Owner-Operator Expenses List: Fixed vs Variable Costs
A cost-per-mile number is only as good as the expenses behind it — miss one line and every load you book is priced on a lie. Walk this checklist once with your bank statements open, then drop each number into the calculator. Every item below jumps straight to its field.
Fixed costs — you pay these even when parked
Fixed costs don't care whether you ran 2,000 miles or 12,000. That's exactly why low-mile months feel so expensive: the same dollars spread over fewer miles. (Industry research shows this dilution effect dramatically — see the OOIDA example in our cost-to-run guide.)
| Expense | What to include | Add it |
|---|---|---|
| Truck payment | Loan or lease payment on the tractor. Paid off? Still budget a replacement reserve — the truck is wearing out either way. | → calculator |
| Trailer payment | Loan, lease, or trailer-rental cost per month. | → calculator |
| Insurance | Primary liability, cargo, physical damage, bobtail/non-trucking, occupational accident — the monthly total across all policies. | → calculator |
| Plates, permits & filings | IRP plates, UCR, 2290 heavy vehicle use tax, state permits, IFTA account — annual totals ÷ 12. | → calculator |
| ELD subscription | Monthly e-log service fee, plus any camera/telematics subscriptions. | → calculator |
| Truck parking | Monthly reserved parking at home base, paid overnight parking on the road averaged per month. | → calculator |
| Other fixed | Business phone, load board subscriptions, accounting/bookkeeping, LLC fees, software. | → calculator |
Variable costs — they grow with every mile
| Expense | What to include | Add it |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | The big one. The calculator derives it live from your pump price and MPG, so it never goes stale. | → diesel price · → MPG |
| Maintenance & repairs | Oil changes, brakes, PMs, breakdowns. Set aside a per-mile amount every month — repair months are a question of when, not if. | → calculator |
| Tires | A full set is thousands of dollars every few years; per-mile budgeting smooths it into every rate you quote. | → calculator |
| Tolls | Monthly transponder statements; lane-dependent, so use your real average. | → calculator |
| Your pay (or driver pay) | The most-skipped line in trucking. Pay yourself per mile like you'd pay a driver — a rate that can't cover the driver is a losing rate. | → calculator |
| Other variable | Lumper fees, truck washes, scale tickets, paid load-securement — averaged per mile. | → calculator |
The two multipliers most spreadsheets forget
| Factor | Why it changes your minimum rate | Add it |
|---|---|---|
| Deadhead % | Empty miles cost full money and invoice nothing — your break-even per loaded mile is your CPM ÷ (1 − deadhead %). Details in the break-even rate calculator. | → calculator |
| Factoring fee | If you factor invoices, the fee comes off the top of gross — your rate must cover costs after the percentage. | → calculator |
Checklist done? Get the number
- Open the cost per mile calculatorFree, no signup, saves your inputs on your device.
- Get your minimum rate to acceptBreak-even per loaded mile, with deadhead and factoring baked in.
- Compare against published researchSourced ATRI & OOIDA figures — context, not gospel.
Estimates only — not financial or tax advice. Categories above are for cost-per-mile math; talk to your accountant about how each expense is treated for taxes.