3 Biggest Owner-Operator Expenses
As an owner-operator, you are a small business owner. It means that you cannot just focus on how much money you earn. You should also focus on how much money you spend. Owner-operators have to deal with many of the same day-to-day business expenses. Understanding this spending and figuring out how to minimize the amount of money that comes out of your pocket is a significant task for any business owner. Today we are going to talk about the three biggest expenses of owner-operators.
1- Fuel
Fuel is by far the greatest expense to those owning and operating a truck. On average, you may spend between $30,000 and $60,000 a year on fuel. The best way to determine how much you can expect to spend on fuel is by computing the average cost of your truck per mile. The most efficient way to get the perfect mileage is to find the best speed to keep your engine running. When you pull your load torque instead of power, you will burn less fuel because your truck will consume less energy.
2- Equipment Cost
Equipment Cost is the cost of your truck or your trailer. Before the pandemic, you could buy a truck for $30,000 and $40,000 but once the pandemic hit, the prices skyrocketed. If you want to buy a truck right now, you will typically spend much more. Truck expenses include truck payment, maintenance, and tires. Even though your truck is completely paid for, maintenance and tire costs are still enough to be your second largest expense. On average, maintenance is about 10% of total expenses.
3- Insurance
Insurance is a category in which you will need to carefully weigh costs versus benefits. The more coverage you have, the higher your monthly premiums will be. But the less coverage you have, the more risk you are assuming. Insurance on a single truck typically starts at approximately $3,000 for a rented, owner-operator and $20,000 for a licensed owner-operator.
When everything is taken into consideration, as truck owners it is necessary to pay attention to these expenditures. We hope that you found some useful information in this blog post about the expenses of owner-operators.
