI, insurance and fuel leave little behind. Without a cost per km you cannot tell which loads paid and which quietly lost money.
Pricing on the phone by feel
A broker wants an answer in two minutes. Without break-even and target numbers to hand, the easy answer is yes, even when the empty run to the pickup makes it a losing load.
Paperwork that leaks money
Lost receipts, detention never claimed, invoices sent at month end and renewals remembered at the checkpoint. Each one is small. Together they cost a month's profit.
Cash surprises
A profitable quarter, then the insurance premium, a tyre set and a slow payer land in the same fortnight. Profit and cash part company, and nothing warned you.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Imagine it is Friday at four. You open the workbook in the cab, and the dashboard shows your month in traffic lights: revenue per km, profit after your own wage, empty share, fuel economy and the lowest cash week ahead.
As you open the calculator before the next broker call, you already know your break-even, your target and the figure to ask for. When the offer is low, you have the words ready, and you can compare it with your real alternative instead of with a feeling.
When you deliver, the invoice goes the same day with the signed POD. When a customer is late, the reminder is already written. When insurance is due in January, you saw it coming in November and started saving.
Whether you start with the cost sheet tonight or the trip sheet on your next run, each Friday ends with one decision written down. Fifty of those in a year is how a one-truck business changes.
20 files that do the work for you
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The Owner-Operator Trucking System (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: your trucking business map
The job in ten steps with the file for each, your first hour, your first week, Brand it in five minutes, and a 30/60/90 day plan.
Trucking Business Workbook
17-sheet master workbook: settings, cost per km builder, loads with true trip profit, fuel log with economy alerts, trip costs, invoices with overdue flags, broker and customer register, lane results, maintenance schedule, compliance calendar, weekly money review, 13-week cash forecast, trend and a traffic-light dashboard with three charts.
Load and Lane Rate Calculator
7-sheet calculator: break-even and target freight for any offer with a take, negotiate or decline verdict, round-trip comparison, diesel price and fuel economy grid, empty-running rate table and a summary with two charts.
Truck and business setup audit
Four-page fillable audit for day one: business and authority, truck documents, insurance and money set-up, then your cost baseline and first targets.
Load acceptance and broker vetting form
Three-page fillable form: vet a new broker or shipper before the first load, check a load against your numbers on the call, and confirm the terms in writing.
Trip sheet and delivery record
Three-page fillable trip sheet: odometer, fuel and expenses by stop, timings for detention, the proof of delivery check and a quick end-of-trip result.
Breakdown, incident and claim record
Three-page fillable record for a breakdown, accident or cargo claim: the first steps, the facts and evidence, then costs, insurance and lessons.
Weekly money review form
Two-page fillable form for the 30-minute Friday review: the five numbers, money owed, the next 13 weeks of cash, the truck and the one decision for next week.
Business paperwork templates (brand-ready)
Ten brand-ready Word templates: rate confirmation, one-page haulage terms, freight invoice, detention notice, statement of account, three payment reminders, factoring notice, a one-page safe operating policy, a driver or helper discussion sheet and a vehicle handover note.
Broker, customer and road message library
32 ready-to-send messages and phone scripts for rates, direct customers, bookings, delays and breakdowns, detention, delivery, getting paid, factoring and saying no, grouped by the moment you need them.
Worked example pack: one truck, one month
The main forms completed for one composite owner-operator through October: cost baseline, load acceptance on two offers, a trip sheet with detention, an invoice and reminder, the weekly review, the cash decision and the month-end numbers.
AI prompt pack for owner-operators
25 tool-agnostic prompts grouped by step of the job, each with what to paste in and what to check before you use the output.
Numbers that matter: KPI card
Thirteen numbers a one-truck business runs on, each with plain words, the exact formula, where it lives in the workbook and what to do if it moves.
Load decision card
Thirteen 'if this, do this' rows for offers, brokers, detention, unsafe loads, hours, breakdowns, late payers and cash, plus the five questions before you say yes.
Trucking mistakes to avoid
Twenty common and costly mistakes in a small trucking business, each with what to do instead.
Trucking rules and fees: correct at November 2026
Dated orientation on hours rules, operator licences, vehicle papers, road-use taxes, broker fraud checks and cost benchmarks in the US, UK and EU, India, Canada, the Gulf, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Cab print pack
Six printable pages for the cab and the yard: walkaround card, trip tally sheet, breakdown and who-to-call card, document wallet checklist, load decision card and the Friday money review poster.
30-day setup and weekly rhythm calendar
26 calendar events: set up the system in 30 days, with a Friday money review every week.
Task board import (Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner, Jira)
36 setup and rhythm tasks with stage, day and the file to open, ready to import into any task tool.
Chapter by chapter
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
- Format
- PDF e-book + XLSX + fillable PDF + DOCX + printable PDF + ICS + CSV
- Files
- 20 files plus a one-click ZIP
- E-book
- 66 pages
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Google, Outlook and Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion
- Best for
- Owner-operators, small fleets of 2 to 50 vehicles, courier and last-mile founders
- Units
- Any currency; km or miles; litres or gallons
What One Kilometre Really Costs
Build your all-in cost per km from fixed costs, running costs and your own wage, and see why distance spreads fixed costs.
Pricing Loads, Lanes and the Way Home
Work out break-even, target and ask-for freight for any offer, count the empty km, and judge lanes as round trips.
Finding Loads and Checking Who Pays
Know where loads come from, grow direct customers and check every new broker through the official register and a phone number you found yourself.
The Trip Sheet: Fuel, Tolls and Every Kilometre
Make the numbers true with the trip sheet, the fuel log measured full to full and every receipt tied to its load.
Keeping the Truck Earning
Schedule maintenance by km and date, do the walkaround every shift and have a breakdown plan before you need one.
The Compliance Calendar
Put every permit, inspection, insurance, tax and licence date in one calendar and plan every load inside the hours rules.
Getting Paid: Invoices, Detention and Factoring
Invoice the day you deliver, earn detention fairly, chase on a calm ladder and use factoring only when the cash forecast says so.
Cash Flow and the Tax Set-Aside
Forecast 13 weeks of cash, save for lumpy yearly bills and move a tax set-aside every Friday.
The Friday Money Review
Thirty minutes every Friday: five numbers, money owed, cash, the truck, and one decision written down.
AI, Drivers and the Second Truck
Use AI to draft and compare while you decide, set up drivers safely, and test a second truck on three months of numbers.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
Start here
- 00-Start-Here-Trucking-Business-Map: the job in ten steps with the file for each, your first hour, your first week, Brand it in five minutes and a 30/60/90 day plan
Workbooks
- Trucking Business Workbook (17 sheets): Settings, Costs, Cost Summary, Loads, Fuel Log, Trip Costs, Invoices, Brokers and Customers, Lanes, Maintenance, Compliance, Weekly Review, Cash Forecast, Trend, Where Money Went and a Dashboard with three charts
- Load and Lane Rate Calculator (7 sheets): Inputs, Load Check with verdicts, Lane Pairs, Fuel Sensitivity, Empty Running and a Summary with two charts
Fillable forms
- Truck and business setup audit (4 pages)
- Load acceptance and broker vetting form (3 pages)
- Trip sheet and delivery record (3 pages)
- Breakdown, incident and claim record (3 pages)
- Weekly money review form (2 pages)
Word templates
- Business paperwork templates, brand-ready (10): rate confirmation, one-page haulage terms, freight invoice, detention notice, statement of account, payment reminders, factoring notice, safe operating policy, driver or helper discussion sheet, vehicle handover note
- Broker, customer and road message library: 32 messages and phone scripts
- Worked example pack: one truck, one month, every main form completed
- AI prompt pack for owner-operators: 25 prompts with what to paste in and what to check
Cheat sheets
- Numbers that matter: KPI card (13 numbers with formulas)
- Load decision card (13 if-this-do-this rows)
- Trucking mistakes to avoid (20)
- Trucking rules and fees: correct at November 2026 (US, UK and EU, India, Canada, the Gulf, Africa, Southeast Asia)
Print pack
- Cab print pack (6 pages): walkaround card, trip tally, breakdown and who-to-call card, document wallet checklist, load decision card, Friday money review poster
Calendar and import
- 30-day setup and weekly rhythm calendar (26 events, .ics)
- Task board import (36 tasks, .csv for Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira)
E-book
- The Owner-Operator Trucking System: introduction, 10 chapters, conclusion and two appendices, with 22 figures including charts built from the workbook's sample numbers
When you have worked through it, you will be able to…
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
- Work out your all-in cost per km or mile, including your own wage
- Price any load in under a minute with break-even, target and ask-for figures
- Judge lanes as round trips and see what empty running costs you
- Check a new broker or shipper before the first load
- Keep maintenance and every renewal on a calendar with early warnings
- Invoice the day you deliver and chase late payers calmly
- See your cash 13 weeks ahead and save for tax and yearly bills
- Run a 30-minute Friday money review that ends in one decision
Know your starting point. Prove your progress.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
Behind the Wheel: Road Risk Judgment for Drivers and Riders
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentSmall Business Operating Decision Assessment for Shop, Service and Studio Owners
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentPricing & Discount Discipline
Take the assessment →JobularySet goals you actually reach with the WOOP method (Jobulary)
Make it a growth plan →A taste of Chapter 2
Empty running is the distance you drive with no paid load: to a pickup, back from a delivery with nothing to carry, or between cities looking for work. Every empty kilometre costs the same as a loaded one and earns nothing. So the loaded kilometres must pay for both. The Empty Running sheet shows the effect. At Ravi's all-in cost of 48.00 per km, with no empty running at all, he needs 48.00 per loaded km to break even. At 15% empty, he needs 56.48. At 30% empty, 68.58. This is why rate per loaded km on its own is a dangerous number. A load paying 60 per loaded km looks generous until you count the 110 km you drove to reach it.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per km | Diesel and tolls only | Fixed costs, running reserves and your own wage, in one number |
| Pricing a load | Rate per loaded km by feel | Break-even, target and ask-for on total km, with a verdict |
| Broker checks | Trust the phone number in the message | Official register, listed phone, references, a 7-step routine |
| Paperwork | Blank invoice template | 10 brand-ready templates plus 32 messages and scripts |
| Cash | Check the bank balance | 13-week forecast with a buffer alert and a tax set-aside |
| Countries | One country's rules | A universal method with a dated rules sheet for several regions |
Made for you if…
- Owner-operator truck drivers with one truck, under their own permit or contracted to a carrier
- Small fleet owners running 2 to 50 vehicles who want every truck on the numbers
- Courier and last-mile delivery founders pricing routes, drops and vans
- Drivers planning to buy their first truck who want to know the real costs first
- Family transport businesses moving from notebooks and memory to a simple system
- Accountants and advisers who support small transport clients
Probably not for you if…
- Large fleets that need a full transport management system with dispatch software
- Anyone looking for a way around hours, weight or safety rules: this kit works inside them
- Anyone wanting legal or tax advice: the kit points you to your regulator and accountant
Built by trainers, tested in real rooms.
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
From here to using it in three steps
- STEP 1
Tap Get the kit
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
- STEP 2
Download instantly
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
- STEP 3
Open the first tool
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Your truck already works hard. Let the numbers work too.
Open the workbook tonight and type your costs, or open the calculator before your next broker call. Either way, your first Friday review will show you more about your business than a month of guessing.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
What buyers say
No ratings yet. Only people who have bought this kit can rate it - every buyer gets a one-click rating link a couple of days after their purchase.
The Bodhih family, when you are ready for more
The Small Fleet Manager
Manage 2-50 vehicles.
The Delivery Business Starter Kit
Start a local courier, last-mile or hyperlocal delivery business.
AssessAll
250+ AI-graded assessments to measure skills and earn verified credentials.
Jobulary
Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
Bodhih Training
Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Pewple
Book a vetted coach for career, leadership or communication. Pay per session.
Bodhih.org pathways
Certification pathways in Applied AI, Workplace English and management.
The Owner-Operator Trucking System: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkHow do I calculate cost per mile or per km for my truck?
Divide your fixed monthly costs, including a fair wage for yourself, by the distance you plan to run each month. Add fuel per km (price divided by economy) and running reserves for tyres, maintenance and similar costs. The workbook's Costs and Cost Summary sheets do the sums and give you break-even and target rates.
Does it work in my country?
The method is universal and the workbooks run in any currency, in km or miles. The dated rules sheet covers the US, the UK and EU, India, Canada, the Gulf and pointers for Africa and Southeast Asia, correct at November 2026. Laws, permits and taxes still need checking locally with your regulator and adviser.
Can I use this with my drivers or team?
Yes, within your own business under the personal licence: share the forms, policy and print pack with your drivers and helpers. Company and multi-site licences are available via solutions@bodhih.com.
I run a small fleet, not one truck. Will it work?
Yes. Use one copy of the workbook per truck, or add a truck column to Loads, and compare trucks on profit per km. The calculator, forms, policy and driver discussion sheet are built for fleets of up to about 50 vehicles.
What is a good rate per mile or km?
There is no universal good rate: it depends on your costs, your lanes and how much you drive empty. The right rate is at or above your own target rate per total km, which the kit calculates from your numbers. Market averages are useful context, never a substitute.
How do I check whether a freight broker is real?
Look the company up on the official register yourself, call the phone number listed there before discussing the load, check the email domain and ask for carrier references. The vetting form walks through seven steps. Never pay a fee to get a load.
Is this legal, tax or financial advice?
No. The kit is educational and organisational. It helps you run the business and keep records; your regulator, accountant and lawyer decide what applies to you. Templates are starting points for a professional to formalise.
How do I measure my starting point?
AssessAll offers separate assessments that fit this kit: Behind the Wheel: Road Risk Judgment for Drivers and Riders, Small Business Operating Decision Assessment, and Pricing & Discount Discipline. They are optional and not included in the kit.
How do I turn this into a development plan?
Write your first three decisions from the Friday review as goals, then use the WOOP method explained on Jobulary (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan) to turn each one into an if-then plan you follow through on.
Do I need special software?
No. The workbooks open in Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice, the forms in any PDF reader that supports fillable fields, the templates in Word or Google Docs, and the calendar in Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
How much does The Owner-Operator Trucking System cost?
₹1,299 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $34 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
How do I get the files after paying?
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
What software do I need?
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Can I get a refund?
Because it is a digital download, kits are not refundable once downloaded. We always refund a duplicate charge or a failed delivery, and if a file is corrupted and we cannot fix it within 3 working days. Full terms: bodhih.org/refunds.
Can my company buy this for a team?
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
