How many seats does this trip need to break even?
Diesel has hit £2 a litre. Put in the trip's miles, the coach's mpg and what you pay for fuel, and see exactly where the trip stops losing you money.
UK average pump prices from the RAC, last checked 9 October 2026.
Set 19 as this trip's minimum to run
With The Conductor you put this trip on sale with a minimum of 19 seats. While it fills, passengers' cards are saved but not charged. Reach 19 and the fares are taken and the trip goes ahead. Fall short by your decision day and you choose: run it anyway, give it longer, or call it off. Call it off and nobody has paid a penny, so there are no refunds to chase.
How to find what your coach really does to the gallon
Mpg makes the biggest difference to the answer. If you're out by 2 mpg on a full-size coach, the fuel cost is out by about a fifth. These are the ways to get a true figure, most accurate first.
Most accurate
Telematics
Many newer coaches report fuel use per vehicle automatically through the tracker or the manufacturer's own portal. If you have one, the figure is already there. Look for "fuel economy" or "mpg" in the vehicle report.
Very good
Fuel card statements
Most fuel cards ask the driver for the mileage at every fill. Take several fills on the same vehicle over a month or so: the miles covered from the first fill to the last, divided by the litres of every fill after the first, gives miles per litre. Times it by 4.546 for mpg. Taking several fills evens out the ones that weren't brimmed. You may have months of this sitting in your statements.
Good
Brim to brim by hand
Fill to the brim and note the mileage. At the next fill, brim it again and note the litres. Miles ÷ litres × 4.546 = mpg. Do it over three or four fills and average it. The helper in the calculator does the sum for you.
Good, if you have your own tank
Your depot fuel log
If you draw diesel from your own bunker, you probably log litres against each vehicle. Put that next to the mileage from the tachograph or the odometer and the same sum works.
| Don't know yet? Typical figures | Mpg |
|---|---|
| Full-size coach | 8 to 10 |
| Midi coach | 12 to 15 |
| 16-seat minibus | 20 to 25 |
Rough guides only. Older vehicles, hills, motorway speed and lots of stop-start pick-ups all push a vehicle to the bottom of its range, so if in doubt use the lower number.
Questions operators ask
Why add a buffer to the diesel price?
Because you price a trip when you put it on sale, but you buy the diesel weeks later, the week the coach runs. Diesel went up by more than 50p a litre between February and October 2026. A buffer of 10% builds a rise of about 20p a litre into the price from the start, so a jump at the pumps doesn't eat the margin. Put 0 if you'd rather work on today's price.
Why work it out on the ex-VAT price?
If you're VAT-registered, you claim back the VAT on your diesel, so the price at the pump isn't what it really costs you. At 199p a litre, about 33p is VAT. Using the pump price would overstate your fuel bill by a fifth. If you're not VAT-registered, untick the box and the calculator uses the full price.
Why does break-even matter more than the profit figure?
Because a coach costs the same to run with 15 people on it as with 45. Every seat below break-even means you're paying for the passengers to travel. Every seat above it is nearly all profit. Knowing the number lets you decide early whether a trip is worth running, and set a minimum before you put it on sale.
Should I add a fuel surcharge to trips already on sale?
Be careful. Changing the price after a member of the public has booked and paid can be legally awkward, depending on what your booking terms say. The safer route is to price the current cost of fuel in from the start, and to check your terms with someone qualified before adding any surcharge clause.
What isn't included?
This works out what it costs to run this one trip: fuel, the driver, trip costs and, if you add it, wear and tear. It doesn't include vehicle finance, insurance, the O-licence, the yard or your own time. Those still need paying, so treat break-even as the floor, not the price.