The trucking industry is responsible for transporting 70% of all freight in the United States. In 2021, this translates to over $930 billion in goods being hauled across the country on trucks every year. Does this sound like something you want to be a part of? If you have dreams of owning your own rig and running your own trucking company, becoming an owner-operator may be the right choice for you. 

How Much Owner-Operators Make

In the trucking industry, an owner-operator is the owner of a small trucking company who also runs the day-to-day operations of the company. Many truckers seeking more independence, freedom and profits choose to become owner-operators and run their own trucking company. If you are considering becoming an owner-operator, you are probably wondering how much owner-operators make. According to Indeed.com, they earn an average gross salary of $295,951, which is more than three times the average salary of an OTR (over the road) truck driver. The average net salary for owner-operators is $45,000 to $80,000 per year after expenses. 

Getting started as an owner-operator involves a great deal of planning and preparation. You will want to get your hands on trucking software that simplifies every aspect of your business, from IFTA requirements to maintaining compliance with the federal ELD mandate. Our trucking management software at Trucking Office is second to none in helping owner-operators run their trucking company efficiently and increase their profits. But before we get ahead of ourselves, the very first step in starting a successful trucking company is creating a solid business plan.

Building an Owner-Operator Trucking Business Plan

Your business plan will have

1. an executive summary
2. a company overview
3. a marketing plan
4. a set of goals or milestones
5. a list of the current staff
6. a financial plan.

TruckingOffice can help you as we break down each step of writing your owner-operator trucking business plan for your success.

We start with the Executive Summary.

Executive Summary

A short executive summary will take about 10 minutes to write – and five minutes of that may be finding a pencil.  You are going to write a list of things you already know:

• The name and location of your business
• What the business does
• Who does the business serve or who is your target market.

A good executive summary will make you think about who you are and who are the customers you want to serve. It’s a snapshot of what you’re doing right now.  

Creating an executive summary opens up a lot of options for you.

• If your trucking company is just “Joe’s Trucking Services” then does a shipper know that you’re a trucker or if you help truckers who are stranded on the road?  Maybe a different name and logo would help you get more business.
• If you want to specialize in hauling specific loads, does your current business name help people find you?

Like finding an unexpected picture of yourself that suddenly motivates you to lose a few pounds, an executive summary may show you places where simple changes can make big differences in your trucking business success.

Snapshots show us a lot.

Do you really need this?  After all, you know all this material very well.  That’s a good question to ask yourself.  Is the name of your business helping you get more business?  Is it located in the right place?  Do you know what your business does – and what you won’t do?  The final question about the target market might be the hardest to answer.  Is your target market only who you find on the list boards? Or are you interested in developing a client list and getting some regular loads?

Creating an executive summary opens up a lot of options for you to consider.

• If your trucking company is just “Joe’s Trucking Services” does a shipper know that you’re a trucker or if you help truckers who are stranded on the road?  Maybe a new name and logo would help you get more business.
• If you want to specialize in hauling specific loads, does your current business name help people find you?

Like finding an unexpected picture of yourself that suddenly motivates you to lose a few pounds, an executive summary may show you places where simple changes can make big differences in your trucking business success.

So write your executive summary and put it somewhere that will remind you to think about what the snapshot of your business is showing you right now.

Our next step will be a company overview.  You won’t need a drone to take a high look at your company as it is right now.