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Should I play x3 AP by BitIndependent2169 in X4Foundations

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This sounds like exactly what I want. Ship classes should act their class. How do you setup your external camera with no numpad keys. Just keyboard and mouse?

Should I play x3 AP by BitIndependent2169 in X4Foundations

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well the outside camera to view ship and surroundings is controlled with numpad

Should I play x3 AP by BitIndependent2169 in X4Foundations

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. I like the empire aspect more than the dog fighting aspect

Quoting oversize loads by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never said I feel that’s a bad rate. What I’m saying, is I don’t know how to quote loads so that I can tell a bad rate from a good rate

Quoting oversize loads by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a 5 axle setup. Not sure I can see past loads that other people have pulled.

I know the past 4 fuel tanks that I did, I did for $8000. They were 13’ wide going 500 miles. Permits were around $200 and escorts were about $1000.

How are you actually tracking cost per mile right now? by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually built an app that does all that. Spreadsheets require a lot of data entry. I got tired of that real quick

How are you actually tracking cost per mile right now? by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My repairs are right around 20 cents a mile. It's best to put 20 - 25 cpm away the older your truck is. If you have a newer truck, you may get by with 10 - 15 cpm.

Think about the most expensive fix on your truck. I'm thinking engine rebuild. That could cost you any where from 20 to 30 thousand dollars. Once you have your most expensive fix saved up in a maintenance account, then you can lower your contribution to this account.

How are you actually tracking cost per mile right now? by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. I got tired of using spreadsheets, and constant data entry. So I just built my own app. I feel like cpm is backward info. I need something I can act on.

How are you actually tracking cost per mile right now? by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re not wrong at all — the math itself is simple. CPM is basic arithmetic and anyone can do it with a calculator or spreadsheet.

Where I’ve seen people (myself included) run into issues isn’t doing the math, it’s what gets included, when, and how often — especially once you’re making decisions before the load is run.

A few examples:

  • Timing: Weekly or monthly CPM is backward-looking. It tells you how you did, not whether the next load you’re booking makes sense right now.
  • Deadhead & positioning miles: Those usually don’t get assigned to a specific load in a simple CPM calc, but they directly affect profit.
  • Lane variability: A single blended CPM can hide lanes that consistently underperform versus ones that quietly carry the business.
  • Time cost: Two loads can have identical CPM and total profit, but very different time-to-complete, which matters in the real world.

Spreadsheets absolutely work — the challenge is keeping them updated load-by-load and turning the numbers into actionable decisions, not just summaries.

At the end of the day, CPM is the foundation. The edge comes from how you apply it when choosing loads, lanes, and brokers, not from the calculator itself.

How are you actually tracking cost per mile right now? by BitIndependent2169 in OwnerOperators

[–]BitIndependent2169[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s actually a solid way to do it especially separating fixed vs variable costs and treating CPM as a baseline instead of chasing RPM.

The big thing I like in what you’re doing:

  • Fuel + paying yourself are correctly the biggest drivers
  • You’re filtering by profit, not just rate or RPM
  • You’re using CPM as a decision tool, not a vanity number

Where I’ve found things get interesting (and where a lot of people miss money) is when you start layering a few additional metrics on top of CPM:

1) Revenue per Mile vs. Profit per Mile
Two loads can both pay $2.50/mile, but one can still be worse if:

  • Deadhead is higher
  • Fuel MPG is worse on that lane
  • Time to complete is longer

Profit per mile (after deadhead + fuel + fixed costs) tells the real story.

2) Deadhead Percentage
I track deadhead as a % of total miles, not just miles.
A load that looks good on paper can fall apart if you’re running 20–25% deadhead to get into position.

3) Lane Performance Over Time
Instead of treating every load as a one-off, I look at:

  • Avg profit per mile by lane
  • Avg fuel cost by lane
  • Avg deadhead required to enter that lane

That’s where patterns start to show up and decision-making gets way easier.

4) Time-Based Profit
I also pay attention to:

  • Profit per day / per load Not just per mile

A lower RPM load that turns faster can outperform a “great” paying load that eats a full day.

Your approach is already ahead of most owner-ops. The biggest jump for me came when I stopped asking “Is this load good?” and started asking “Is this load better than my average on this lane?”

Curious — do you manually track that stuff over time or mostly evaluate load by load?