Variable costs
Variable costs scale with the miles you run — fuel, maintenance, tyres, tolls and DEF — and they are the costs a routing or equipment decision can actually change.
Last reviewed · by the fleetchart dispatch desk
Fuel dominates, typically the largest single line in a carrier's cost structure. Maintenance and tyres are variable but arrive irregularly, so they are best amortised per mile rather than recorded only in the months they occur.
Because variable costs respond to decisions, they are where operational improvement shows up: fuel economy, routing around tolls, and preventative maintenance all move this number.