The Complete Trucking Expenses List
TruckMars Editorial · September 10, 2026
Fixed costs: the bills that show up whether you drive or not
Truck payment or lease, insurance (liability, cargo, physical damage), permits and operating authority fees, UCR and IRP registration, and ELD subscription costs all land in your account on their own schedule regardless of how many miles you run that month. The [Semi-Truck Payment Calculator](/semi-truck-payment-calculator) and [Insurance Cost Estimator](/insurance-cost-estimator) cover the two largest line items here.
Variable costs: tied directly to the miles you run
Fuel is the biggest variable cost by far, followed by tires, routine maintenance, tolls, and the per-diem cost of being away from home. The [Fuel Cost Calculator](/fuel-cost-calculator) and [Per Diem Calculator](/per-diem-calculator) handle the two most volatile pieces of this category.
Costs that depend on how you get paid
A dispatch fee (typically 4 to 7 percent of gross) and, if you factor your invoices, a factoring fee (typically 1 to 5 percent) both come out of revenue before it reaches you. Neither is optional overhead in the way a truck payment is, but both need to be in your math before you decide a load was actually profitable. Run the numbers with the [Dispatcher Fee Calculator](/dispatcher-fee-calculator).
Tax-related costs that aren't really optional
Self-employment tax, quarterly estimated income tax, IFTA fuel tax, and Form 2290's heavy vehicle use tax all apply whether or not you set money aside for them in advance. The [Trucking Tax Calculator](/trucking-tax-calculator) and [IFTA Calculator](/ifta-calculator) help you estimate these before they're due instead of after.
Costs owner-operators forget until they hit
Truck depreciation, major repair reserves, and the gap between a slow week's revenue and a fixed monthly payment are the three categories that catch new authorities off guard most often. Building a maintenance reserve and running your [Truck Depreciation Calculator](/truck-depreciation-calculator) numbers early protects you from treating a slow month as a crisis instead of a normal part of the business.