A recent study estimated the total cost of driving for various model year 2025 diesel Class 4–8 trucks over a ten-year period. The estimates show Class 4 delivery trucks with the lowest total 10-year cost of driving ($690,737), followed by Class 6 delivery trucks ($838,967) and Class 8 vocational trucks ($917,095). However, when the miles driven by each of these truck types is considered, the cost per mile for a Class 8 tractor with a sleeper truck is the lowest ($1.82/mile), followed by a Class 8 day cab tractor ($1.89/mile), due to the large number of miles driven. Labor is a large operating expense for all truck types. After labor, fuel is the largest expense for the tractors, and liability insurance is the largest expense for transit buses. Maintenance and repair (M & R) is the largest expense for Class 8 refuse trucks.
Note: M & R = maintenance and repair. For detailed definitions of all cost categories, see the source document.
Source: Burnham, Andrew, Gohlke, David, Rush, Luke, Stephens, Thomas, Zhou, Yan, Delucchi, Mark A., Birky, Alicia, Hunter, Chad, Lin, Zhenhong, Ou, Shiqi, Xie, Fei, Proctor, Camron, Wiryadinata, Steven, Liu, Nawei, and Boloor, Madhur. Comprehensive Total Cost of Ownership Quantification for Vehicles with Different Size Classes and Powertrains. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.2172/1780970.