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Delivery Driver Expense Calculator

🚚
miles
🚗
MPG
⛽
/gal
📅

Days / Week

How to Use This Calculator

  1. 1

    Enter your average miles per day

    Divide your weekly shift miles by the days you worked, and count every mile on shift, not just miles with an order on board.

  2. 2

    Use your delivery MPG

    Waiting with the engine running burns fuel without adding miles, so MPG on delivery shifts can be lower than on the highway. To measure it, divide the miles driven since your last fill by the gallons it takes to refill.

  3. 3

    Replace the prefilled gas price with what you pay

    The price field starts at an average price. At 80 miles a day and 25 MPG, every 10 cents per gallon changes your cost by $0.32 a day, about $6.93 a month at 5 days a week.

Formula and Logic

Fuel cost is gallons used times the gas price. The deduction estimate ignores MPG and gas price entirely: it is miles times the IRS business rate.

Gallons used per day

Miles driven ÷ MPG = gallons used

Daily fuel cost

Gallons used × Gas price = fuel expense

Weekly fuel cost

Daily fuel cost × Workdays per week

Monthly fuel cost

Daily fuel cost × (Workdays per week × 4.33 weeks)

IRS deduction per day

Miles per day × $0.76

IRS deduction per year

Miles per day × Workdays per week × 52 weeks × $0.76

Example: actual fuel cost vs. IRS deduction at 80 miles/day, 30 MPG, $3.45/gal, 5 days/week

Actual Fuel Cost

80 ÷ 30 × $3.45 = $9.20/day

$46.00/week · ~$199/month

IRS Deduction (Jul to Dec 2026 rate)

80 × $0.76 = $60.80/day

$304.00/week · ~$1,316/month

The IRS standard mileage rate is based on the fixed and variable costs of operating a car, including depreciation, insurance and repairs as well as fuel, so it is far above fuel cost alone. A deduction lowers the income you pay tax on; it is not money paid to you.

Example Calculations

Example 1: Part time delivery driver

Inputs

  • Miles per day60
  • Vehicle MPG30
  • Gas price$4.00/gal
  • Days per week4

Outputs

  • Gallons/day60 ÷ 30 = 2 gal
  • Daily fuel cost$8.00
  • Weekly fuel cost$32.00
  • Monthly fuel cost$138.56

$32.00 a week × 4.33 weeks = $138.56 a month. The deduction estimate for the same miles is 60 × $0.76 = $45.60 a day.

Example 2: Full time food delivery driver

Inputs

  • Miles per day100
  • Vehicle MPG25
  • Gas price$4.25/gal
  • Days per week6

Outputs

  • Gallons/day100 ÷ 25 = 4 gal
  • Daily fuel cost$17.00
  • Weekly fuel cost$102.00
  • Monthly fuel cost$441.66

At 4 gallons a day, 6 days a week, this driver buys 24 gallons a week, so every 10 cents per gallon adds $2.40 a week.

Example 3: Fuel cost vs. mileage deduction

Inputs

  • Miles per day80
  • Vehicle MPG32
  • Gas price$4.00/gal
  • Days per week5

Outputs

  • Gallons/day80 ÷ 32 = 2.5 gal
  • Daily fuel cost$10.00
  • Weekly fuel cost$50.00
  • Monthly fuel cost$216.50
  • IRS deduction/day$60.80
  • IRS deduction/year$15,808

Fuel is $10.00 a day, but the deduction is $60.80 a day at any MPG, because it is miles × $0.76. The yearly figure is 80 × 5 × 52 = 20,800 miles × $0.76.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the calculator work out my monthly gas cost?
Miles per day ÷ MPG × gas price gives the daily cost. The weekly cost is the daily cost times your days per week, and the monthly cost is the weekly cost times 4.33 (52 weeks ÷ 12). Example: 80 miles a day at 30 MPG and an example $3.45 a gallon is $9.20 a day, $46.00 a week at 5 days, and $199.18 a month.
How is the IRS deduction estimate calculated?
It multiplies your miles by $0.76 per mile, the IRS business standard mileage rate for miles driven July 1 to December 31, 2026. MPG and gas price do not affect it. Miles driven January 1 to June 30, 2026 used $0.725, so for those miles the estimate runs high. The yearly figure assumes 52 working weeks: 80 miles a day × 5 days × 52 weeks = 20,800 miles, and 20,800 × $0.76 = $15,808.
Why is the deduction so much bigger than what I spend on gas?
The IRS standard mileage rate is based on the fixed and variable costs of operating a car, such as depreciation, insurance, repairs and tires as well as fuel. At 80 miles a day, 30 MPG and an example $3.45 a gallon, gas is $9.20 a day while the deduction estimate is $60.80, so gas is only about 15% of it. A deduction lowers the income you pay tax on; it is not money paid to you.
Should I use the standard mileage rate or actual expenses?
Compare the two totals. The standard mileage method gives business miles × the IRS rate for when they were driven ($0.725 for January to June 2026, $0.76 from July 1); at $0.76 that is $15,808 for 20,800 miles. Actual expenses give a bigger deduction only if the business share of all your car costs (gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, registration and depreciation) is higher than that. Gas alone for those miles is about $2,392 at 30 MPG and an example $3.45 a gallon. For a car you own, you must choose the standard mileage rate in the first year the car is available for use in your business if you want the option of using it in later years.
Which miles should I count?
For the gas cost, enter every mile you drive while working, including driving to pickups and between orders, because the car burns fuel on all of them. Use a weekly average: 450 miles over 5 days is 90 miles a day. For the deduction, count only business miles you can back up with a mileage log; personal trips do not count.
How much would a more fuel efficient car save?
At 100 miles a day, 6 days a week and an example $3.50 a gallon, a 25 MPG car spends $14.00 a day on gas and a 40 MPG car $8.75. That is $31.50 a week, about $136 a month on the calculator's 4.33 week month. The IRS deduction estimate is the same for both cars, because it depends only on miles.

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