How much does delivery driving actually cost per mile?
Fuel is usually somewhere between 12p and 20p a mile for a typical petrol car, before wear, tyres, servicing and depreciation on top.
Last checked 12/09/2026.
Fuel alone is usually 12p to 20p a mile for an ordinary petrol car doing delivery work, depending on the car, the fuel price and how much of the driving is stop-start.
That is only the part you notice. Tyres, servicing, brakes, and the value the car loses through the miles are all real and none of them appear on a receipt at the time. Add them and the true cost per mile is meaningfully higher.
This is the reasoning behind the mileage allowance being 55p rather than the price of fuel. It is meant to cover the whole cost of running the car, not the tank.
The practical use of this number is deciding whether a job is worth taking. A £4 delivery seven miles away is not a £4 job.
JoltMile works out your fuel cost per shift from your own MPG and price per litre, and shows the true hourly rate with that taken off, which is the figure that answers the question properly.
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What MPG figure should I use for my car?
Your own measured figure, not the manufacturer's. Delivery driving is much harder on economy.
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The difference between gross, business and true £/hr, and exactly what each one subtracts.
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Is an electric car worth it for delivery work?
The running costs are much lower if you can charge at home. The mileage claim is the same as any car, which makes an EV unusually tax-efficient for a driver.
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Driving for DPD: owner driver, employed or Connect
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What it really costs you per mile
Your cost per mile is fuel plus tyres, servicing, insurance, repairs and the value the car loses, divided by the miles you drive. Fuel is usually less than half of it, which is why a driver who only counts fuel thinks the work pays better than it does.
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Fuel against electric for gig driving
On home charging an electric car is dramatically cheaper per mile than petrol, often by a factor of four or five. On public rapid charging the gap narrows to very little. Whether it works for you is mostly a question of where you charge, not of what you drive.
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