Cost per successful delivery, per attempt, per parcel and per mile, with every step shown.
Cost per successful delivery
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Enter the number of delivery attempts and the driver’s cost to see the cost per delivery.
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Nothing yet: copy, export or save a calculation to find it here.
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The last mile is the final leg, from the depot to the customer’s door. Enter what a route costs, or any other period: the driver, the vehicle, its fixed costs and anything else. The calculator adds them up and divides by the successful deliveries, because a failed attempt costs as much as any other and earns nothing. It also gives the cost per attempt, the cost of failed attempts, the cost per parcel and per mile, and flags an hourly cost below the National Living Wage. On the vehicle side you can use your own cost per mile or HMRC’s approved mileage rates.
A route, a day, a week or a month: any period works, as long as every figure covers the same one. Enter the delivery attempts, failures included, then the failed delivery rate if you know it (nobody in, address not found, parcel refused).
Enter the miles driven, back to the depot included, and your cost per mile: fuel or charging, tyres and servicing. Costs that do not depend on miles, such as the lease or depreciation and insurance, go in the vehicle’s fixed costs. If you would rather use HMRC’s approved mileage rate, choose it instead: it is meant to cover buying and running the vehicle, so leave the fixed costs empty.
Choose how the driver is paid: by the hour, per successful delivery or a flat fee. For an employee, use the full cost to the employer (wage, employer National Insurance, holiday pay and pension), not the take-home pay. Tolls, parking, congestion or clean air zone charges and routing software go in other costs.
The cost per successful delivery leads. Below it come the cost per attempt and the cost of failed attempts when a failure rate is entered, the cost per parcel when a delivery carries more than one, and the cost per mile. Copy the workings, export them as a CSV file or save them to Priostack.
Total cost = driver + vehicle (miles × cost per mile, or HMRC’s rate) + vehicle fixed costs + other costs.
Successful deliveries = attempts × (100% − failed delivery rate).
Cost per successful delivery = total ÷ successful deliveries; cost per attempt = total ÷ attempts; cost of failed attempts = total × failed delivery rate; cost per parcel = total ÷ (successful deliveries × parcels per delivery); cost per mile = total ÷ miles.
Each cost is rounded to the nearest penny, halves rounded up; the total is the sum of the rounded costs.
Of 100 attempts, 6% fail, leaving 94 successful deliveries. The driver works 9 hours 30 minutes at £16.40 an hour, which is £155.80. The van covers 80 miles at £0.52 a mile, £41.60, plus £38.00 a day for the lease and insurance, and £15.00 of parking and charges. Total cost: £250.40. The cost per successful delivery is £250.40 ÷ 94 = £2.66, against £2.50 per attempt. Failed attempts cost £250.40 × 6% = £15.02, and the route costs £3.13 a mile. With HMRC’s rate instead, a courier who has already driven 9,950 business miles this tax year counts 50 miles at £0.55 and 30 at £0.25, which is £35.00 for the vehicle.
Add up everything the route costs (the driver, the vehicle, its fixed costs and other charges) and divide by the number of successful deliveries in the same period. The answer is the average cost of getting one delivery to the customer’s door.
A failed attempt takes as much driver time and vehicle cost as any other, and the parcel has to go out again. Dividing by successful deliveries spreads that cost over the ones that arrive. The cost per attempt and the cost of failed attempts are shown too, so you can see what failures cost you.
The full cost to the employer for the hours paid: the wage plus employer National Insurance, holiday pay and pension contributions. For a driver aged 21 or over who is an employee or a worker, the wage cannot be below the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour since 1 April 2026 (£10.85 at 18 to 20, £8 under 18 and at the apprentice rate). GOV.UK lists £13.21 from 1 April 2027. Self-employed couriers running their own business are not entitled to the minimum wage.
Yes, as an estimate. HMRC’s approved rate for a car or van is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles (45p before 6 April 2026) and 25p after that, 24p for a motorcycle and 20p for a bicycle. Employers can pay these tax-free to employees using their own vehicle, counting the 10,000 miles over the tax year from 6 April. The self-employed can claim the car, van and motorcycle rates instead of actual costs, counting the miles over the period their profits cover. HMRC’s own example: 11,000 business miles gives 10,000 × 55p + 1,000 × 25p = £5,750. Your real costs may be higher or lower, and the bicycle rate is for employees only.
Under the GB domestic drivers’ hours rules, which cover vans and other goods vehicles that do not follow the assimilated (former EU) rules, a driver must not drive for more than 10 hours a day or be on duty for more than 11 hours in a working day. They apply in England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own rules. The calculator does not check these limits, because the period you enter can cover several days.
This calculator gives general information, not legal, tax, financial or accounting advice. The costs are yours, so the result is only as good as the figures entered. For a driver’s pay, check the minimum wage rules for their age and status, or ask an accountant.
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