Driver pay calculator
Type the week’s loads — miles, live loads, stop-offs, detention — and get a pay sheet you can print, line by line.
The rates
What this driver is paid. Dollars; the extras are flat amounts each.
The loads
One box per load. Leave what didn’t happen blank. Empty miles are paid at the mile rate when you type them.
The week
Lines that belong to the week, not to one load. Dollars.
The pay sheet
Type a load above and the sheet fills in here.
Print gives you a PDF too — pick “Save as PDF” where the printer is chosen. Nothing here is saved on our end.
How the pay is figured
A driver paid by the mile earns the load’s calculated miles times their rate — the pickup-to-drop distance, not the odometer, so nobody argues over a wrong turn. On top of that go flat amounts for the work that isn’t driving: a live load when the driver waited at the dock, a stop-off for each extra stop between the first pickup and the last drop, and detention by the hour when a dock ran long. A plain pickup of a pre-loaded trailer adds nothing.
Then the week’s own lines: a bonus if you gave one, receipts the driver paid out of pocket and you’re paying back, and any cash advance handed over early, taken off. Empty miles to the pickup and home are your rule — the carrier doesn’t pay them — so this sheet pays them only when you type them.
A worked week
Mike is paid $0.70 a mile, $30 a live load, $25 a stop-off and $20 an hour of detention. Four loads, a $100 bonus for a long wait, $18.40 in tolls paid back, and a $200 advance he took on Wednesday:
| Load | Miles | Extras | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48811 | 212 | 1 live load | $178.40 |
| 48830 | 340 | 2 stop-offs, 1.5 h detention | $318.00 |
| 48852 | 95 | — | $66.50 |
| 48870 | 410 | 1 live load, 1 stop-off | $342.00 |
The “Show me with an example week” button above fills the calculator with exactly this, so you can see where each number lands.
Nothing is withheld here. This sheet is for a driver paid as a 1099 contractor, which most drivers working for a small owner-operator are. If your driver is a W-2 employee, taxes come out and this is the gross, not the check.
Made with the free driver pay calculator at loadtally.app/tools/driver-pay-calculator — LoadTally, loads, settlements and driver pay for owner-operators.
Questions
How is a truck driver’s pay per mile figured?
Take the load’s calculated miles — the pickup-to-drop distance, not the odometer — and multiply by the driver’s per-mile rate. Then add a flat amount for each live load and each stop-off, and detention by the hour if there was any. Add the week’s bonus and any receipts being paid back, take off any cash advance, and that is the week’s pay.
Do pickups pay the driver anything extra?
A plain pickup (PU), where the driver hooks a trailer loaded before they arrived, does not. A live load (LL), where the driver waits at the dock while it is loaded, pays a flat amount. See the glossary for the stop codes.
Should I pay empty miles?
The carrier never pays them, so it is your rule. Many owner-operators pay the empty miles to the pickup and home at the same rate; others pay loaded miles only and set the rate a little higher. Type empty miles on a load here and they are paid at the mile rate; leave them blank and they are not.
What is a typical per-mile rate for a 1099 driver?
It varies by region, freight and experience. A range of $0.55 to $0.75 a mile is common for a contract driver on a leased truck, with live loads and stop-offs paid on top, often $25 to $50 each.
Is anything saved when I use this?
No. The page does the arithmetic in your browser and keeps nothing. Print the sheet or save it as a PDF before you close the tab.