Is a lease-purchase truck program ever a good deal?

It can be, but rarely. Lease-purchase programs typically charge a weekly lease payment, a maintenance escrow, plates, insurance, and fuel — all paid by the driver out of a CPM that is only slightly higher than company-driver pay. The math usually works only when paid miles are consistently above 2,700 per week, deadhead stays below 10%, and the carrier's maintenance escrow genuinely covers repairs instead of being a profit center.

What is deadhead and why does it matter in the lease calculation?

Deadhead is unpaid empty miles between loads. Fuel, maintenance, and tire wear accrue on every mile driven, but CPM revenue accrues only on paid miles. A 15% deadhead rate means a driver running 2,500 paid miles actually puts 2,875 miles on the truck and pays fuel/maintenance on all of them. Our calculator applies deadhead to the cost side, not the revenue side, because that is how the real bills arrive.

Why do lease carriers quote gross settlement numbers instead of net?

A $1,600 weekly gross settlement before deductions sounds better in a recruiting pitch than a $700 net after the lease payment, maintenance escrow, plates, insurance, and fuel come out. Ask for a net settlement sheet from a real driver at that carrier with 90 days of history before signing.

What's the difference between lease-purchase and leasing-to-own?

Lease-purchase is a carrier-sponsored program where the carrier owns the truck, leases it to the driver on weekly payments, and transfers title if the driver completes the program. Leasing-to-own usually means an independent purchase through a truck dealer or finance company. Lease-purchase ties you to one carrier; an independent purchase lets you run under whatever authority you want.

Is owner-op always better than company driving?

No. Owner-ops bear all downside risk: a breakdown, a soft freight market, a rate drop can turn a good year into a losing year. A company driver's paycheck does not change when diesel goes from $3.60 to $4.80 per gallon. The calculator shows net income in an average market; model a worst-case diesel price and weak-rate market before committing to equipment.

Where do the default cost numbers come from?

Maintenance, tires, insurance, and permits default to figures from the American Transportation Research Institute's 2024 Operational Costs of Trucking report (2023 data). Fuel defaults to EIA weekly national diesel retail pricing. Lease-purchase defaults come from publicly discussed programs at major carriers. Every number can be overridden with your own carrier's quoted figures.

Lease vs Company vs Owner-Op

Run the same paid-miles-per-week through all three pay structures and see what each actually nets after real costs. Fuel comes from EIA, maintenance and tires come from ATRI, company-driver pay anchors to BLS. Every default is overridable.

Last verified 2026-04-17 Primary sources: ATRI 2024 Op Costs · EIA Weekly Diesel · BLS OES 53-3032

Compare the three paths

Paid miles per week Weeks worked per year Company driver CPM (dollars)

Base mileage pay only. Don't include per-load bonuses or detention.

Lease-purchase all-in settlement per mile ($)

All-in rate on the weekly settlement: base CPM plus any fuel surcharge and per-diem if the carrier pays them as line-items. Typical lease programs advertise $1.00–$1.30 all-in.

Owner-op revenue per mile (dollars)

Line-haul only. Typical dry van $2.00–$2.20/mi in early 2026 per DAT; flatbed and specialty freight can be higher.

Diesel price ($/gal)

EIA weekly national average — override with your fuel-card data.

Truck fuel economy (mpg) Deadhead percentage

Fraction, not percent. 0.15 = 15% empty miles.

Lease-purchase — annual net
Owner-op — annual net
Lease vs company delta
Owner-op vs company delta
Lease weekly settlement (before deductions)
Lease weekly deductions
Owner-op weekly net

How this calculator models each path

All three pay structures are run through the same paid-miles-per-week × weeks-worked envelope, then each is debited the costs that apply to that structure only. The goal is to land on an apples-to-apples net-income number so you can judge the tradeoff without a recruiter's finger on the scale.

Company driver

Company drivers earn CPM multiplied by paid miles multiplied by weeks worked. They do not pay for the truck, fuel, maintenance, insurance, plates, or tolls — the carrier does. They may pay a benefit contribution (health insurance, 401(k)) that's deducted pre-tax from payroll. On this calculator, the company-driver figure is a pre-tax gross of mileage pay only; any bonuses, detention, or per diem are extra cash the driver receives that is not modeled here. That's the straightforward line.

Lease-purchase

Lease-purchase programs pay a higher CPM than company driver — often 10–20¢ more per mile. Out of that higher CPM, the carrier deducts the weekly lease payment (typically $500–$800 on a late-model tractor), a maintenance escrow (typically 8–12¢ per mile driven, not just paid), plates and permits (roughly $40–$60 per week), occupational accident and physical damage insurance (typically $80–$120 per week), and fuel (the big one — every gallon burned comes out of the driver's settlement).

Our default assumptions are conservative toward the middle of each band: $650 weekly lease, 0.10¢/mile maintenance escrow × total miles, $45 plates, $90 insurance. Fuel uses EIA's $3.80/gallon weekly national retail diesel at 6.5 mpg — the observed fleet average for heavy tractors in on-highway operation. Change any of these to match what your specific program charges.

Deadhead matters here because escrow and fuel accrue on every mile, not just paid ones. If you run 2,500 paid miles at 15% deadhead, the truck actually rolled 2,875 miles and you paid fuel and maintenance on 2,875. Lease programs that advertise a high CPM often assume you'll hit 0% deadhead and run the truck at the HOS ceiling — neither of which happens in the real world of dispatch variability.

Owner-operator

Owner-ops bill line-haul at a per-mile rate negotiated with a broker or under a direct shipper contract. In early 2026, average dry-van line-haul was approximately $2.00–$2.20 per loaded mile per DAT and Truckstop spot-market data; specialty freight (reefer, flatbed, tanker) and contract lanes pay higher, soft seasonal markets pay lower. Out of that gross, the owner-op pays:

Truck payment — ~$2,200/month for a late-model used tractor on a 5-year note; newer equipment or teams push higher.
Trailer payment — ~$650/month for dry van or reefer.
Insurance — default $14,000/year for combined liability + cargo + physical damage. Owner-ops under a carrier's authority pay less; independents under their own authority pay more.
Permits and plates — IFTA, IRP apportioned plates, UCR, 2290, state permits. ~$4,500/year is a defensible working default.
Maintenance — 0.200/mile per ATRI 2024 data, scaled by total miles including deadhead.
Tires — 0.044/mile per ATRI.
Tolls & permits — 0.034/mile per ATRI; actual lane-dependent.
Fuel — total miles ÷ mpg × diesel price.
Factoring — 2.5% of gross for 24–48 hour pay on invoices; skip if you can wait 30–45 days for direct payment.

Our assumptions and sources

Cost line	Default	Source
Maintenance & repair	$0.200/mile	ATRI Operational Costs of Trucking, 2024 Update (2023 data)
Tires	$0.044/mile	ATRI 2024 Update
Insurance (owner-op, annual)	$14,000/year	Industry average liability + cargo + physical damage; varies with authority type
Permits, plates, tolls	$0.034/mile + $4,500/year fixed	ATRI 2024 + IFTA/IRP industry norms
Diesel price	$3.80/gallon	EIA Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel, verified 2026-04-17
Truck fuel economy	6.5 mpg	On-highway heavy-tractor fleet average
Deadhead rate	15%	Industry average owner-op deadhead; lane-dependent
Truck payment	$2,200/month	Typical 5-year note on late-model used sleeper, early 2026
Trailer payment	$650/month	Typical dry van / reefer payment, early 2026
Factoring rate	2.5%	Industry norm for 24–48 hr invoice advance
Lease weekly payment	$650	Published lease-program schedules at major carriers
Lease maintenance escrow	$0.10/mile	Industry midpoint of published carrier lease-program escrows
Lease plates	$45/week	Typical carrier lease-program charge
Lease insurance	$90/week	Typical carrier lease-program occupational accident + physical damage

What we deliberately didn't model

Federal and state income tax — comparing pre-tax nets is transparent; adding a tax layer would require guessing at filing status, state, deductions. Our Per Diem Calculator handles the one driver-specific tax line that actually differs across pay structures.
Self-employment tax — owner-ops pay ~15.3% on net self-employment earnings (Social Security + Medicare). Subtract this from the owner-op net when modeling your real take-home.
Health insurance and retirement contributions — company drivers typically receive employer contributions to both; owner-ops pay full freight. This is a real ~$8,000–$15,000/year difference that narrows the company vs owner-op gap.
Major repair events — a $25,000 engine overhaul or $8,000 transmission can wipe out a quarter's net. Owner-ops should carry at least 3 months of fixed costs in reserve; the calculator assumes you're averaged over a normal year.
Freight market volatility — line-haul rates move with the broader freight cycle. Model your owner-op scenario against both strong-market and soft-market rate-per-mile numbers before buying equipment.

The questions to ask before signing a lease

What is the all-in net settlement of a comparable driver at this carrier for the last 13 weeks? Ask for redacted settlement sheets.
What happens to the maintenance escrow if I complete the program — is there a refundable balance?
What is the penalty or remaining-balance obligation if I return the truck before the lease term ends?
Do fuel and repair costs come off the settlement before or after my share is calculated?
What's the deadhead policy — am I paid anything for empty miles to reposition?
What does the carrier's turnover rate on this specific lease program look like? High turnover on a lease program is diagnostic.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the calculator sometimes show lease-purchase as negative?

Because it happens. When miles drop below ~2,200 paid per week or deadhead climbs above 20%, the fixed weekly lease payment and fuel bill can eat the entire settlement. This is the outcome the recruiting pitch never models.

Are the ATRI numbers realistic for a single owner-op?

ATRI's operating-cost figures are fleet averages that skew slightly high for single owner-ops (larger fleets carry fleet-wide overhead not present in one-truck operations) and slightly low for newer trucks with active warranties. Treat them as defensible starting points, not ceilings. If you have your own cost history, paste it in.

What line-haul rate should I assume for an owner-op?

For dry van national average as of early 2026, $2.00–$2.20 per loaded mile is defensible. Flatbed, reefer, tanker, and auto-haul command higher rates. Soft seasonal markets can drop to $1.75 on certain lanes. Look at DAT RateView or Truckstop's market data for your specific origin/destination pair before committing.

Should I factor my invoices?

Factoring takes 2–3% of gross in exchange for 24–48 hour pay. If your fixed costs (truck, trailer, insurance) are front-loaded and you don't have 30–45 days of working capital, factoring is cheaper than the alternative. Once you have reserves and direct shipper contracts, drop the factoring company.

What's the realistic break-even for an owner-op?

Total annual fixed costs (truck + trailer + insurance + plates) divided by annual paid miles — plus variable cost-per-mile (fuel + maintenance + tires + tolls + factoring) — is your break-even revenue-per-mile. Under typical defaults, that's roughly $1.50–$1.70 per paid mile just to keep the lights on. Anything below that is a losing week.