Owner-Operator
What is owner-operator? An owner-operator is a trucker who owns their truck and either runs under their own MC authority or leases on to another carrier's authority.
Full definition
Owner-operators bear the cost of equipment, fuel, insurance, and maintenance and capture the upside of higher rates compared with a company driver. The two structures are running under your own authority (full P&L control, full compliance burden) or leasing on (carrier handles dispatch and authority, takes a percentage).
Finance products for owner-operators differ from fleet products: smaller loan sizes, more weight on revenue and DSCR than on FICO, and faster underwriting tuned to single-truck economics.
Most factoring, fuel card, and equipment financing companies maintain dedicated owner-operator programs because the segment is too large to ignore.