Owner Operator Cost Calculator
See what you actually take home in 2026, modeled side by side for leased and own authority, with the numbers most calculators skip: tax reserve, per diem, compliance fees, factoring, and fuel surcharge pass-through.
Where are you in your trucking business right now?
Pick one and we'll tailor the numbers and the comparison to your actual situation.
Your Inputs
Defaults reflect the latest national averages: diesel refreshes weekly from EIA, rates from DAT, benchmarks from ATBS & ATRI. Override any field with your own number.
What if conditions change?
Stack any combination, your inputs above stay clean. Tap a chip again to remove it.
Sensitivity grid: weeks × rate
Each cell shows annual take-home for that week-and-rate combination, holding your other inputs fixed. The cell labeled Default is your current scenario. Click any cell to apply that combo.
How we calculate your take-home
The calculator models take-home in four steps: gross revenue, operating costs, compliance costs, and after-tax net. Gross revenue is loaded miles × working weeks × your rate per mile, plus the fuel surcharge. For leased operators, the carrier split percentage is deducted first, then the FSC pass-through percentage is applied to the surcharge. Own-authority operators keep the full gross, minus factoring fees if factoring is enabled.
Operating costs include fuel (your MPG × current EIA national average diesel price), maintenance at $0.20/mile (ATRI & ATBS 2025 benchmark), tires ($6,000/yr), cell phone ($1,200/yr), and bookkeeping. Authority-specific compliance costs include IRP plates ($1,750), UCR registration ($176), load boards ($2,750), third-party compliance ($1,200), and ELD fees ($480). Truck loan amortization uses your entered purchase price, APR, and loan term.
Tax reserve accounts for self-employment (SE) tax, 15.3% on net income up to $176,100, applied before your federal marginal rate. Per diem deductions reduce taxable income: at $80/day × your OTR days × 80% IRS deductibility, 280 OTR days generates approximately $17,920 in deductions annually. The calculator stacks SE tax and your marginal rate to produce the total reserve percentage, then applies it to net operating income to estimate your after-tax take-home.
Using April 2026 national averages: 2,022 miles/week (ATBS 2025), 47 working weeks, $2.50/mile loaded (DAT spot van), $5.40/gal diesel (EIA), the model produces a leased take-home of approximately $30,900/year ($2,577/month) and an own-authority take-home of approximately $50,700/year ($4,222/month). The authority premium of roughly $19,700/year reflects higher gross revenue and no carrier split, offset by $10,000+ more in insurance and compliance costs. Results vary by freight lane, equipment type, and insurance rate. This is a planning tool, not a binding quote or financial advice.
What's not in these numbers
These are personal expenses outside the trucking business P&L. The take-home above doesn't subtract them; plan for them separately.
No carrier subsidy on either path. ACA marketplace premiums vary by state, age, and family size.
Of your net take-home, ATBS-recommended. SEP-IRA or solo 401(k) also reduces taxable income.
Per-claim out-of-pocket on cargo and physical damage. Keep this set aside so a single claim doesn't park you.
Minimum buffer for breakdowns, slow weeks, or claim deductibles. Three months of fixed costs is the planning floor.
Email me my full report
We'll email you a printable summary of these numbers. A licensed agent at Trucking Insurance Services, the agency that publishes OOIHub, gets a copy so a quote can start from your scenario instead of a generic template.