Definition
Trip profit is the money one trip earns after the costs caused by that trip: freight and extra charges billed to the customer, minus tolls, loading, food and other trip expenses, minus diesel used on the trip, minus the driver’s batta.
What is the formula for trip profit?
Trip profit equals freight plus extra charges billed to the customer, minus trip expenses (tolls, loading, parking, food, police or RTO payments), minus the diesel used on that trip, minus the driver’s batta for the trip days. Costs that exist whether or not the trip ran, like EMI and insurance, stay out.
- Freight: the agreed amount, or rate × km, tonnes, hours or days.
- Extras: loading, waiting, toll recovery and similar charges you bill.
- Driver advance is not a cost; it is money the driver must account for.
Can you show a worked example?
A Thanjavur to Chennai trip billed ₹18,000 freight plus ₹1,200 loading and waiting charges. Tolls, loading and food cost ₹2,450, diesel for the trip ₹7,000 and batta ₹800. Trip profit is income of ₹19,200 minus costs of ₹10,250, which leaves ₹8,950 for this one trip.
- Income: ₹18,000 + ₹1,200 = ₹19,200
- Costs: ₹2,450 + ₹7,000 + ₹800 = ₹10,250
- Trip profit: ₹8,950
Which mistakes make trip profit wrong?
The usual mistakes are counting the driver advance as an expense, forgetting diesel filled on the trip, adding the EMI to every trip, counting a planned or cancelled trip as income, and missing small cash payments like police or parking that drivers forget to report. Each one moves the figure enough to mislead you.
How do I see profit for the whole vehicle?
Add up the profit of all completed trips in the month, then subtract costs not tied to one trip: loan EMI, insurance, road tax, permit, parking, repairs and tyres. That is vehicle P&L. Dividing costs and income by kilometres run gives cost per km and earning per km.
FleetLite does both: live trip profit on every trip, and vehicle P&L with EMI and fixed costs each month.
How to calculate the profit of one trip
Write down the freight
Take the agreed freight, or multiply the rate by the km, tonnes, hours or days of the trip.
Add extra charges
Add loading, waiting, toll recovery and other charges you will bill the customer for this trip.
Add up trip expenses
Total tolls, loading, parking, food, police or RTO and other payments made for this trip, whoever paid them.
Add the diesel used
Add the diesel filled for this trip. If you fill full tanks, use the litres between full tanks for the trip distance.
Add the batta
Add the driver’s batta for the trip days. Do not include the driver advance; it is not a cost.
Subtract costs from income
Trip profit = (freight + extras) − (trip expenses + diesel + batta). Compare it with other trips on the same route.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Should I include the EMI in trip profit?
No. EMI, insurance, road tax and permit are fixed costs of the vehicle. Include them in vehicle P&L for the month, not in each trip.
Is the driver advance an expense?
No. The advance is money the driver holds. The expenses he pays from it are costs; the rest is settled later.
When does a trip count as income?
When it is completed or billed. Planned and running trips have not earned anything yet, and cancelled trips never will.