How to quote a load. Line by line, diesel to VAT.

A quote that shows its working is easier to defend, easier to check and harder to get wrong. This guide builds one from the ground up, using a 490 km load from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg on the N3 with an interlink. Swap in your own figures as you go. (It is deliberately a different load from the superlink quote to Durban on our product pages.)

The running costs used below come from our cost per kilometre guide. They are example inputs, not benchmarks.

Step 1: diesel for the loaded leg

Distance times consumption gives litres: 490 km × 46 L per 100 km = 225,40 L. At the September 2026 inland price of R 30,05 a litre for 50 ppm diesel (The Citizen), that is R 6 773,27.

Diesel is zero-rated for VAT as a fuel levy good (SARS VAT 404, section 6.3.2), so it goes into the quote at the price you pay. Of the costs on this trip, only the tolls need the VAT taken out.

Step 2: every toll plaza on the route

Name each plaza rather than using a lump sum, so you can check it. Your vehicle class sets the tariff: class 4 is five or more axles (SANRAL). On the N3 from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg a class 4 truck passes De Hoek (R 230), Wilge (R 304), Tugela (R 359) and Mooi (R 324), a total of R 1 217 at the tariffs effective 1 March 2026 (SANRAL). Mariannhill comes after Pietermaritzburg, so it is not on this trip.

Tariffs include VAT. A VAT vendor claims that input tax back (SARS VAT 404), so put tolls into the quote excl. VAT: R 1 058,26. Gauteng e-tolls no longer apply; road users stopped paying them on 11 April 2024 (Department of Transport).

Step 3: the driver

Add the trip allowance you pay, at your own rates and at least the minimums in the bargaining council's main agreement (NBCRFLI). Our example uses R 850 for the round trip.

Step 4: the costs that do not show up on a fuel slip

Tyres, maintenance and fixed costs are real on every kilometre. Using the example figures of R 4,20 per km for tyres and maintenance and R 6,80 per km for fixed costs, the loaded leg carries R 2 058,00 and R 3 332,00.

Step 5: the way home

If there is no backload, the customer's load has to pay for the empty return. Empty, the truck burns less, say 38 L per 100 km (186,20 L), but the tolls, tyres and fixed costs are the same.

If you do have a backload, the return leg's costs go on that load instead, and this quote only carries the loaded leg. See the backload section below.

Step 6: margin, then VAT

Now add your margin. A price of R 29 700 excl. VAT leaves R 3 584,90 over the round trip cost, a margin of 12,1%. Then VAT at 15% (SARS): R 4 455, for an invoice total of R 34 155.

Step 7: put a date on it

Diesel changes on the first Wednesday of every month, so give every quote a validity date, and consider a fuel clause for contracts that run longer than a month. Our diesel guide shows a simple way to work out a fuel surcharge.

With a backload

Say you have a load back from Pietermaritzburg to Johannesburg. The return leg's R 12 043,57 is then priced into that backload's own quote, and the outbound quote only has to carry the loaded leg. In this example we keep the full R 850 allowance on the outbound load; you could split it between the two loads instead. Same inputs as above, example figures, not benchmarks.

The same margin on a much lower price. That is why a backload lets you quote sharper, and why a customer who asks for the backload price on a lane where you have none is asking you to run the way home for free. Only quote the one-way price once the backload is confirmed.

Not a VAT vendor?

From 1 April 2026 you must register for VAT once your taxable supplies exceed R 2,3 million in 12 months, up from R 1 million (SARS). A smaller operator may not be registered. If you are not:

• You cannot claim the VAT on tolls back, so tolls go into the quote including VAT: R 1 217 a leg, not R 1 058,26. The same goes for any other cost that carries VAT, such as tyres and parts: use what you actually pay.
• Diesel does not change, because it carries no VAT.
• You must not charge VAT or issue a tax invoice. Your price is the total.

In the example, the tolls add R 317,48 over the round trip (we assume the tyre and maintenance figures already include the VAT you paid; if yours exclude it, add 15% to them too), for a cost of R 26 432,58. A price of R 30 100 leaves R 3 667,42, a margin of 12,2%, and that is the amount on the invoice. Check your own position with a tax practitioner, especially as you get close to the threshold.

What the quote you send should show

A clear quote saves arguments at invoice time. Copy this layout and fill in your own figures; the right-hand column is the example load.

The payment terms and the POD line matter as much as the rate: see our guide to proof of delivery and invoicing on delivery.

A checklist before you send

• Is the diesel price this month's, for the right region?
• Is every toll plaza named, at the right class, excl. VAT?
• Who pays for the way home?
• Are tyres, maintenance and fixed costs in, not just fuel?
• Is the margin what you meant it to be, after all of the above?
• Does the quote say how long the price is valid?

A correct quote is half the job. Whether a lane is worth taking at that price is a pricing decision, covered in how to price loads for profit.