Owner-operator gross revenue is running well ahead of the prior year. Yet how much, if any of it, is staying on the bottom line?
That's the No. 1 question to answer, and longtime owner-op business services firm ATBS, Overdrive's Partners in Business coproducer, will take it up Tuesday, Sept. 23, live online at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
The broadcast is free to attend, and owner-operators can register at this link for a market update and ATBS' twice-annual run through income, revenue and cost analysis, including the averages against which to measure your own business' performance.
It all draws on the books of more than 20,000 owner-operators ATBS handles bookkeeping and tax work for, including actual settlements, expenses and net income data.
Gross revenue: Up 9.3% as of mid-year across all market segments
On a trailing-twelve-month basis through this past June, the average ATBS client owner grossed $184,765, up 9.3% or $15,712 over the same 12 months ending June 2025.
About half of that increase is attributable to this year's dramatic rise in fuel costs and accompanying surcharges. The other half's attributable to rate increases.
Gains aren't spread evenly across the year. Through last fall and winter the two periods tracked closely together, with several months running slightly behind the prior year. The separation really got moving in March, when ATBS Vice President Mike Hosted memorably saw rates "skyrocketing," speaking at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Separation just kept widening through the Spring, with the strongest months of the period landing in May and June.
[Related: Roadcheck rates are in, with spot market on record run]
Gains haven't been spread evenly across operating segments, though:
Leased flatbed owner-ops among ATBS clients saw the largest move by a wide margin, as shown in the chart gaining 17.5% in average revenues versus the prior 12 months. With extra fuel costs, reefer owners gained the least, at a quarter of the all-segment average. Tank operators continue to gross the most in absolute terms, with an average north of $227,000.
Income: The number that isn't in that table
The table shows revenue. It doesn't show what's left. The surcharge portion of this year's increase is offset by a fuel bill that has climbed to meet it.
While it's "fantastic to see a recovery" particularly "after four challenging years," noted ATBS President Todd Amen, "cost inflation has limited how much of this additional revenue reaches the bottom line. We are in a time to be vigilant about managing costs, while taking advantage of a good trucking market."
Diesel, of course, has been the pressure point with the war in Iran this year, U.S. inventories considerably low and prices at levels never before seen as of this past week: Export demand just seems to keep growing with constrained global supply.
Maintenance and equipment costs haven't gotten any cheaper, either.
[Related: Just how high has owner-ops' truck/trailer maintenance cost moved?]
The session Sept. 23 will work through costs line by line, highlighting fuel, maintenance, insurance, truck payments-to-breakeven and net income metrics.
The question of how much of that revenue converted gets an actual answer.
Register to attend live or catch the replay via this link.
Other session highlights include a survey of owners, offering a read on the factors that go into selecting a leasing carrier to do business with. Factors land in places carrier recruiting departments might not expect, with these selected as the "most important":
- 54.66% pointed to consistent freight and access to specialized lanes, well ahead of all remaining factors.
- Compensation structure/revenue split: 39.38%
- Home time flexibility: 36.27%
- Access to discounted programs and services (insurance, equipment, fuel and tax planning): 29.53%
- Carrier transparency: 23.32%
- Carrier reputation: 22.02%
Sign-on bonuses sat along the very bottom, named by just more than 5% of owners.
[Related: Compensation 'as the crow flies': Why are carriers, shippers still using 'short miles']
Other topics covered:
- Latest trends in miles run and rates, fuel and maintenance costs
- Active owner-operator numbers: is the population growing again, or still contracting?
- Habits of the best and what separates the top performers from the pack in this market
- Segment-level breakouts for dry van, reefer, flatbed, specialized, tank and independent operations, reported separately rather than averaged into one number
- Live Q&A with the ATBS team
Registrants can attend live Sept. 23 or access the recorded version in replay via this link.
Track back through the last session, delivered in March this year, via the special edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast below.
