Practical education for owner operators, a new article every week, written in driver language. The money math, the costs, and the questions worth asking before you sign with any carrier.
Running your own truck? See the lease-on offer on our Owner Operators page.
The weekly benchmark diesel numbers, the same figures most fuel surcharges are based on. Knowing this number tells you what the surcharge on your settlement should roughly track.
One original article every week, written for drivers who run their own truck. Each one leads with the takeaways and works the numbers in the open. The first three are in production now.
Gross is the number everybody quotes. This one works a full team week all the way down: fuel, insurance, the truck payment, and what is left at the end.
Inside: a worked example with real math, line by line, so you can run your own week through the same steps.
Two pay models can look close on paper and land hundreds of dollars apart on the same freight. We put both on one load and show every line.
Inside: how to tell which model pays you more before you sign, and the questions that expose a bad deal.
If you do not know your cost per mile, you cannot tell a good load from a bad one. This is the worksheet, fixed costs and rolling costs together.
Inside: a step by step worksheet you can copy, with tires, maintenance, and insurance figured the way they actually hit.
We read the same sources we point you to. Freight market reporting, the rules as they are published, and the federal data behind both. Links open the publishers' own websites.
Independent reporting on freight markets, capacity, and rates, including the weekly diesel benchmark story.
Visit FreightWaves →Rules and regulation as published: FMCSA notices, carrier requirements, and commercial vehicle regulation.
Visit the Federal Register →Federal transportation data and research, the numbers behind freight volume and industry trends.
Visit BTS →