Owner operator salary after expenses: what you keep in 2026

What is the average owner operator salary after expenses?

The average owner operator kept $71,800 in 2025, ATBS president Todd Amen told FreightWaves. ATBS does the books and the tax returns for about 20,000 owner operators.

That number is income after truck costs. It is the figure that goes on a tax return, so your own taxes still come out of it.

ATBS changed how it counts this year. Under the old count, the 2024 average was $64,000. Counted the new way, Amen said 2024 and 2025 came out about flat.

Source: FreightWaves, April 15, 2026.

Look at the spread. The top third kept more than twice the average.

Segments moved in different directions too. Overdrive reported that leased dry van, flatbed and tanker owners gained in 2025. Independents with their own authority, leased reefer and specialized owners slipped a bit.

Where does the gross go before it becomes your pay?

Fuel, the truck payment, maintenance and insurance take most of it. Add up the published averages and those 4 lines cost about $105,924 a year.

The 95,000 miles is the ATBS average for 2025. Sources read October 10, 2026.

These averages come from different groups of trucks, so treat the sum as a yardstick. It leaves out tires, plates, permits, tolls, your ELD and parking.

Now work backward. To keep $71,800 after those 4 costs, the truck has to gross about $177,700. Over 95,000 miles, that is $1.87 on every mile, loaded and empty.

The truck payment is the swing line. Amen said 34% of ATBS clients have no payment. Take $34,800 out, and the same pay needs about $1.50 per mile.

Put your own bills into the cost per mile calculator. It takes about 2 minutes.

To test one load against that number, read how to calculate rate per mile. For the price side of the payment, see how much a semi truck costs.

How much does maintenance take out of your pay?

The average ATBS owner spent $14,222 on maintenance in 2025, Overdrive reported. That is more than $1,000 a month.

Amen put it at about 14 cents per mile, up from 6 to 7 cents a few years ago. He said maintenance costs rose 6.5% from 2024.

Your truck sets your number. ATBS vice president Mike Hosted said independents with their own authority spend about 20 cents per mile. A 2025 truck under warranty may need as little as 5 cents.

Per mile figures from ATBS, as reported by FreightWaves and Overdrive. The yearly amounts are my multiplication.

Hosted called a big maintenance failure the number 1 reason owner operators go out of business, in ATBS's experience.

Bank the money by the mile, every week. At the average, Hosted put it at roughly $250 a week.

From the cab. My first truck was a 2009 Freightliner Columbia, 10 years old when I bought it in 2019. An older truck trades a lower payment for a bigger repair line.

Does a leased owner operator keep more than one with own authority?

It depends on which bills the lease covers. Leased on, you give up a share of every load and you usually pay less for insurance. Under your own authority, you keep the full rate and carry every cost.

• The split. Landstar's annual report gives its BCOs 62% to 70% of revenue with a tractor only. With a trailer too, it is 73% to 77% (SEC).
• Insurance. ATBS puts it at $3,000 to $5,000 a year leased on. Under your own authority, it is $8,000 to $12,500 (ATBS, 2024).
• Last year. The ATBS segments that gained in 2025 were leased: dry van, flatbed and tanker. Independents with authority slipped a bit (Overdrive).

From the cab. When I leased to Landstar Ranger, I was paid 65% of the load. That was my deal, so treat it as one driver's number.

The full range is in my article on semi truck insurance cost.

I would lease on first. I ran leased for 3 years before I took my own authority. A lease lets you learn your costs with less at risk.

My article on what lease on carriers keep shows the published splits for 9 carriers.

When you are ready for the other path, my trucking authority guide lists the steps and the first year bill.

What comes off a settlement before you get paid?

Your share of the load goes on first. Then the carrier takes back what the lease lets it charge you, such as insurance.

A settlement is the pay sheet a carrier gives a leased owner operator. The federal lease rule sets what it has to show (49 CFR 376.12).

• Pay within 15 days. The clock starts when you turn in the delivery documents for the trip.
• The rated freight bill. On percentage pay, the carrier gives you a copy at or before settlement.
• Every chargeback in the lease. The lease names each item the carrier can deduct and how the amount is figured.
• No forced purchases. The lease cannot make you buy products or services from the carrier.
• Escrow. The carrier pays you interest on it and returns it within 45 days after the lease ends.

Here is the top of a settlement, built from Landstar's annual report. BCO is Landstar's name for a leased owner operator.

Source: Landstar's annual report for fiscal 2025 (SEC). The 65% is my own share from my lease at Landstar Ranger.

That $1,756 is not your pay. Fuel, the truck payment and repairs still come out of it.

The carrier's own deductions come out too. Landstar's insurance pages name 3 that are taken from the settlement (Gallagher Transportation Services).

• Unladen liability. Required by the lease, at your expense.
• Physical damage. If you buy it through the program, it is deducted once a month.
• An occupational accident plan. You carry this or workers' compensation coverage.

None of those pages lists a price. So ask for each amount in writing before you sign, and check it against your first settlement.

My guide to non trucking liability insurance covers the unladen policy.

Do owner operators make more than company drivers?

On average, yes, before taxes and benefits. The ATBS average of $71,800 is $13,160 above the $58,640 median that BLS reports for company drivers.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and FreightWaves. One figure is a median and the other an average, so read the gap as rough.

The gap comes with a trade. The company driver gets that pay with no truck payment, no repair bills and no insurance renewal.

You also pay a tax the company driver does not see on his check. Self employment tax is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare (IRS).

Test your own case in the owner operator vs company driver calculator.

What taxes come out of an owner operator's salary?

Income tax and self employment tax. Nobody withholds them for you, so you pay them yourself during the year.

• Self employment tax. 15.3% once your net earnings reach $400. For example, 15.3% of $71,800 is $10,985. Schedule SE sets your exact figure (IRS).
• Estimated payments. The IRS expects them if you will owe $1,000 or more. The year has 4 payment periods, and a short payment can bring a penalty (IRS).
• Per diem. The 2026 rate is $80 a day, and drivers under DOT hours of service rules deduct 80% of it (IRS).

The per diem calculator turns your days away from home into a deduction.

This is not tax advice. A tax pro who works with truckers can set your quarterly amounts.

How do you keep more of every load?

Work the lines that move: the miles that pay, fuel, maintenance and the truck payment.

• Know your break even. A load under your cost per mile costs you money to haul. Check it in the load profit calculator.
• Count your deadhead. ATBS saw deadhead rise as a share of total miles in 2025 (Overdrive).
• Watch your fuel economy. ATBS clients averaged 7.28 MPG in 2025. Hosted called fuel the number 1 expense for a one truck business.
• Bank maintenance by the mile. Use 14 to 20 cents on an older truck.
• Pay the truck off when you can. At the ATBS average, no payment frees $2,900 a month.

Here is what half a mile per gallon is worth. For example, 95,000 miles at 6.78 MPG burns about 962 more gallons than at 7.28 MPG. At $4.00 a gallon, that is about $3,850 a year.

Run your own truck in the fuel cost calculator.

Sources

1. ATBS: average truck driver earnings in 2025 held mostly stable from 2024, April 15, 2026. FreightWaves. Accessed October 10, 2026.
2. Owner operator income up, with capacity driven trucking recovery ongoing, March 26, 2026. Overdrive. Accessed October 10, 2026.
3. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Heavy and Tractor Trailer Truck Drivers, pay for May 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed October 10, 2026.
4. New ATRI Report Details Accelerating Costs and Low Profitability Despite Cuts, July 15, 2026. ATRI. Accessed October 10, 2026.
5. Commercial truck insurance cost. Progressive. Accessed October 10, 2026.
6. Self employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes). IRS. Accessed October 10, 2026.
7. Estimated taxes. IRS. Accessed October 10, 2026.
8. Notice 2026-60, 2026 to 2027 special per diem rates. IRS. Accessed October 10, 2026.
9. Landstar System, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. SEC. Accessed October 10, 2026.
10. How much does it cost to start a trucking company, April 2024. ATBS. Accessed October 10, 2026.
11. 49 CFR 376.12, Lease requirements. eCFR. Accessed October 10, 2026.
12. Insurance programs for Landstar owner operators. Gallagher Transportation Services. Accessed October 10, 2026.