This is an open benchmark of the real cost of moving freight along the main corridors of Central America and Colombia in 2026. It is not a negotiated rate or a national average: it is the structural cost by route, calculated component by component with our cost engine, in dollars and with a transparent methodology. The data is public and you may cite it.
Most tools on the market hide their numbers or hand you a single figure. Here you see what the freight is made of — what weighs, what doesn't, and why one corridor costs twice as much as another of similar distance.
2026 regional comparison · real cost by corridor
| Corridor | Real cost (USD) | Largest item | Key takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇴 Colombia Bogotá → Cartagena | $1,963.32 | Fuel (29.0%) | The highest toll bill in the region; the empty backhaul (28.3%) is right on its heels. |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica Moín/Limón → San José | $363.33 | Empty Backhaul (25.3%) | High diesel and wages; the empty backhaul is still the #1 item. |
| 🇵🇦 Panamá Ciudad de Panamá → Puerto Colón | $259.14 | Port Wait (19.3%) | The cost isn't on the road: the toll is just 5.9%. |
| 🇬🇹 Guatemala Puerto Quetzal → Ciudad de Guatemala | $256.56 | Fuel (28.3%) | Fuel (28%) barely edges out the empty backhaul (25%). |
| 🇳🇮 Nicaragua Corinto → Managua | $266.56 | Fuel (28.6%) | Cheap diesel, but fuel (29%) and the empty backhaul (25%) rule. |
| 🇸🇻 El Salvador Acajutla → San Salvador | $176.83 | Fuel (26.7%) | Fuel (27%) and empty backhaul (24%), nearly even. |
| 🇭🇳 Honduras Puerto Cortés → San Pedro Sula | $230.00 | HN Regulatory Floor (52.7%) | The IHTT legal floor is more than half the corridor's real cost. |
What the data reveals
Two items dominate the cost: real fuel and the empty backhaul. Together they add up to roughly half the cost on nearly every corridor. Fuel —measured by terrain, not by a flat-land average— leads on Central America's import routes and in Colombia (the Andean climb Magdalena→Bogotá burns far more diesel). The empty backhaul —the return leg with no load, the one no quote shows— is the largest item in Costa Rica and, at a regional scale, on long import routes (Belize 35%, Panama→Costa Rica 32%). Whether or not you find a backhaul load is what decides the margin.
The legal floor can be almost the entire cost. In Honduras, the regulatory floor ratified by the IHTT is the largest component of the Puerto Cortés → San Pedro Sula corridor: $121.24, 53% of the total. The law sets a minimum so high relative to the short distance that, in practice, it defines the cost. In Colombia, by contrast, the SICE-TAC is a floor, but the real cost by route is driven by terrain-based fuel and the empty backhaul.
Tolls weigh where you'd least expect. The highest toll bill in the region is Colombia's —$158.90 on Bogotá–Cartagena, across the official INVIAS toll plazas (Resolution 0062 of 2026) that the route runs through—, not Panama's: on the transisthmian corridor the toll is barely 5.9%, and what weighs is the port wait and the empty backhaul. Colombia is also, by far, the most expensive corridor ($1,963), pushed up by distance (1,089 km) and terrain.
Full breakdown by corridor
The real cost, component by component, of a representative trip on each corridor. All amounts in dollars.
🇨🇴 Colombia · Bogotá → Cartagena
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $569.35 | 29.0% |
| Empty Backhaul | $555.98 | 28.3% |
| Depreciation | $235.65 | 12.0% |
| Overhead/Admin | $164.04 | 8.4% |
| Tolls | $158.90 | 8.1% |
| Maintenance | $153.13 | 7.8% |
| Driver | $59.00 | 3.0% |
| Per Diem | $26.82 | 1.4% |
| Repositioning | $14.17 | 0.7% |
| Port Wait | $14.14 | 0.7% |
| Detention | $10.61 | 0.5% |
| Insurance | $1.53 | 0.1% |
| All-in real cost | $1,963.32 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Colombia analysis →
🇨🇷 Costa Rica · Moín/Limón → San José
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Empty Backhaul | $91.81 | 25.3% |
| Fuel | $91.38 | 25.2% |
| Overhead/Admin | $32.53 | 9.0% |
| Per Diem | $32.00 | 8.8% |
| Driver | $22.80 | 6.3% |
| Port Wait | $21.93 | 6.0% |
| Maintenance | $20.64 | 5.7% |
| Repositioning | $16.37 | 4.5% |
| Depreciation | $13.92 | 3.8% |
| Detention | $11.78 | 3.2% |
| Tolls | $5.50 | 1.5% |
| Insurance | $2.67 | 0.7% |
| All-in real cost | $363.33 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Costa Rica analysis →
🇵🇦 Panamá · Ciudad de Panamá → Puerto Colón
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Port Wait | $49.92 | 19.3% |
| Empty Backhaul | $44.68 | 17.2% |
| Fuel | $43.49 | 16.8% |
| Per Diem | $30.00 | 11.6% |
| Overhead/Admin | $22.17 | 8.6% |
| Detention | $18.72 | 7.2% |
| Tolls | $15.25 | 5.9% |
| Driver | $8.80 | 3.4% |
| Maintenance | $8.36 | 3.2% |
| Repositioning | $7.96 | 3.1% |
| Depreciation | $6.46 | 2.5% |
| Insurance | $3.33 | 1.3% |
| All-in real cost | $259.14 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Panama analysis →
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Puerto Quetzal → Ciudad de Guatemala
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $72.52 | 28.3% |
| Empty Backhaul | $63.13 | 24.6% |
| Overhead/Admin | $23.32 | 9.1% |
| Per Diem | $22.50 | 8.8% |
| Port Wait | $16.91 | 6.6% |
| Driver | $14.80 | 5.8% |
| Maintenance | $12.77 | 5.0% |
| Repositioning | $11.07 | 4.3% |
| Depreciation | $9.13 | 3.6% |
| Detention | $9.08 | 3.5% |
| Insurance | $1.33 | 0.5% |
| All-in real cost | $256.56 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Guatemala analysis →
🇳🇮 Nicaragua · Corinto → Managua
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $76.15 | 28.6% |
| Empty Backhaul | $67.59 | 25.4% |
| Port Wait | $25.12 | 9.4% |
| Overhead/Admin | $24.23 | 9.1% |
| Maintenance | $21.45 | 8.0% |
| Depreciation | $13.53 | 5.1% |
| Repositioning | $12.64 | 4.7% |
| Per Diem | $12.00 | 4.5% |
| Driver | $6.70 | 2.5% |
| Detention | $6.28 | 2.4% |
| Insurance | $0.87 | 0.3% |
| All-in real cost | $266.56 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Nicaragua analysis →
🇸🇻 El Salvador · Acajutla → San Salvador
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $47.27 | 26.7% |
| Empty Backhaul | $42.70 | 24.1% |
| Overhead/Admin | $16.08 | 9.1% |
| Per Diem | $15.00 | 8.5% |
| Port Wait | $14.94 | 8.4% |
| Maintenance | $11.15 | 6.3% |
| Depreciation | $7.84 | 4.4% |
| Repositioning | $7.74 | 4.4% |
| Detention | $7.46 | 4.2% |
| Driver | $5.32 | 3.0% |
| Insurance | $1.33 | 0.8% |
| All-in real cost | $176.83 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full El Salvador analysis →
🇭🇳 Honduras · Puerto Cortés → San Pedro Sula
| Component | Amount (USD) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| HN Regulatory Floor | $122.85 | 53.4% |
| Empty Backhaul | $31.96 | 13.9% |
| Port Wait | $21.38 | 9.3% |
| Fuel | $13.27 | 5.8% |
| Overhead/Admin | $9.74 | 4.2% |
| Detention | $8.02 | 3.5% |
| Maintenance | $7.95 | 3.5% |
| Repositioning | $5.60 | 2.4% |
| Depreciation | $5.22 | 2.3% |
| Driver | $2.94 | 1.3% |
| Insurance | $1.07 | 0.5% |
| All-in real cost | $230.00 | 100% |
Standard container, Class 5 tractor-trailer, round trip. See the full Honduras analysis →
Methodology
Every figure comes from a cost engine that models the real trip, not an average. The components are: fuel (the country's diesel price, with or without subsidy as applicable), driver and per diem, the route's actual tolls, empty backhaul (probability and cost of the leg with no load), port wait (dwell time and its opportunity cost), maintenance, depreciation, insurance and overhead/admin. Where a regulatory floor exists (IHTT in Honduras, SICE-TAC in Colombia) it is included as a reference, not as a substitute for the structural cost.
Fuel prices and exchange rates are updated periodically; tolls and port dwell structures are reviewed by corridor. The published figure corresponds to a Class 5 tractor-trailer with a standard container, on a round trip (including the empty backhaul), for a representative route in each market.
How to use this data
It's open. You can cite it in an article, a study or a presentation, with attribution to TruckingRates.org. For a citation, high-resolution charts, or the specific cut for a country or corridor, write to us at sales@truckingrates.org — we're glad to prepare it.
What about your exact route?
These are representative routes. Your real cost depends on your origin, destination, weight and timing. Calculate the structural cost of your specific lane, with live fuel and toll prices.
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