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Truck driver pay structures fall into four main types: cents per mile (CPM), percentage of the load, hourly, and salary or weekly guarantee. The best pay structure is the one that produces the highest reliable take-home pay for the miles, hours, and home time you actually get, not the one with the biggest headline number. Below, we break down each type, explain practical vs dispatched miles and accessorial pay, and walk through worked examples so you can compare job offers side by side.
Key takeaways
- CPM pay is the most common for OTR and regional drivers. Your weekly miles matter as much as the rate.
- Percentage pay ties your earnings to what the load pays, which can help or hurt depending on the freight market.
- Hourly pay is common for local, LTL, and dedicated jobs and pays for time spent waiting, loading, and in traffic.
- Salary and weekly guarantees add stability but can hide long hours.
- Always ask which mileage method is used and how detention, stop pay, and layover work. Those details can shift weekly pay significantly.
- Convert every offer to an estimated weekly and annual number using realistic miles or hours.
The four main truck driver pay structures
| Pay structure | How it works | Most common in | Main advantage | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cents per mile (CPM) | Paid a set rate for each paid mile | OTR, regional | Simple and predictable per mile | Low miles mean low pay; unpaid waiting time |
| Percentage | Paid a share of the load's revenue | Some regional, specialized, owner operators | Higher pay on high-paying loads | Pay drops when rates drop; revenue can be hard to verify |
| Hourly | Paid for each hour worked | Local, LTL, dedicated, yard | Paid for waiting and traffic | Overtime may not apply; hours can be cut |
| Salary or weekly guarantee | Fixed weekly or annual amount | Dedicated, some regional | Stable paycheck | Long weeks pay the same as short weeks |
Cents per mile pay (CPM)
With CPM pay, you earn a fixed amount for every paid mile. If your rate is $0.62 per mile and you run 2,400 paid miles, you earn $1,488 for the week before taxes and deductions.
CPM is simple, but two questions decide what it is really worth:
- How many miles will I actually get each week? A higher rate with fewer miles can pay less than a lower rate with steady miles.
- How are miles measured? The mileage method changes how many of your driven miles get paid.
Many carriers also layer extras on top of the base rate: experience increases, hazmat or team premiums, safety or fuel bonuses, and quarterly performance pay. Ask which are guaranteed and which depend on conditions you do not control.
Practical miles vs dispatched miles vs HHG miles
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of CPM pay.
| Mileage method | What it measures | Effect on your pay |
|---|---|---|
| Household goods (HHG) or shortest route | Shortest distance between points, often using a mileage guide originally built for moving companies | Usually the fewest paid miles |
| Practical miles | A realistic truck route, typically favoring highways | Usually more paid miles than HHG |
| Dispatched miles | Whatever mileage the carrier assigns when dispatching the load, which may use either method | Depends on how the carrier calculates it |
| Hub or odometer miles | Actual miles driven, from the truck's odometer or ECM | Pays for every mile, including detours and fuel stops |
Even with practical miles, you will drive more than you are paid for. Fuel stops, finding parking, detours around closures, and getting to the dock all add unpaid miles. Some drivers see a gap of several percent between paid and actual miles. Ask current drivers what they see.
Example: You drive 2,600 actual miles in a week.
- Paid on practical miles, the carrier pays for about 2,470 miles. At $0.60, that is $1,482.
- Paid on HHG miles, the carrier pays for about 2,340 miles. At $0.62, that is $1,450.80.
The lower rate on better miles pays more. The mileage percentages here are illustrative, but the lesson holds: always ask which method is used.
Percentage pay
With percentage pay, you earn a share of the revenue the load generates. Company drivers on percentage pay often see a share in the range of about 25 to 30 percent of line haul, while owner operators leased to a carrier typically receive a much larger share because they cover truck costs. Exact percentages vary widely.
Critical questions for percentage pay:
- Is the percentage based on line haul only, or does it include fuel surcharge and accessorials?
- Will I see the rate confirmation or load revenue so I can verify my pay?
- What happens to my pay when the freight market softens?
Example: A 500-mile load pays $1,400 in line haul plus $300 in fuel surcharge.
- At 28 percent of line haul only: $1,400 times 0.28 equals $392
- At 28 percent of line haul plus fuel surcharge: $1,700 times 0.28 equals $476
- On CPM at $0.62 for 500 miles: $310
On a well-paying load, percentage wins. But if that same lane dropped to $1,000 line haul in a slow market, 28 percent would pay $280, less than the CPM driver.
Hourly pay
Hourly pay is standard for many local jobs, including LTL, P and D, beverage, fuel delivery, and yard work, and it appears in some dedicated and regional roles. Its biggest advantage is that you get paid for time that CPM drivers often do not, like waiting at docks, sitting in traffic, and doing pre-trip inspections.
Watch for:
- Overtime. Many interstate truck drivers fall under the Motor Carrier Act exemption to federal overtime rules. See the U.S. Department of Labor guidance and ask whether the job pays time and a half, and after how many hours.
- Guaranteed hours. Ask whether there is a minimum number of paid hours per day or week.
- Hours of service limits. Your working day is still capped by federal hours of service rules. Our hours of service guide explains the 11-hour and 14-hour limits.
Example: $28 per hour, 50 hours a week, no overtime: $28 times 50 equals $1,400 per week, or about $72,800 a year over 52 weeks. If the job pays time and a half after 40 hours: (40 times $28) plus (10 times $42) equals $1,540 per week.
Salary and weekly pay guarantees
Some carriers offer a set weekly salary, especially on dedicated accounts, or a weekly minimum guarantee that tops up your pay if miles fall short.
A guarantee is only as good as its fine print. Ask:
- Does the guarantee apply every week, or only during training or your first months?
- Do I lose it if I refuse a load, take time off, or have a breakdown?
- Is it a true minimum, or does it require a certain number of days out?
With a straight salary, calculate your effective hourly rate. A $1,500 weekly salary looks different at 50 hours ($30 per hour) than at 65 hours (about $23 per hour).
Accessorial pay: detention, stop pay, layover, and more
Accessorial pay covers the extra work and time beyond driving. Two jobs with the same CPM rate can differ by a lot each month because of accessorials.
| Accessorial | What it pays for | Questions to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Detention | Waiting at a shipper or receiver beyond free time | When does it start? Hourly rate? Daily cap? Automatic or requested? |
| Stop pay | Extra pickups or deliveries on one load | Is the first stop paid? Flat amount per stop? |
| Layover | Being held without a load, often for a full day | How long before it applies? How much per day? |
| Breakdown pay | Time lost when the truck is down | Is it paid, and after how many hours? |
| Tarp pay | Tarping flatbed loads | Flat rate per load? Different for steel vs lumber tarps? |
| Hand unload or lumper | Unloading freight yourself | Is driver unload paid, and is lumper cost reimbursed quickly? |
| Border crossing, hazmat, team | Extra requirements or endorsements | Per load or per mile? Guaranteed? |
Detention policies vary by carrier. Many pay after around two hours of free time. If you are paid by the mile, strong detention and layover pay protects you from long unpaid waits.
How to compare truck driving job offers: worked examples
The only fair way to compare offers is to convert each one into a realistic weekly number. Use miles and hours that current drivers actually run, not the best-case figure from a recruiting ad.
Example 1: Two OTR CPM offers
| Offer A | Offer B | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | $0.65 per mile | $0.58 per mile |
| Mileage method | HHG | Practical |
| Realistic paid miles per week | 2,000 | 2,500 |
| Detention | After 3 hours, $15 per hour | After 2 hours, $20 per hour |
| Typical detention hours per week | 2 paid hours | 4 paid hours |
- Offer A: (2,000 times $0.65) plus (2 times $15) equals $1,300 plus $30 equals $1,330 per week
- Offer B: (2,500 times $0.58) plus (4 times $20) equals $1,450 plus $80 equals $1,530 per week
Over 48 working weeks, Offer B pays about $9,600 more, even though its rate is 7 cents lower.
Example 2: Regional CPM vs local hourly
| Regional CPM | Local hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay | $0.62 per mile | $27 per hour |
| Weekly volume | 2,200 miles | 52 hours |
| Extras | $25 per extra stop, about 3 per week | Time and a half after 40 hours |
| Home time | Weekends | Daily |
- Regional: (2,200 times $0.62) plus (3 times $25) equals $1,364 plus $75 equals $1,439 per week
- Local: (40 times $27) plus (12 times $40.50) equals $1,080 plus $486 equals $1,566 per week
Here the local job pays more and gets you home every night. Home time has real value, and our OTR vs regional vs local comparison digs into that tradeoff.
Your offer comparison checklist
- Base rate and pay type
- Mileage method (practical, HHG, or hub miles)
- Realistic weekly miles or hours from current drivers
- Detention, stop, layover, and breakdown pay rules
- Guarantees and what voids them
- Bonuses that are guaranteed vs discretionary
- Benefit costs deducted from each check
- Home time and how often you are actually home
Find better-paying CDL jobs on NovaLinx
Pay is easier to compare when you can see real numbers side by side. Check our live trucking pay insights to see what rates look like right now, then browse CDL jobs matched to your preferred pay type, route, and home time. For broader context, see how much truck drivers make. Drivers use NovaLinx free on the web or through the NovaLinx app.
