Road Ready Guide · Owner-operator income
How much do owner-operators make after expenses?
Short answer: An owner-operator keeps gross pay minus every cost of running the truck, and that number varies widely from driver to driver. In our made-up example, $13,500 of monthly gross becomes $2,500 after $11,000 of costs, about $0.25 a mile, before income and self-employment taxes. The only way to know your number is from your own books, and the free calculator works it out in two minutes.
Why "salary" is the wrong question
A company driver gets a wage. An owner-operator runs a small business: the truck earns gross pay, the business pays the truck's costs, and the owner keeps what's left. Two drivers with the same gross can keep very different amounts, depending on the truck payment, fuel economy, repairs, insurance and how many miles they run. That's why published "average owner-operator salary" numbers rarely match anyone's real result.
The math, from gross to what you keep
- Gross pay. For a leased owner-operator, the gross on your settlement sheets: your share of line-haul plus fuel surcharge and accessorials, before the carrier's deductions. Own authority: the rates you invoice.
- Minus every truck cost. Fuel, the truck payment or lease, insurance, repairs and maintenance, tires, tolls, plates and permits, ELD and subscriptions, and the carrier's deductions on your sheet. (Escrow isn't a cost; it's still your money.)
- Equals profit before taxes. This is what the business made for you.
- Minus income and self-employment taxes. What you set aside for those is your tax preparer's call; we don't estimate taxes.
A worked example (made-up numbers)
| Month | Per mile (10,000 miles) | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross settlement pay | $13,500 | $1.35 |
| Fuel | −$5,600 | −$0.56 |
| Truck payment | −$2,100 | −$0.21 |
| Repairs and maintenance | −$1,200 | −$0.12 |
| Insurance | −$1,100 | −$0.11 |
| Tires, tolls, plates, ELD, phone and the rest | −$1,000 | −$0.10 |
| Left after costs, before taxes | $2,500 | $0.25 |
This counts the whole truck payment as a cash cost. In your books only the loan interest is an expense, so bookkeeping profit runs higher by the principal you paid down; the cash you keep is what's shown here.
Over twelve months like this one, that's $30,000 before taxes on $162,000 of gross. Change one line and the answer moves fast: $0.10 a mile less in fuel cost adds $1,000 a month; a $1,500 repair wipes out more than half of it.
What fleets spend per mile (a benchmark, not a target)
The American Transportation Research Institute surveys fleets every year. Its 2026 update puts the average cost of operating a truck in 2025 at $2.336 per mile, the highest in the report's history and up 3.4% from the year before, or $1.854 per mile without fuel. Those are fleet averages, and they include the cost of paying drivers. For an owner-operator, your own pay is what's left after costs, so your cost per mile without your pay should come in well under ATRI's number. If it doesn't, something is eating your profit.
How to find your own number
- Add up a full month of settlement gross and every truck cost. A single week swings too much.
- Divide by that month's miles to get cost per mile and profit per mile. The cost per mile calculator does it, and its load profit check shows what a single load leaves you.
- Repeat every month. One month is a snapshot; three months show a trend.
The numbers are only as good as your books. If your deposits are recorded net, your income looks smaller than it is (here's why). If card payments are counted twice, your costs look bigger. Monthly Books keeps them clean and sends you this exact picture every month.
Sources: American Transportation Research Institute, "An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update", released July 15, 2026 (2025 data). Example numbers are made up and describe no real driver. Checked October 30, 2026.
Want these numbers from your real books every month? Monthly Books records your settlements, reconciles your accounts and sends a report like this sample by the 10th. $89 a month.
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Get a free books check See pricingCommon questions
How much do owner-operators make after expenses?
It depends on gross pay, miles and costs, so it varies widely. In our made-up example, $13,500 of monthly gross minus $11,000 of costs leaves $2,500, about $0.25 a mile, before income and self-employment taxes. Your own books are the only reliable answer.
What is a good profit per mile for an owner-operator?
There's no single right number, because costs differ so much. The useful test is your own trend: profit per mile month over month, and whether each load clears your break-even rate.
What does it cost per mile to run a truck?
ATRI's 2026 update puts the fleet average at $2.336 per mile in 2025, or $1.854 without fuel. Those figures include paying drivers, so an owner-operator's costs before their own pay should be lower.
Do owner-operators get a salary?
No. An owner-operator's income is what's left after the truck's costs. For a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, the kind of business this site is written for, personal transfers out of the business account are usually recorded as owner draws, not as an expense; other business structures work differently.
How do owner-operators get paid?
Leased owner-operators are paid by the carrier, usually weekly, on a settlement sheet that shows gross pay, the carrier's deductions and the net deposit. Owner-operators with their own authority invoice shippers or brokers, sometimes through a factoring company.
Are taxes included in what an owner-operator makes?
Not in the numbers on this page. Profit before taxes is what the books show; income and self-employment taxes come out of it, and your tax preparer works out what to set aside.