Estimate your annual take-home profit as an owner operator from your rates, miles and running costs.
How this calculator works
The calculator multiplies your loaded miles by your average gross rate to get annual revenue, then subtracts fuel (calculated across all miles including deadhead), fixed costs such as truck payments and insurance, maintenance, and any factoring or broker fees. What is left is your profit before tax, shown annually, weekly, per mile and as an operating margin.
Reading your results
ATRI's 2026 cost analysis put the average cost of running a truck at $2.336 per mile in 2025, and reported that average carrier operating margins in the truckload sector were below 1 percent, so thin results are common in the current market. Deadhead is a silent profit killer: ATRI found empty miles remain elevated at around 16 to 17 percent of total mileage, which is why this calculator asks for a deadhead percentage rather than assuming every mile pays. Fuel is your largest truly variable cost, and with EIA weekly diesel prices at record levels in late 2026, small MPG improvements translate into meaningful annual savings.
Improving the number
The three levers that move owner operator profit fastest are rate per mile, deadhead percentage and fuel economy. A 10 cent improvement in average rate on 105,000 loaded miles is worth over $10,000 a year. Cutting deadhead from 17 percent to 12 percent saves thousands of gallons of diesel. Before chasing more miles, check whether better load selection would do more for the bottom line.
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