Independent truck drivers in the US earned an average of $71,800 in 2025, according to ATBS, with incomes remaining broadly stable compared with the year before despite a difficult market environment.
The figure was provided by Todd Amen, president of ATBS, a business management company serving around 20,000 independent owner-operators and helping many of them file their tax returns.
He said there is an important caveat behind the number: ATBS has changed the methodology it uses to calculate average income. Under the previous method, some of the highest and lowest earners were removed as outliers. That approach, along with a few other steps, has now been adjusted.
As a result, while ATBS previously reported average 2024 income at $64,000 under the old model, the new $71,800 figure for 2025 is essentially flat when compared on a like-for-like basis.
Even within that broadly stable average, however, there was significant variation.
Amen said the reason earnings were able to remain relatively steady was the surge in freight rates at the end of the year, which has continued into 2026. Revenue per mile increased by about five cents year on year, and he said all of that gain came in the fourth quarter.
He also noted that diesel prices had little impact on the annual comparison because full-year average fuel prices for 2024 and 2025 were largely unchanged.
As for the first quarter of 2026, Amen said he did not yet have firm numbers on how much stronger driver earnings may be, but his overall assessment was simple: “it’s good”.
ATBS data also showed that drivers were running fewer miles. The average mileage across the company’s customer base fell about 4% to roughly 95,000 miles for the year.
Amen said that is unusual. In difficult freight markets, drivers often try to make up for weak rates by running more miles. In this case, he said, the freight simply was not there for most of the year. That changed in the first quarter, when conditions improved, and he suggested stricter enforcement against illegal drivers may be part of the reason.
Despite a broad market view that 2025 was a poor year for trucking, average earnings remained relatively stable. Amen said those who managed to survive were the most resourceful and disciplined operators.
ATBS also introduced a new statistic for 2025: 34% of its clients no longer have a truck payment. Amen said that figure is significantly higher than in previous years, estimating that before Covid only 15% to 20% of drivers would have been in that position.
He believes many drivers paid off their trucks during the Covid period, when government stimulus and exceptionally strong earnings allowed them to clear debt. For those drivers, avoiding a monthly truck payment averaging $2,900 has become a major survival advantage.
Maintenance, however, has become a growing burden. Amen said maintenance costs rose 6.5% in 2025 compared with 2024, with drivers now spending around 14 cents per mile on maintenance, compared with roughly 6 to 7 cents a few years ago. He said that trend is unlikely to reverse.
ATBS data also highlighted the highest earners in the sector. The top 10% of drivers had reached around $276,000 per year during the Covid boom, and Amen said that figure is now down about 5%. He noted that these top earners tend to be highly specialised, working in areas such as hazmat or government freight.
The top third of all drivers now earn about $166,000, compared with a Covid-era peak of about $188,000. Amen said the decline is noticeable, but not dramatic, especially given how unusually high incomes were during the pandemic.
Looking into 2026, Amen warned that rising diesel prices now pose a fresh risk to owner-operators. While he did not yet have hard data, he said many drivers are currently spending around $350 more per week on fuel.
Many independent carriers working through brokers benefit from fuel surcharges charged to shippers, but Amen cautioned that drivers do not always receive the full benefit of those adjustments. In some cases, he said, brokers are able to keep part of the increase, delaying the point at which owner-operators truly recover their higher fuel costs.
What is helping offset some of that pressure, he said, is that drivers are becoming more informed about fuel pricing and better equipped to ask the right questions and protect themselves.
