It’s the question every truck driver wants to know: How much money will I make?
The answer is that it depends on a number of factors.
There are different types of truck drivers (over-the-road, local, and regional; and company, lease, and owner-operators) and different kinds of freight you can haul that will impact your salary. Not only that, but every driver is different and will spend more or less time off the road and at home.
So let's get straight to the point, shall we?
We'll use our experience as a predominantly OTR carrier that's been around since 1955 to help you understand how much you and fellow OTR drivers can expect to earn annually.
We'll break it down by driver type:
We'll follow that information with other tips, including:
Over-the-Road Truck Driver Pay
Historically speaking, OTR truck drivers typically made somewhere between $45,000 and $75,000 as a company driver or a lease operator. Freight rates have increased over the years, so truck driver pay is higher.
Nowadays, the average OTR truck driver can earn somewhere between $78,000 and $100,000 annually.
Company Truck Driver Salary
Company drivers can expect to make between $75,000 and $135,000 per year at a top-paying trucking carrier.
Lease/Independent Contractor Truck Driver Salary
After all expenses, lease drivers can expect to take home between $120,00 and $170,000 per year.
Owner-Operator Truck Driver Salary
Owner-operators in the top ten percent can make anywhere between $180,000 and $350,000 per year when they partner with top-paying trucking carriers.
What Factors Determine Truck Driver Pay?
Your pay as a truck driver is dependent upon several factors. For example, compare it to positions that rely on commission, like sales. Salespeople may make a base salary, but their earning potential increases based on how many sales they complete in a set period.
A driver running regularly and making their deliveries on time can expect to make an average amount each month, but they can increase their salary depending upon the type of freight they’re hauling, what type of driver they are, and how long they stay out on the road.
Type of Driver
OTR drivers may be classified as company drivers, lease drivers, or owner-operators, with company drivers typically at the lower end of the income scale and owner-operators at the higher end of the scale.
Company drivers are employees of the trucking carrier. As such, the company takes care of them and they receive company-sponsored benefits, like insurance and retirement accounts.
Company drivers have far less risk as compared to lease drivers and owner-operators. The company provides them with more stability no matter what freight prices are.
As a result, these drivers don’t make as much money on each load they haul when compared to lease drivers or owner-operators.
Lease drivers and owner-operators are not company employees. As independent contractors, they get to choose their freight, and they cover their own maintenance costs, truck payments, and insurance costs.
Since the carrier isn’t covering those costs as they would for a company driver, contractors will make more money off each load.
Independent contractors typically take home more money after fixed expenses than company drivers do.
However, it’s important to remember that even though independent contractors may have greater earning potential, they carry risks a company driver does not (including expenses not covered by the carrier).
Freight and Trailer Type
The freight that you haul has a significant impact on your income. A van driver will not make as much money as a heavy haul driver, simply because the goods they are hauling are not as costly — or as challenging to haul — as the oversized machinery a heavy haul driver must transport.
A dry van driver is typically pulling general goods, like household goods. If you want to increase your income as a van driver, hauling seasonal freight may be the way to go.
For example, consider the cost of freight during the height of the pandemic. Everyday goods like toilet paper, sanitizer, and cleaning wipes were in high demand across the country. Van drivers hauling only toilet paper were making a much higher salary than drivers hauling general goods because the demand was high.
If you notice certain products are in high demand during a certain season, talk to your driver manager about hauling those seasonal goods. They may be able to put you on a dedicated lane where you can maximize your income.
Flatbed and specialized drivers will make more money than van drivers due to the complexity of the loads they’re hauling. There are more variables to consider with an open-deck trailer than with a van.
Flatbed and specialized drivers will undergo more securement training to ensure every load they haul can travel safely down the road. The driver will need to take the time to properly secure the load with chains, straps or other tools.
They’ll also need to stop regularly to check the securement of the load. This requires extra work as a driver — especially if the load also has to be tarped. Drivers are compensated for this hard, physical labor with a higher salary.
The bigger the load, the more training you’ll need. The more endorsements and experience needed to haul freight, the more money you can make. That’s why heavy haulers typically make more money than van or flatbed drivers.
Heavy haul drivers have to haul freight that is overweight and over-dimensional. Not only does this require extra securement, but it also requires careful, patient drivers. 
Heavy haul drivers also have to do the extra work of securing special permits, following driving curfews, and working with escort cars.
You’ll hear this in the trucking industry a lot: The higher the risk, the greater the reward. It couldn’t be truer for heavy haulers.
Related: The highest paying trucking jobs
Trucking Carrier and Payment
Your salary is also dependent upon your trucking carrier and the way they pay you. Trucking carriers with high safety scores and great service delivery history will be able to charge shippers more to haul their freight.
They’ll also probably be able to work with higher-paying customers. Smaller carriers may haul any freight they can get — regardless of how much the shipper is willing to pay.
Your trucking carrier will pay you either cents per mile (CPM) or percentage of the load. Cents per mile gives you a consistent salary, whereas percentage pay may vary depending on the cost of freight. When the cost of freight is high, the pay will be great. When the cost of freight is low, you can see your paychecks take a hit.
However, some companies will automatically pay you whichever rate is higher depending on the load.
Related: Find out how ATS pays its drivers
Home Time
The longer you’re out on the road, the higher your salary will be. If you’re willing to run for months at a time, you’ll be able to get into great freight lanes that will take you from one side of the country to the next and pay you handsomely to do so.
It’s simple: Your earning potential increases when you keep your freight lane options open by staying on the road longer.
If you want to get back to the house, you’ll take loads to try to get you back home. If you’re willing to stay on the road a few months at a time, you won’t bat an eyelash when you live in Florida but you’re asked to take a load from Texas to California. Your freight opportunities will go through the roof if you don’t have to be home on a specific day.
How Can I Maximize My Driver Salary?
It’s obvious that you’ll make more money if you make the sacrifice to stay on the road longer, but if you’re looking for a few more ways to maximize your income, keep reading.
Optimize Your Time
Even above and beyond staying out on the road longer, optimizing your time is the best way to maximize your income.
At the end of each night or at the start of each day, you should be taking the time to plan your trip. Check out your route, communicate with your customers so you know where the load needs to be dropped off and if it can be delivered early, and determine where you will stop for fuel or park for the night.
You can not only waste valuable working hours if you don’t plan your routes and where you’re staying each night, but you can waste money on fuel. If you have to drive outside your route for construction you didn’t plan for or because you can’t find a place to park for the night, you’ll be spending money on extra fuel.
Don’t schedule your maintenance time during your Hours of Service (HOS). Get repairs taken care of during downtime.
Take Care of Preventative Maintenance
If you’re broken down, you’re not making money. Be sure that you take care of all preventative maintenance to save you money down the road. Failing to take care of minor problems right away can make them worse in the long run.
No driver wants to be sitting in a hotel — spending money instead of earning it — while they wait for their truck to be fixed. Breakdowns can really get in your way, so if you can prevent their frequency with preventative maintenance, do it.
Plan Your Meals
You can save hundreds of dollars each month if you simply limit how much you go out to eat.
Prepare a big batch of meals before you hit the road and store them inside your truck along with healthy snacks. A mini-fridge will easily pay for itself when you’re saving on three meals per day.
For a more in-depth explanation of how you can save money on the road, check out our guide to maximizing your income as a truck driver.
Related: How to meal prep as a truck driver
Increase Your Earnings
Understanding how much money you can make as an OTR driver and the factors that influence it — driver type, freight type, trailer type, and home time — will help you pursue a career path that makes you happy, instead of one that leaves you unsatisfied and desiring a switch.
Does the pay range we mentioned above align with what you’re making?
If not, it may be time to switch to a Top Pay Carrier like Anderson Trucking Service (ATS). We have driving options and freight options that will help you earn the salary you deserve.
Fill out our application and talk to a recruiter who will guide you through salary expectations as a valued ATS driver.
You can also download our freight calendar, below, for the second half of 2024 to find out the best days to haul freight to make more money.
