How Much Truckers Actually Make After Expenses

It's Friday afternoon. Mike's deposit says $1,130. Dan's settlement sheet says $4,400. Follow both to the bottom of the same week, and a $3,200 gap shrinks to about $50, maybe $115. One year, dollar by dollar, for a company driver (Mike) and an owner-operator (Dan): what is left of Dan's $228,000 after fuel, truck payment, insurance, maintenance, self-employment tax and health insurance (about $50,000, or $53,000 with a logged per diem), what Mike really takes home (about $56,000), and what Dan's unpaid hours are worth (about $7,000 a year). Then the line: about $85,000 in profit, or $1.43 a mile, where owning a truck starts to pay, and three places to find the extra $13,000: empty miles, fuel and rate. THE MODEL Both are single, with no state income tax. Mike earns $71,000. Dan runs about 100,000 miles a year at 6.5 mpg, with diesel at $4.60 a gallon after fuel-card discounts, on a used truck with a payment, two years into his own authority. Every extra $1 per gallon costs Dan about $15,000 a year, so if diesel is far from $4.60 when you watch this, redo the math with your own price. CHAPTERS 0:00 Friday: $1,130 vs $4,400 0:35 One year, dollar by dollar 1:00 Ground rules and the model 1:56 Mike: from gross to real pay 2:49 Dan: from $228K to $72K 4:12 Dan: taxes and health insurance 4:57 The cost of unpaid time 5:27 Real numbers side by side 6:04 Back to Friday: the weekly gap 7:03 The line: when owning pays 7:50 Three ways to find $13,000 9:16 Why the weekly number matters 9:54 Find your own number 10:53 What's next Sources: ATBS client income data; ATRI, Operational Costs of Trucking (repairs, tires, empty miles); BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; IRS Notice 2026-60 (per diem). Tax figures are a simplified 2026 single-filer model.