How Truck Drivers Get Paid: Per Mile, Percentage, Hourly or Salary
Cents per mile is only the headline number. Which miles count, how detention is paid and what happens on a layover decide what lands on the settlement.
Truck drivers in the United States are paid in four main ways: cents per mile, a percentage of the load’s revenue, an hourly wage or a weekly salary. Long-haul company drivers are most often paid by the mile. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers at $58,640 for May 2025.
How much do truck drivers make a year?
The BLS median for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $58,640 a year, or about $28.19 an hour, in May 2025. Half of drivers earned more and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned under $40,140 and the top 10 percent earned more than $79,380.
Industry changes the number. Drivers employed by trucking companies had a median of $60,320, slightly above drivers in wholesale trade ($58,550), manufacturing ($56,570) and construction ($56,080). These figures come from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook page for heavy and tractor-trailer drivers, which uses Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data. They cover employees only. Owner-operators are self-employed and are not in the survey.
What are the main ways truck drivers are paid?
Each pay method shifts a different risk onto the driver. A per-mile driver loses money when the truck sits; an hourly driver does not.
| Pay type | How it is calculated | Common in | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cents per mile (CPM) | Rate times paid miles per trip or week | Over-the-road and regional truckload | Which miles are paid, unpaid waiting time |
| Percentage of load | A share of the linehaul revenue, sometimes of fuel surcharge too | Flatbed, heavy haul, specialized, leased owner-operators | Whether you can see the rated freight bill |
| Hourly | Hours worked, sometimes with overtime | Local delivery, LTL city drivers, drayage at some companies | Whether the job is exempt from federal overtime |
| Salary | Fixed weekly amount | Dedicated routes, private fleets | Expected hours and days behind the salary |
| Per load or per stop | Flat amount per trip or delivery | Drayage, short regional runs | How long a typical load takes |
Many jobs mix these. A regional driver might earn a per-mile rate plus a flat amount per extra stop, with hourly pay for detention.
Which miles does a per-mile driver actually get paid for?
A per-mile driver is paid for the miles the company’s software says the trip should take, which is usually fewer than the miles on the odometer. Carriers use routing software to set paid miles. The two common methods are household goods (HHG) miles, which follow the shortest route, and practical miles, which follow the route a truck would normally take on truck-legal roads.
Practical miles are closer to real driving, so 55 cents on practical miles can pay more per trip than 57 cents on shortest-route miles. Some companies pay hub or odometer miles, which count everything driven. Ask which method the company uses and how it handles detours, fuel stops and out-of-route miles. The answer belongs in writing before your first trip.
What is detention, layover and stop pay?
Detention pay covers time spent waiting at a shipper or receiver beyond a set free period. Many carriers start detention after two hours at the dock, but the trigger and the hourly rate are company policy, not federal law. No federal rule requires carriers to pay drivers for detention.
- Layover pay is a flat amount when a driver is held overnight or a load is delayed a full day.
- Stop pay is a flat amount for each extra pickup or delivery after the first.
- Breakdown pay covers time lost when the truck is in the shop on the road.
- Tarp, hazmat and border pay are add-ons for specific freight or work.
- Safety, fuel or referral bonuses depend on the company and are often paid quarterly.
Because detention time also counts against the 14-hour window in the hours-of-service rules, a long wait can cost miles later in the day. For that reason the detention policy matters almost as much as the rate.
Do truck drivers get overtime?
Most interstate drivers do not get federal overtime, because the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts employees whose hours fall under the Department of Transportation’s safety rules. Drivers of vehicles of 10,000 pounds or less and some purely local drivers can be covered. Some states, such as Washington, add their own requirements. The details are in our guide to the truck driver overtime exemption.
The exemption covers overtime only. Exempt drivers are still owed at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and a per-mile driver whose weekly pay falls below that floor can raise it with the Department of Labor.
How is owner-operator pay different?
Owner-operators are paid for the truck and the driver together, so their gross is much higher than a company driver’s but most of it goes to costs. A leased owner-operator usually receives a percentage of each load or a per-mile rate, minus chargebacks for items such as insurance, plates or fuel advances. An owner-operator with their own authority keeps the full rate from the shipper or broker and pays every cost directly.
The federal truth-in-leasing rules require a carrier that leases a truck to put the pay method in the lease and to pay within 15 days after the driver submits the delivery paperwork. Our comparison of owner-operator and company driver costs lays out the expense lines.
Bottom line
Two job offers at the same cents-per-mile rate can differ by thousands of dollars a year once paid miles, detention triggers and stop pay are counted. The easiest way to compare is to ask each company for a sample settlement from a typical week in the fleet you would join, then divide total pay by hours on duty.
FAQ
Is cents per mile or percentage pay better?
It depends on the freight. Percentage pay rises with the rate the carrier charges, so it tends to favor drivers hauling higher-paying specialized freight. Per-mile pay is more predictable when rates fall.
Do truck drivers get paid while waiting to load?
Only if the company pays detention or hourly time, and most detention policies start after a free period. Federal law does not require detention pay, so check the policy in writing.
Does the BLS wage include owner-operators?
No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey covers wage and salary employees. Self-employed owner-operators are not included in the $58,640 median.
How often are truck drivers paid?
Most carriers pay weekly, usually by direct deposit, with a settlement statement listing each trip, the paid miles and any deductions. Leased owner-operators must be paid within 15 days of turning in their paperwork under federal leasing rules.
