Calculate Your Potential Earnings
Earning an optimal income is essential for the work-life balance and general well-being of a semi truck driver. Our easy-to-use calculator helps truck drivers estimate their salary based on their daily mileage and their base pay per hour or per mile.
How Is Truck Driver Salary Calculated?
Truck drivers are often paid based on a combination of hourly wages and mileage rates. Understanding how salaries are calculated helps drivers and fleet managers make informed decisions about route efficiency, compensation, and profitability.
What Costs Affect Trucker Salary?
Truck driver pay is impacted by both fixed and variable costs, especially for owner-operators and independent contractors.
Key fixed costs include:
- Truck lease and loan payments
- Fixed portion of insurance premiums
- Licensing, registration, and permit costs
- Administrative and bookkeeping expenses
- Depreciation costs
- Subscription services like ELDs and weigh station bypass
- Toll expenses for regular routes
Variable costs (like fuel, maintenance, and repairs) also play a significant role and can fluctuate greatly depending on routes, weather, and driving habits.
Formula Used
Weekly Salary = (Base Pay per Hour × 8 × 5) + (Base Pay per Mile × Miles Driven per Day × 5)
In this formula:
- Base pay per hour is multiplied by 8 hours/day and 5 working days/week.
- Base pay per mile is multiplied by daily miles and 5 days/week.
- The two values are added to determine the weekly salary.
- Monthly salary = Weekly salary × 4
- Yearly salary = Monthly salary × 12
Truck Driver Salary Examples
| Miles Driven per Day | Base Pay per Hour ($) | Base Pay per Mile (¢) | Weekly Salary ($) | Monthly Salary ($) | Yearly Salary ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 20 | 25 | 7250 | 29000 | 348000 |
| 600 | 25 | 30 | 9300 | 37200 | 446400 |
What Are Variable Expenses?
Variable expenses can make calculating costs a headache. That’s because they can fluctuate depending on a number of factors (i.e., usage, distance traveled, maximum payload & towing capacity, etc.). Typical variable costs that truckers should consider when calculating their take-home pay include:
- Fuel costs, which can potentially be lowered with truck gear ratio & speed adjustments
- Tolls (typically when it’s a new route)
- Meals (most can be recouped via per diem reimbursements) and lodging expenses
- Maintenance and repairs (including the cost of tires)
- Load fees
- Unexpected costs for toll violations and other miscellaneous fines
- Road taxes based on the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA)
- Weigh station fees based on truck axle weight calculations
Taking into account fixed and fluctuating truck driving costs can help you calculate cost per mile and create a solid financial plan to sustain and grow your trucking business.
What is a Typical Trucking Cost Per Mile?
The average cost per mile for truckers depends on the types of loads hauled, location, and overall operational costs. With that in mind, a healthy ‘total cost per mile’ can range from $1.50 per mile to more than $3.00 per mile, depending on the previously mentioned factors.
FAQs
How do I calculate my truck driver salary if I’m paid both hourly and per mile?
Add your weekly hourly pay to your weekly mileage pay. Multiply your base hourly rate by 8 hours and 5 days, then add your base per‑mile rate multiplied by your daily miles and 5 days. Convert to monthly by multiplying the weekly total by 4, and to yearly by multiplying the monthly total by 12.
What’s the exact formula to convert hourly rate, per‑mile pay, and daily miles into weekly, monthly, and yearly earnings?
Weekly Salary = (Base Pay per Hour x 8 x 5) + (Base Pay per Mile x Miles Driven per Day x 5). Monthly Salary = Weekly Salary x 4. Yearly Salary = Monthly Salary x 12.
Which fixed and variable costs should an owner‑operator include when estimating take‑home pay?
Include fixed costs like truck lease or loan payments, the fixed portion of insurance, licensing and permits, admin and bookkeeping, depreciation, ELD and weigh station bypass subscriptions, and tolls on regular routes. Include variable costs like fuel, maintenance and repairs (including tires), tolls on new routes, meals and lodging, load fees, fines, IFTA road taxes, and weigh station fees.
What counts as fixed vs variable expenses in trucking, and how do they affect my bottom line?
Fixed expenses recur regardless of miles driven and include items like truck payments, insurance portions that don’t change with use, permits, admin, depreciation, and subscriptions. Variable expenses rise or fall with activity and routes, such as fuel, maintenance, new-route tolls, meals, load fees, fines, IFTA taxes, and weigh station fees. Tracking both is essential to calculate true cost per mile and protect profit.
What is a typical total cost per mile for trucking, and what factors make it go up or down?
A healthy total cost per mile often ranges from about $1.50 to more than $3.00, depending on load type, location, and overall operating costs. Fuel, maintenance, tolls, taxes, and driving habits can move that number up or down.
Can you show example earnings for a driver who runs 500 to 600 miles a day at 20 to 25 dollars an hour and 25 to 30 cents per mile?
Example outputs in the calculator show: at 500 miles per day with $20 per hour and $0.25 per mile, weekly is $7,250, monthly $29,000, and yearly $348,000. At 600 miles per day with $25 per hour and $0.30 per mile, weekly is $9,300, monthly $37,200, and yearly $446,400.
How do fuel, tolls, maintenance, IFTA road taxes, and weigh station fees impact a trucker’s net income?
These are variable operating costs that directly reduce take‑home pay and can fluctuate week to week with routes, weather, and driving habits. Higher fuel spend, unexpected repairs, or added tolls and fees raise your cost per mile and narrow margins.
What steps should I take to figure out my cost per mile and plan a sustainable trucking budget?
List your fixed monthly costs, estimate variable costs for your typical routes (fuel, maintenance, tolls, taxes, fees), then divide the total by your expected paid miles to get total cost per mile. Compare it to your revenue per mile, adjust routes or habits as needed, and revisit the numbers regularly as prices or lanes change. Use the Trucker Salary Calculator to model earnings alongside these costs.