What is cost per trip?

Cost per trip is the fully loaded cost of delivering one completed trip leg: driver wages and payroll taxes, fuel, insurance, vehicle payments, maintenance, dispatch and office labor, software and overhead, divided by the number of billable trips completed in the period. Because most costs are fixed or semi-fixed, cost per trip falls as vehicles run fuller days and rises sharply when trips are sparse or spread out.

Why cost per trip matters for NEMT

Every rate you accept from a broker or quote to a private-pay customer should be compared to cost per trip by level of service and by area. Providers that do not know their number take unprofitable contracts and discover it at tax time. Calculate it monthly, segment it (ambulatory versus wheelchair, urban versus rural), and use the NEMT trip cost calculator and profit margin calculator to model changes.

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