DELIVERY PRICING GUIDE
How much to charge for delivery in 2026
The US price for a local same-day delivery, a rush and an immediate run, the per-mile rate by vehicle, the hourly rate and the daily route, what to add for after-hours, waiting and fuel, the cost formula from the IRS mileage rate and the driver's hour — and a free calculator that turns them into a rate card you can put on your website.
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The short answer
A local courier charges $30 to $45 for a standard same-day delivery under 10 miles, $40 to $60 for a two-to-four-hour rush and $65 to $100 for an immediate (STAT) run; 11 to 20 miles is $40 to $60 standard, 21 to 40 miles $55 to $85 (Dropoff, February 2026). By the mile: $1.40 to $1.90 in a sedan, $1.60 to $2.20 in a small SUV, $2.20 to $3.75 in a cargo van and $3.50 to $5.25 in a refrigerated vehicle. A courier company's own rate card reads $26 for 0 to 10 miles, $36 for 11 to 15, $41 for 16 to 20 and $46 for 21 to 25, with immediate “hotshot” runs $15 to $20 more at each band, $1 to $3 a mile in general and about $50 an hour (Metrobi, August 2026).
A shop pricing its own deliveries starts from the same two numbers. The vehicle: in the US, the IRS business mileage rate is 72.5 cents a mile for January to June 2026 and 76 cents from July 1 (IRS, read November 2026), and AAA's all-in average for a new vehicle is 77 cents a mile at 15,000 miles a year, 24 cents of it fuel and maintenance (2025 study). The driver: $18.85 an hour at the median for couriers and messengers (O*NET, 2025 wages), $19 to $20 an hour in Routific's example (August 2024); FreshBooks' worked billing rate is $30 an hour — 50 cents a minute, so a 70-minute delivery is $35 (May 2025).
The extras go on their own lines: after-hours $20 to $35, weekends and holidays at 1.5 times, temperature control $15 to $45, waiting time $1.25 to $2.25 a minute, a failed pickup $12 to $25 and a fuel surcharge of 8% to 12% (Dropoff); heavy packages at 10 cents a pound over 10 pounds, and waiting beyond five free minutes at the per-minute rate (FreshBooks). A regular daily route — a lab or pharmacy run of about 28 miles — is $60 to $115 a day, and a 35-mile transfer between facilities $110 to $185 (Dropoff).
Price per mile from the round trip, never one way — a one-way calculation underprices by about half (My Custom Bakes' calculator) — and from your own cost per mile. Then put the rate card on your website: “how much to charge for delivery” is put to AI assistants about 5,600 times a month, “delivery pricing” about 3,000 and “delivery service rates” about 3,100, against 40, 260 and 10 on Google (DataForSEO, October 2026) — the answer is given far more often than it is searched, and a published rate card is what gets repeated.
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Delivery pricing at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard same-day delivery, 0–10 miles | $30–$45 | Dropoff, February 2026 |
| Standard same-day delivery, 11–20 miles | $40–$60 | Dropoff, February 2026 |
| Rush, two to four hours, 0–10 miles | $40–$60 | Dropoff, February 2026 |
| Immediate (STAT) delivery, 0–10 miles | $65–$100 | Dropoff, February 2026 |
| Per mile, sedan, 20-mile round trip | $28–$38 for 20 miles ($1.40–$1.90 per mile) | Dropoff, February 2026 |
| Per mile, cargo van, 20-mile round trip | $44–$75 for 20 miles ($2.20–$3.75 per mile) | Dropoff, February 2026 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this delivery?
Pick the run — a local same-day delivery, a rush or an immediate run by distance band, a per-mile job by vehicle, a courier's rate card or a daily route — set the timing, then tick the extras. The range uses the published US figures in the table below.
Suggested price
$30–$45
standard same-day delivery, by distance, 0–10 miles
A starting range from published US figures — not a price for a customer until you've counted the round-trip miles and the driver's time (the formula below). In the US, the IRS rate is a tax figure for your costs, not a price; the per-mile rows are what couriers charge. Check your own tax rules elsewhere.
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Put your courier prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your courier website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
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RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Delivery and courier rates (2026)
By the run, the mile and the hour. Dropoff's bands are for medical couriers — the most-published corner of the trade — and Metrobi's rate card is a courier company's own list; the two agree on the shape: a base price for the first 10 miles, more for each band, and an immediate run at about $20 more. Metrobi's general band is $1–$3 a mile.
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Standard same-day delivery, by distance | 0–10 miles: $30–$45 · 11–20 miles: $40–$60 · 21–40 miles: $55–$85 · Dropoff |
| Rush delivery, two to four hours, by distance | 0–10 miles: $40–$60 · 11–20 miles: $50–$70 · 21–40 miles: $70–$95 · Dropoff |
| Immediate (STAT) delivery, by distance | 0–10 miles: $65–$100 · 11–20 miles: $80–$130 · 21–40 miles: $110–$175+ · Dropoff |
| Per mile, sedan | $1.40–$1.90 per mile · about $28–$38 for 20 miles · Dropoff |
| Per mile, cargo van | $2.20–$3.75 per mile · about $44–$75 for 20 miles · Dropoff |
| Per mile, refrigerated vehicle | $3.50–$5.25 per mile · about $70–$105 for 20 miles · Dropoff |
| A courier company's rate card, regular and hotshot, by distance | 0–10 miles, regular: $26 · 11–15 miles, regular: $36 · 16–20 miles, regular: $41 · 21–25 miles, regular: $46 · 0–10 miles, hotshot: $46 · 11–15 miles, hotshot: $51 · 16–20 miles, hotshot: $56 · 21–25 miles, hotshot: $61 · Metrobi |
| Scheduled route, per day | Daily lab or pharmacy route, about 28 miles: $60–$115 · Transfer between facilities, about 35 miles: $110–$185 · Dropoff |
| Hourly, pickup and delivery time included | $50 an hour · Metrobi |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to add for weekends, after-hours, waiting and fuel
The lines that turn a base price into the invoice — each one priced on its own, with the weekend multiplier and the fuel surcharge as percentages.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| When: a weekend or holiday | 50% more · Dropoff |
| Fuel surcharge: a fuel surcharge on the run | 8%–12% more · Dropoff |
| After-hours pickup or delivery | +$20–$35 · Dropoff |
| Waiting time, about 20 minutes | $1.25–$2.25 a minute × 20 minutes = +$25–$45 · Dropoff rate |
| Temperature control | +$15–$45 · Dropoff |
| Failed pickup | +$12–$25 · Dropoff |
| Heavy package, 40 lb | $0.10 a pound × 30 pounds over the 10-lb base = +$3 · FreshBooks rate |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a delivery
Six steps from the round-trip miles to the rate card on your website.
Count the round-trip miles
Rate × miles travelled = the price (Transvirtual, January 2026: $2.50 a mile × 240 miles, Dallas to Houston, is $600). Count the drive back: a one-way calculation underprices by about half (My Custom Bakes).
Cost the vehicle per mile
In the US, the IRS business rate is 72.5¢ a mile for January–June 2026 and 76¢ from July 1 (read November 2026). AAA's all-in cost for a new vehicle averages 77¢ a mile at 15,000 miles a year, 24¢ of it fuel and maintenance; a small sedan is about 56¢ all-in, a medium four-wheel-drive SUV about 84¢ (2025 study).
Cost the driver per hour, drive back and wait included
$18.85 an hour at the median for couriers and messengers (O*NET, 2025 wages); Routific's example driver is $19–$20 an hour (August 2024). FreshBooks bills the time at $30 an hour, 50¢ a minute, with five minutes of waiting free and the rest at the per-minute rate (May 2025).
Add overhead and profit
Weekly overhead ÷ hours spent delivering, added to the hourly rate (FreshBooks); or total delivery cost ÷ deliveries for the cost per delivery (Routific). My Custom Bakes' calculator defaults to a 20% margin on top.
Check it against the market bands
$30–$45 for a standard same-day run under 10 miles, $1.40–$1.90 a mile in a sedan (Dropoff, February 2026); $26 for 0–10 miles and $1–$3 a mile on a courier's rate card (Metrobi, August 2026). Under the band, your miles or your hours are undercounted; over it, you're selling speed or handling — say which.
Write the rate card: base, per mile, rush tiers, surcharges
Dropoff's shape is base fee + per-mile rate + urgency tier + surcharges: a four-hour window adds $5–$20, two hours $20–$30, 90 minutes $30–$50, STAT $50–$120+. A shop offering free delivery sets the threshold at the average order plus the cost per delivery — $60 + $5 = $65 in Routific's example.
The formula, worked through
Say a 12-mile delivery across town in a sedan — 24 miles round trip, 50 minutes door to door and back. The vehicle: 24 miles at the IRS rate of 76¢ (July 2026) is $18.24. The driver: 50 minutes at the $18.85 median wage (O*NET) is $15.71. Cost before overhead: about $34. The inputs are the publishers'; the arithmetic is ours.
With a 20% margin on top — the default in My Custom Bakes' calculator — the price is $34 ÷ 0.8, about $42: inside Dropoff's $40–$60 for an 11-to-20-mile standard run, above Metrobi's $36 for 11 to 15 miles, and $1.77 a mile of the round trip, inside the $1.40–$1.90 sedan band. Make it a rush and Dropoff's two-hour tier adds $20–$30; make it a Saturday and the 1.5× multiplier takes it to about $63.
So “local delivery from $30, rush from $40, $1.50 a mile beyond 10 miles” is a fair rate card for this courier's website. Your vehicle, your wage and your overhead are what make the number yours.
What to charge in your part of the country
A delivery is miles and minutes, so the price follows local wages and traffic more than the trade: Metrobi's price timeline puts a local same-day delivery at about $50 on average (spring 2024) and a cross-country run at up to $200 (winter 2023–24), on a page last updated August 2026. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts overall prices in California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026) — so a $40 local run in an average market is about $44 in California and about $35 in Arkansas, before the slower traffic.
In the US, the IRS mileage rate is a tax deduction figure, not a price, and whether a courier needs a USDOT number or operating authority depends on what you carry, the vehicle's weight and whether you cross state lines; a personal auto policy usually excludes deliveries for pay. Our guide to starting a courier business covers the registrations and the insurance; check your state's rules before you quote a regular route.
Outside the US, treat the figures as a shape, not a price — a base price for the first few miles, a per-mile rate on the round trip, rush tiers, and waiting, after-hours and fuel as their own lines hold everywhere — and check what local couriers list on their own websites.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what a delivery costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: local delivery from $30, rush from $40, $1.50 a mile beyond 10 miles” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse courier website templates or see how Zarla builds courier websites.
Still setting up? Write your courier business plan, browse courier business name ideas, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Starting the business? How to start a courier business covers the registrations, the insurance a personal policy won't cover, the vehicle and the first route customers.
Delivery pricing: common questions
$30–$45 for a standard same-day delivery under 10 miles, $40–$60 for 11–20 miles and $55–$85 for 21–40 (Dropoff, February 2026); a courier company's own rate card is $26 for 0–10 miles, $36 for 11–15, $41 for 16–20 and $46 for 21–25 (Metrobi, August 2026). The calculator above prices any run with the extras.
$1.40–$1.90 a mile in a sedan, $1.60–$2.20 in a small SUV, $2.20–$3.75 in a cargo van and $3.50–$5.25 in a refrigerated vehicle (Dropoff, February 2026); $1–$3 a mile in general (Metrobi, August 2026); Transvirtual's long-haul example is $2.50 a mile (January 2026). Count the round trip, and set the rate above your own cost — the IRS rate of 76¢ a mile (July 2026) or AAA's 77¢ all-in average (2025).
About $50 an hour including the pickup and delivery time (Metrobi, August 2026). FreshBooks' worked example bills $30 an hour, 50¢ a minute, so a 70-minute delivery is $35 (May 2025). The driver's own wage is the floor: $18.85 an hour at the median (O*NET, 2025 wages).
Your cost per delivery, rounded to a convenient flat rate: total delivery cost ÷ deliveries, with the free-delivery threshold set at the average order plus that cost — $60 + $5 = $65 in Routific's example (August 2024); a third of shoppers would pay $10 or more. Build the cost from the round-trip miles at the IRS rate (76¢ from July 2026) and the driver's minutes.
A rush of two to four hours is $40–$60 under 10 miles against $30–$45 standard, and an immediate (STAT) run $65–$100; as add-ons, a four-hour window is $5–$20, two hours $20–$30, 90 minutes $30–$50 and STAT $50–$120+ (Dropoff, February 2026). Metrobi's hotshot rate is $20 more than regular on the first band (August 2026).
72.5 cents a mile for business use from January 1 to June 30, 2026, and 76 cents from July 1 (IRS, page reviewed July 2026); 70 cents for 2025. In the US it is the tax deduction figure for your costs, not a price — AAA's all-in average for a new vehicle is 77 cents a mile at 15,000 miles a year (2025). Outside the US, check your own tax authority's rate.
The same bands with the handling on top: $30–$45 standard, $40–$60 rush and $65–$100 STAT under 10 miles, $3.50–$5.25 a mile in a refrigerated vehicle, temperature control $15–$45, a daily lab route of about 28 miles $60–$115 a day and a 35-mile transfer between facilities $110–$185 (Dropoff, February 2026).
After-hours $20–$35, weekends and holidays at 1.5 times, waiting time $1.25–$2.25 a minute, temperature control $15–$45, a failed pickup $12–$25 and a fuel surcharge of 8%–12% (Dropoff, February 2026); Metrobi adds $15 for weekends and holidays (August 2026); FreshBooks charges 10¢ a pound over 10 pounds and the per-minute rate after five free minutes of waiting (May 2025).
Yes — the base price for the first 10 miles, the per-mile rate beyond it, the rush tiers and the surcharges, listed plainly. It answers the first question before the call, and a published rate card is what an AI assistant quotes when someone asks what delivery costs. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your rates, and change them when fuel moves.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for local couriers and small businesses that deliver their own orders — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Dropoff — Medical Courier Service Rates in 2026: What Healthcare Teams Need to Know — dated February 2026, read November 2026
- Metrobi — Medical courier service rates for 2025 — dated August 2026, read November 2026
- FreshBooks — How Much to Charge for Delivery? A Small Business Owner's Guide — dated May 2025, read November 2026
- Routific — How Much To Charge for Delivery: A Business Guide — dated August 2024, read November 2026
- Transvirtual — How to Charge for Delivery Per Mile: Your Questions Answered — dated January 2026, read November 2026
- IRS — Standard mileage rates (business use, 2026) — dated July 2026, read November 2026
- My Custom Bakes — Free Delivery Pricing Calculator — no date on the page, read November 2026
- AAA — Your Driving Costs 2025 (brochure) — no date on the page, read November 2026
- O*NET OnLine — 43-5021.00 Couriers and Messengers (median wages, 2025) — dated October 2026, read November 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your delivery rates on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your rate card goes in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.