What does a truck standing still cost per day? EUR 429 and how to charge for waiting
A truck standing still costs about EUR 429 a day in the default 40 t profile of Logifie's freight calculator, covering driver, vehicle and overhead costs.
Logifie Team
Logistics Technology Experts
A 40 t truck standing still costs about EUR 429 a day in the default profile of Logifie's freight calculator (checked 2026-11-10). That is every monthly cost except fuel and AdBlue divided by 21 working days: mostly driver pay and per diems, vehicle leasing and insurance, and a smaller overhead share.
The calculation fits on one line, and the worked numbers come from the same default profile:
Standstill cost per day = monthly costs excluding fuel and AdBlue / working days per month
EUR 9,005 / 21 = EUR 429
Fuel and AdBlue are left out because they only accrue while the truck drives. Multiplying a per-km cost by the km you did not drive therefore overstates the loss. The wage, the lease, the insurance and the office keep running whether the wheels turn or not.
These figures are example defaults, not a market average. Logifie's freight calculator builds them from Spain's transport ministry cost observatory, the French CNR and the UK RHA cost tables, scaled to Central and Eastern European wages. Enter your own costs before you rely on the result.
What makes up the daily standstill cost?
Three blocks make up the EUR 429: the driver, the vehicle and the overhead. The table shows each block as a daily figure, rounded, so the parts add up to the total.
| Cost block | EUR per day (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Driver: wage EUR 3,200 a month, per diems EUR 50 a day, recruitment and training | 205 |
| Vehicle: tractor and trailer leasing EUR 1,900 a month, servicing, tyres, insurance, tax, secure parking | 165 |
| Overhead: office, accounting, freight exchanges, factoring and similar lines, EUR 1,236 a month | 59 |
| Total standstill cost | 429 |
The driver block is the largest because the wage is a monthly cost and the per diem of EUR 50 is counted for every working day. Leasing alone is about EUR 90 of the vehicle block. Servicing, tyres, insurance and the smaller lines make up the remaining EUR 75.
For a per-hour view, spread EUR 429 over the 13-hour duty day the calculator assumes. That is about EUR 33 an hour (own arithmetic, not a calculator output).
How do you turn standstill cost into a waiting charge?
Treat the standstill cost as the floor of a waiting charge, before any profit. If you invoice less than EUR 429 for a full idle day in this profile, the delay costs you money. What you may actually claim depends on the law of the country and on your contract.
Spain sets the clearest rule. Under Law 15/2009, Article 22 , as amended on 2022-03-02, the carrier may claim compensation once loading or unloading takes more than one hour. Unless the parties agreed more, it equals 2 x IPREM per day for each hour or fraction after the first, counted for at most 10 hours a day.
Germany sets no rate. As of 2026-11-10, HGB Section 412(3) gives the carrier "reasonable remuneration (Standgeld)" when waiting exceeds the loading or unloading time. In Italy, the law of 2025-07-18 reportedly cut the free waiting period to 90 minutes and set compensation at EUR 100 an hour after that, according to Shipping Italy on 2025-08-20. To compare countries, read the guide to detention time and waiting charges in Europe ; for the contract side, learn what demurrage means in road freight .
The stakes are easy to see on a thin load. In the worked example of Logifie's freight calculator, a EUR 2,300 offer for a 1,300 km job leaves EUR 91.30 of profit, so one unpaid standing day turns it into a loss. Check whether a load is profitable before you accept it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to keep a truck parked for a day?
In the default 40 t profile of Logifie's freight calculator, about EUR 429 a day as of 2026-11-10. Your own figure depends on your wage, leasing and overhead, so replace the defaults with real costs.
Why does a parked truck still cost money if it burns no fuel?
The driver wage, leasing, insurance, tax, parking and office costs run on a monthly or yearly basis. Only fuel and AdBlue stop when the truck stops, which is why the formula excludes them.
How do you calculate a waiting charge per hour from the daily cost?
Divide the daily standstill cost by the duty hours in a day. With EUR 429 and 13 hours, the result is about EUR 33 an hour before profit.
Is the standstill cost the same as the detention fee you can invoice?
No. The standstill cost is your own floor. The fee you can invoice follows the national rule or the contract, such as Spain's Article 22 or the German Standgeld under HGB Section 412(3).
Enter your own wage, leasing and overhead and calculate your standstill cost per day .
