What you gross is not what you keep.
Enter the gross, your split and the deductions that actually come off the sheet — fuel, truck payment, insurance, trailer, dispatch, escrow. See your net settlement, your net per mile, and what share of the revenue reaches you.
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Net settlement is before income and self-employment tax. Set aside for those separately. Escrow is subtracted here because it leaves this settlement, but it is still your money — know the rules on how it comes back. Paid as a company driver instead? Use the company-driver calculator.
Ask what the percentage is a percentage of
Two carriers can both offer 70% and pay very differently. One calculates it on linehaul only; the other includes fuel surcharge and accessorials. One leaves trailer rent and occupational insurance on your side; the other absorbs them. The number in the recruiting ad is the least informative part of the offer.
The figure that compares honestly across offers — and against going back to company driving — is net per mile. That is what this calculator is for.
Percentage of what?
Linehaul only, or the full invoice including fuel surcharge and accessorials? The gap is real money.
Which costs are yours?
Trailer rent, occ/acc, plates, ELD subscription. A higher split with more costs can pay less.
Escrow is not a cost
It leaves the settlement but stays your money. Know the terms for getting it back before you sign.
Owner-operator pay questions
- What percentage do owner-operators usually get?
- Leased-on percentage splits commonly sit in the 65-75% range of linehaul, but the percentage on its own tells you very little. What decides the week is which costs sit on your side of the line — fuel, trailer rent, insurance, dispatch fees — and whether the percentage is calculated on linehaul only or on the full invoice including fuel surcharge and accessorials. Always ask what the percentage is a percentage OF.
- Is escrow a cost?
- No. Escrow is your money being held, not an expense — which is why this calculator shows it on its own line rather than mixing it in with fuel and insurance. Under 49 CFR 376.12(k) the lease must specify what the fund can be applied to and how it is accounted for, and it must be returned no later than 45 days after termination.
- Why is my net per mile so much lower than my rate per mile?
- Because the rate is revenue and the net is what survives the deduction stack. An owner-operator grossing $2.20 a mile with $0.75 in fuel, a truck payment, insurance and trailer rent can easily net under $0.60. Net per mile is the only figure that compares honestly against a company-driver cents-per-mile offer.
- Does this include taxes?
- No. Net settlement here is before income tax and self-employment tax, which you owe as a contractor and which nobody withholds for you. Set money aside from every settlement rather than discovering the bill in April.
- My settlement came out negative. Is that normal?
- It happens on a genuinely bad week — low miles against fixed costs that do not care how much you ran. If it repeats, check two things first: the fuel line, and whether every deduction on the sheet is one your lease actually authorises. A deduction that is not specified in the lease is worth questioning.
- I am a company driver, not an owner-operator.
- Use the truck driver pay calculator instead. You are not carrying fuel, truck payment or insurance, so the deduction stack here does not apply to you.
Related: truck driver pay calculator, cost per mile calculator, and the Truth-in-Leasing guides on what a lease must say about deductions, escrow and final settlement.
Carriers: settlements your owner-operators can check
Fleetive itemizes every deduction against the pay contract, so the sheet answers questions instead of starting them. Start your 14-day free trial, no card required.