Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Cost per stop
$2.654
Total route cost
$345
Fixed route cost (labor+vehicle+fuel)
$293
Total handling cost
$52
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How to use this
- 1Enter driver labor cost for route ($).
- 2Enter vehicle fixed cost allocated to route ($).
- 3Enter fuel cost for route ($).
- 4Enter handling cost per stop (scanning, packaging) ($/stop).
- 5Enter stops completed.
- 6Read your cost per stop on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Last-mile delivery operations are usually priced and budgeted per stop, not per mile, because customer density (not raw distance) drives most of the cost. This calculator spreads a route's total cost — driver labor, vehicle fixed and fuel cost, and any per-stop handling cost — across the number of stops completed to give a true cost per stop, which you can then compare against what you're charging per delivery (if you're a paid last-mile provider) or use to judge route efficiency for an internal fleet.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Driver labor cost for route: 210 $
- Vehicle fixed cost allocated to route: 55 $
- Fuel cost for route: 28 $
- Handling cost per stop (scanning, packaging): 0.4 $/stop
- Stops completed: 130
Results
- Cost per stop: $2.654
- Total route cost: $345
- Fixed route cost (labor+vehicle+fuel): $293
- Total handling cost: $52
What each field means
Inputs
- Driver labor cost for route ($)
- The driver labor cost for route used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 210 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Vehicle fixed cost allocated to route ($)
- The vehicle fixed cost allocated to route used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 55 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Fuel cost for route ($)
- The fuel cost for route used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 28 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Handling cost per stop (scanning, packaging) ($/stop)
- The handling cost per stop (scanning, packaging) used in the calculation, measured in $/stop. Starts at 0.4 $/stop so you have a working example on load.
- Stops completed
- The stops completed used in the calculation. Starts at 130 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Cost per stop
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total route cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Fixed route cost (labor+vehicle+fuel)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total handling cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What's a typical cost per stop in last-mile delivery?
Dense urban parcel routes commonly run $1.50-$3.00 per stop; suburban routes $2.50-$4.50; sparse rural routes can exceed $6-8 per stop due to distance between drops diluting a mostly fixed route cost across fewer stops.
Why does adding more stops lower cost per stop?
Labor, vehicle, and most fuel cost for a route are largely fixed once the driver and vehicle are dispatched, so packing more stops into the same route spreads that fixed cost thinner — this is the core economic argument for route density optimization.
How should I set delivery pricing using this?
Price above your fully loaded cost per stop with margin for overhead and profit, and recognize that low-density routes need either a density surcharge or a minimum per-route fee to avoid being unprofitable regardless of per-stop rate.
Does this apply to contracted delivery partners (like gig-style last mile)?
Yes — if you're paying a contracted delivery service per stop, compare their rate against your own estimated cost per stop using your own labor and vehicle assumptions to judge whether outsourcing is actually cheaper than running it in-house.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Cost Per Stop Last-Mile Delivery Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-stop-last-mile
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-stop-last-mile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cost Per Stop Last-Mile Delivery Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Cost Per Stop Last-Mile Delivery Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-stop-last-mile) (2026).