School bus cost per mile: what goes into it and how to work it out

Ask a contractor what a bus costs to run and you'll usually hear the fuel bill and the last big repair. But the real school bus cost per mile includes things that don't show up at the pump: insurance, registration, tires, and the slow loss of value as the bus ages. Without them, you underprice routes and can't tell which buses are costing you more than they should.

This guide explains what goes into cost per mile, how to calculate it, and how to use it. The free fleet cost per mile calculator does the math as you type.

What goes into school bus cost per mile

Every cost of running a bus falls into one of two groups.

The split matters. Variable costs per mile stay about the same whatever the mileage. Fixed costs per mile fall as the bus drives more — the same insurance bill spread over more miles. That's why a bus that sits half the day costs more per mile than one that runs a mid-day route too.

How to calculate school bus operating cost per mile

1. 1Pick a period — a full year is best, so seasonal costs (winter tires, summer repairs) are in it.
2. 2Count the miles — the odometer at the start and end of the year, or add up the miles between fill-ups.
3. 3Fuel per mile = fuel price ÷ miles per gallon.
4. 4Every other yearly cost ÷ miles a year — maintenance and repairs, tires, insurance, registration and fees, and the driver if you include one.
5. 5Depreciation = (purchase price − what you'll sell it for) ÷ years you'll keep it, then ÷ miles a year. For a leased bus, use the yearly lease payments instead.
6. 6Add them up. That's your cost per mile.

A worked example

These are the starting numbers in the cost per mile calculator — an example to show the math, not a typical bus. Use your own figures.

• 15,000 miles a year, 7 mpg, fuel at $4.10 a gallon.
• Maintenance and repairs $4,500 a year, tires $1,200, insurance $4,500, registration, inspections and fees $600.
• Bought for $135,000, sold for $15,000 after 12 years.

In this example, fixed costs — insurance, depreciation and fees — are about $1.01 of the $1.97. Run the same bus 20,000 miles a year with the same fixed costs and that part drops to about $0.76 a mile. Add a driver at, say, $25,000 a year and the total rises to about $3.64 a mile at 15,000 miles.

Where to find the numbers

• Fuel — your fuel receipts or card statements; miles per gallon from the odometer at each fill-up. See how to track fuel use per bus.
• Maintenance and repairs — shop invoices, parts and work orders for that bus, not the fleet average.
• Tires — purchases and repairs, by bus.
• Insurance — your policy, split by bus (by the premium for each, or evenly).
• Fees — registration, state inspections, permits.

How to use cost per mile

• Price routes. Cost per mile × the route's daily miles is the vehicle part of a route's daily cost. Add the driver and aide, overhead and your margin — the route price calculator does it, and how much contractors charge per route walks through it.
• Compare buses. Leave the driver out and line the buses up. One that costs far more per mile than the others of its size is a candidate for a closer look — or for replacement.
• Decide when to replace. As a bus ages, depreciation per year falls but repairs rise. When the repairs per mile keep climbing, replacing may cost less than keeping it.
• Check fuel. A rising fuel cost per mile with steady prices points to a mechanical problem, idling or a change in the route. See school bus miles per gallon and fuel costs.

Doing it in FleetCommander

FleetCommander works out cost per mile from what you already record. Each fill-up logged in Fuel with the odometer gives the vehicle's miles per gallon, and the page shows Fuel cost, Avg price / gal, Fleet MPG and Fuel cost / mile for the dates you choose. Costs from fuel entries and completed work orders flow into Expenses automatically, with the rest — tires, insurance, registration, tolls — added by hand; Expenses › Cost summary shows the Total fleet cost, split into Fuel, Maintenance and Other, and the Cost / mile of each vehicle. See the Expenses and Fuel guides.

Reports has Vehicle costs, Vehicle mileage, Maintenance costs and Fuel consumption, on screen or as CSV, Excel or PDF. And Calculators › Cost per mile in the app has Use my numbers, which fills in your own fuel price, miles per gallon, miles a year, maintenance, tires, registration and insurance from the last 12 months — see the Calculators guide. For keeping maintenance costs down in the first place, see fleet maintenance software.

Ava (Beta), the assistant in FleetCommander, answers the cost questions in plain words: Which bus used the most fuel last month?, Top 5 vehicles by repair cost, What do we spend the most on? or Fuel this month vs last month. Follow up with and the month before? without repeating yourself. More on her page.