Cost per Mile Calculator for Taxi: Cost per Mile for Professional Drivers

Taking cost per mile calculator for taxi as the case in point: Cost per mile is the number that decides whether driving for work pays, because it is the cost of every mile driven — not just the miles with a passenger or a parcel, but the miles to the pickup, the miles home, and the miles between jobs. For a delivery or taxi driver those empty miles are a large share of the total, so the cost per mile has to be worked out on all miles driven, not just the paid ones. This page shows how: the tyre cost per mile from the price and the mileage, the fuel cost per mile from the price and the MPG, and the other running costs, with a worked example using stated assumptions and a table of example prices against example mileages. Every figure is an example, labelled as such.

For cost per mile calculator for taxi, the point is this: The worked example uses a tyre costing £130 as an example over an assumed 30,000 miles, giving 0.43 p per mile for one tyre and 1.73 p per mile for a set of four, and the same method applied to fuel gives the fuel cost per mile from the driver's own MPG. Added together with insurance, servicing and depreciation, those figures give the true cost per mile, which is the number to compare with the pay per mile before accepting work. The sections below cover the tyre maths, the fuel maths, the other costs, the records to keep, and the mistakes that make driving for work look more profitable than it is.

The cost-per-mile formula for cost per mile calculator for taxi

Cost per mile = tyre price ÷ expected mileage. For a single tyre, divide the price of one tyre by the miles it is expected to cover. For a set of four, the cost per mile is (4 × tyre price) ÷ expected mileage, which is four times the single-tyre figure. The result is usually expressed in pence or cents per mile: a tyre costing £130 over an assumed 30,000 miles gives £130 ÷ 30,000 = £0.0043, or 0.43 p per mile. The mileage in the formula is the uncertain half — it is an assumption or a measurement, never a guaranteed property of the tyre — so the worked example below states its assumptions plainly, and the section on measuring wear shows how to replace the assumption with a figure measured on the actual car. That is the point this page works through for cost per mile calculator for taxi.

cost per mile calculator for taxi: What cost per mile means

For cost per mile calculator for taxi, the point is this: Tyre cost per mile turns two numbers — the price and the mileage — into one number that can be compared across tyres, vehicles and budgets. The formula is cost per mile = tyre price ÷ expected mileage, and for a set of four tyres the total is (4 × price) ÷ mileage. A result of 0.5p per mile means each mile of driving wears away half a penny of tyre value, and the table below shows how that figure moves when the price or the mileage changes. The prices and mileages in this article are examples, labelled as such, because no tyre's real-world mileage can be stated as a fact: it depends on driving style, alignment, inflation pressure, load and the roads the car uses.

Worked example: £130 over 30,000 miles for cost per mile calculator for taxi

On this page, cost per mile calculator for taxi is the case in point: Take a tyre priced at £130 as an example, with an assumed life of 30,000 miles. The cost per mile for one tyre is £130 ÷ 30,000 = £0.0043, which is 0.43 p per mile. A set of four costs £520 and lasts the same 30,000 miles, so the cost per mile for the set is £520 ÷ 30,000 = 1.73 p per mile. Over 10,000 miles of driving, the set costs 173.33 £ in tyre wear; over 12,000 miles a year it costs 208.00 £ a year. If the same tyre lasted 40,000 miles instead of 30,000, the cost per mile for the set would fall to 1.30 p; if it lasted only 20,000 miles, it would rise to 2.60 p. Both the price and the mileage are examples, labelled as such, and the mileage is the figure that matters most because it is the one that varies most between drivers.

Cost per mile table: three prices against three mileages for cost per mile calculator for taxi

All prices and mileages are examples used to show the working. Read across for the mileage and down for the price. That is the point this page works through for cost per mile calculator for taxi.

Tyre price (example) 20,000 miles 30,000 miles 40,000 miles
£90 0.45 p per mile 0.30 p per mile 0.22 p per mile
£130 0.65 p per mile 0.43 p per mile 0.33 p per mile
£180 0.90 p per mile 0.60 p per mile 0.45 p per mile

The table shows the two directions of the formula at once: moving right along a row, the cost per mile falls as the mileage rises, and moving down a column it rises as the price rises. A £90 tyre over 20,000 miles costs 0.45 p per mile, while the same tyre over 40,000 miles costs 0.22 p — the same tyre, the same price, and a very different cost per mile, decided entirely by how long it lasts. That is why the mileage deserves more attention than the price: it is the bigger lever, and it is the one the driver can influence by the way the car is driven and maintained. Compare tyres at the same assumed mileage so the comparison is like-for-like, and use a measured wear rate where one is available. That is the point this page works through for cost per mile calculator for taxi.

cost per mile calculator for taxi: What decides how long a tyre lasts

For cost per mile calculator for taxi, the point is this: The mileage in the formula is an estimate, and the factors behind it are worth listing because they decide whether the estimate is realistic. Aggressive driving wears tread faster than gentle driving, and the difference is large. Misalignment wears one edge of the tyre and can halve its life. Under-inflation wears the shoulders and builds heat; over-inflation wears the centre. Heavy loads, rough surfaces and hot weather all add wear, and a tyre that spends its life on motorways wears differently from one that spends it on town streets. The practical answer is to measure: note the tread depth when the tyres are fitted, measure it again after a known mileage, and the wear rate that comes out is the figure for that car and that driving — far more useful than any quoted number.

How to measure your own tyre mileage for cost per mile calculator for taxi

The way to get a real mileage figure is to measure tread wear over a known distance. Record the tread depth with a gauge when the tyres are fitted and the odometer reading at the same time. After several thousand miles, measure again: the wear rate is the depth lost divided by the miles driven, and the remaining life is the depth left above the legal minimum divided by that wear rate. The legal minimum is 1.6 mm in the UK and 2/32 inch in the USA — jurisdiction-specific figures that change, so check the current limit where the car is used. That measured wear rate is the honest input to the cost-per-mile formula, and it is far more useful than any mileage quoted for the tyre, because it reflects the actual car, the actual driving and the actual roads. That is the point this page works through for cost per mile calculator for taxi.

cost per mile calculator for taxi: Common mistakes with cost per mile

The most common mistake is comparing tyres by price alone, which is exactly what cost per mile exists to prevent: the cheapest tyre is often the dearest per mile. The second is putting a quoted mileage into the formula as if it were a measurement — it is at best an average under test conditions, and the actual mileage depends on driving, alignment, pressure and load. The third is forgetting that a set of four costs four times a single tyre, so the per-mile figure for the set is four times the single-tyre figure and the budget should be worked out on the set. The fourth is comparing tyres at different assumed mileages, which makes the comparison meaningless — use the same assumed mileage for every tyre so the comparison is like-for-like. And the fifth is ignoring the rest of the cost of driving: tyres are one line in the running cost, alongside fuel, insurance and servicing, and the cheapest tyre per mile is not necessarily the cheapest car per mile. That is the point this page works through for cost per mile calculator for taxi.

cost per mile calculator for taxi: Related pages

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate cost per mile calculator for taxi?

On this page, cost per mile calculator for taxi is the case in point: Divide the tyre price by the expected mileage: cost per mile = price ÷ mileage. For a £130 example tyre over an assumed 30,000 miles, that is 0.43 p per mile for one tyre, or 1.73 p per mile for a set of four. The tyre cost per mile calculator runs the same formula with your own figures.

What is a good tyre cost per mile?

On this page, cost per mile calculator for taxi is the case in point: There is no single good figure, because it depends on the price and the mileage together. At the example figures on this page, a £130 tyre over 30,000 miles costs 0.43 p per mile for one tyre. Compare tyres at the same assumed mileage and judge the result against your own budget — and remember that the mileage is the figure that moves the answer most.

Does the price include fitting?

On this page, cost per mile calculator for taxi is the case in point: It should, if fitting, balancing and any disposal charge were part of what was paid. Leaving them out understates the true cost per mile, so add them to the price before dividing by the mileage. The worked example above uses the tyre price alone as an illustration, so add the fitting cost for a real figure.

How can I make my tyres last longer?

On this page, cost per mile calculator for taxi is the case in point: Keep pressures at the placard figure, checked cold; have the alignment checked when the tyres show uneven wear; drive smoothly instead of accelerating hard and braking late; avoid overloading the car; and rotate the tyres if the manufacturer recommends it. Each of these extends the mileage in the formula, which cuts the cost per mile directly.

What is the legal minimum tread depth?

For cost per mile calculator for taxi, the point is this: In the UK the legal minimum tread depth is 1.6 mm across the central three-quarters of the tread, and in the USA it is 2/32 inch. Both are jurisdiction-specific limits and they change, so check the current figure where the car is used. Most drivers replace tyres before the legal minimum, because wet grip falls off well before the tread is bare.