Free Trucking Business Plan Template (Word + PDF) and Sample Plan (2026)

By The Zarla Team · Updated October 2026

Download the free trucking business plan template as Word or PDF, read a complete sample plan for Red Caliche Freight, and get the numbers first: typical startup costs of $35,105–$72,912, what owners really earn, the licenses you'll need in the US and how to write every section — or make the plan yours in five questions.

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Trucking business plan at a glance

Starting a trucking company in the US typically costs $35,105–$72,912, with working capital and down payment on a used sleeper tractor the biggest lines. Typical monthly costs run $11,668–$16,778 before owner pay and tax. The national average dry van spot rate per mile, fuel included, in DAT's September 2026 figures: $3.01.

Licenses and permits in the US (7 in all): USDOT number and operating authority; process agents (Form BOC-3); and insurance — the rules vary by state.
The plan: eleven sections, from the executive summary to what a lender, a landlord or an investor will ask for, written from five questions — free, no sign-up to write it.
The sample plan on this page: Red Caliche Freight, Fort Worth, TX — a fictional trucking company, a one-truck regional dry-van carrier hauling general freight for brokers and, before long, direct shippers.
The first 30 days: 8 steps, starting with “Work out your cost per mile before anything else”.
Downloads: the fill-in template as Word and PDF, and the sample plan as PDF — free, no email address.

Facts checked October 18, 2026. Every figure is a published US range, not a quote; the sources are listed on this page, which covers how to write a trucking business plan, the complete sample plan and the free template.

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The numbers first

$35,105–$72,912to start a trucking companyTypical US range, required lines

$3.01the national average dry van spot rate per mile, fuel included, in DAT's September 2026 figures

$2.336 a milethe average cost to run a truck in 2025, driver pay included, in ATRI's 2026 report

$71,808average 2025 net income of ATBS's owner-operator clients

Startup costs

What it costs to start a trucking company

Typical US ranges, whole dollars. Optional lines are marked and left out of the total. The struck-through lines are what a Zarla plan covers, with the reason beside each; the generator turns this table into your own list.

Trucking company startup costs
Item	Low	High
Down payment on a used sleeper tractorBay Street Lending (October 2026) tells new authorities to expect 10% to 25% down. The truck: ACT Research's preliminary average retail price for a used Class 8 truck was $61,000 in September 2026 (the average truck sold that August had about 412,000 miles, Transport Topics reported), and Bay Street prices a three- to five-year-old sleeper at $50,000 to $110,000. 10% of $61,000 at the low end, 25% of $110,000 at the high end; the loan is in the monthly costs.	$6,100	$27,500
Used 53-foot dry van trailer: the first month's rentDAT's dry van page (updated December 2025): used dry van trailers “can often be hired for anywhere from $500 to $750 per month”. Buying instead, DAT puts a used 53-foot van under a year old at $23,500 to $27,000; older trailers sell for far less.	$500	$750
USDOT number, operating authority, process agents (BOC-3) and UCRThe USDOT number has no fee and operating authority is $300 (49 CFR 360.3T). Process agents in every state: $25 a year from ProcessAgent.com to $129 a year plus a $39 enrollment fee at InCorp. Unified Carrier Registration is $46 for one or two trucks for 2026 and $55 from 2027 (Federal Register, September 1, 2026); the top includes 2027's $55 for a carrier starting late in 2026, which registers for both years.	$371	$569
Apportioned plates, heavy vehicle use tax, trailer plate and IFTATexas charges $840 a year to register a truck of 70,001 to 80,000 lb (the Texas Comptroller); apportioned plates split the fee across the states you drive in, and OTR Solutions' 2026 guide estimates about $1,500 a year. Plus the IRS heavy vehicle use tax, $550 a year over 75,000 lb, a $15 Texas semitrailer plate, and IFTA, which has no license fee in Texas. The top includes $210 for TxDMV's intrastate registration if you haul Texas-only loads.	$1,405	$2,275
Commercial truck insurance: the deposit before the authority goes activeAmerican Truckers LLC's 2026 guide: “Expect 2–3 months upfront as a deposit ($2,500–$4,500) before your authority goes active” — its figure. The monthly premium is in the running costs.	$2,500	$4,500
Drug and alcohol testing: consortium, first test and ClearinghouseConsortium Pool: $65.95 to enroll one driver plus a $75 pre-employment test; DOTConsortium.com: $149 a year plus a $60 test. Two Clearinghouse queries at FMCSA's $1.25 each.	$143	$212
Electronic logging device (ELD)Motive's hardware is about $150 with a plan from $25 a month, in ELD vendor HOS247's price guide (September 2025); Garmin's eLog is a one-time $249.99 device with no subscription (Garmin's list price).	$150	$250
Business registration (Texas LLC) and EINA Texas LLC is $300 (Texas Secretary of State); the EIN from the IRS is free.	$300	$300
Straps, load bars, chains and road safety kitA planning range for cargo straps and load bars, warning triangles, a fire extinguisher and basic tools.	$300	$1,000
Website and Google Business ProfileIncluded with ZarlaYour Zarla plan includes the website — your freight services and an inquiry form for rate requests, with your lanes, equipment and USDOT and MC numbers added in chat — and walks you through your Google Business Profile. Having one built by a freelancer typically runs $500 to $2,000 — a planning range.	$0	$2,000
Working capital: two months of running costsTwo months of the monthly lines below — fuel is paid today, brokers pay on their terms unless you factor, and a week in the shop earns nothing.	$23,336	$33,556
Typical total (required lines)	$35,105	$72,912

Startup ranges: ACT Research's used Class 8 retail prices (September 2026 preliminary $61,000; August $64,367) and Transport Topics on the average truck's 412,000 miles (October 2026); Bay Street Lending's semi-truck financing page (updated October 2026: 10% to 25% down for new authorities, 6% to 22% APR, a three- to five-year-old sleeper at $50,000 to $110,000, and $85,000 financed at 14% over 48 months for $2,320 a month); DAT's dry van page (updated December 2025: used trailer rent $500 to $750 a month; under-a-year-old used 53-foot van $23,500 to $27,000); 49 CFR 360.3T (operating authority $300, no USDOT fee); process-agent prices from ProcessAgent.com, A Process Agents and InCorp; the Federal Register's September 1, 2026 UCR fee rule ($46 for 2026, $55 from 2027); the Texas Comptroller (registration $840 at 70,001 to 80,000 lb, semitrailer $15, commercial license $96), OTR Solutions' 2026 startup guide (apportioned plates about $1,500), the Texas Comptroller's IFTA guide (no fee), TxDMV's motor carrier fees, IRS Form 2290 (July 2026: $550 over 75,000 lb); American Truckers LLC's 2026 insurance guide (a two-to-three-month deposit, $2,500 to $4,500); Consortium Pool and DOTConsortium.com prices, FMCSA's $1.25 Clearinghouse query as reported by FreightWaves and 2026 guides; Garmin's eLog list price and HOS247's ELD price guide (September 2025); the Texas Secretary of State (LLC $300) and the IRS (a free EIN) — checked October 18, 2026. Ranges are what a small operation typically pays in the US; replace them with real quotes as you get them.

Monthly costs

What it costs to run each month

Typical monthly operating costs for a small operation, before the owner's own pay.

Cost	Typical monthly range
Diesel (about 7,900 miles a month)	$5,919–$6,890
Truck loan payment	$1,500–$2,320
Trailer rent	$500–$750
Commercial truck insurance	$1,000–$2,500
Repairs and maintenance	$1,504–$2,375
Tires	$396–$412
Tolls	$166–$340
Load board and ELD plan	$35–$194
Factoring fees, if you factor every invoice (about $19,900 a month)	$498–$597
Phone, bookkeeping and IFTA filing help	$150–$400

Typical total: $11,668–$16,778 a month. Monthly ranges: the US Energy Information Administration's diesel prices for the week of October 12, 2026 (US $6.179, Gulf Coast $5.809 a gallon), NACFE's 2024 fleet fuel study (7.77 miles a gallon, via FleetOwner) and the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Statistics 2024 (table VM-1: combination trucks 7.1 miles a gallon); Bay Street Lending's loan example; ATRI's 2026 operational-costs report on 2025 (repairs 21.5¢ a mile, South-Central 19¢; tires 5¢, South-Central 5.2¢; tolls 4.3¢, West 2.1¢), as reported by FleetOwner and Heavy Duty Trucking; American Truckers LLC's 2026 insurance guide ($1,000 to $1,500 a month for a new authority), and Logrock's 2026 range for a new authority's first year ($1,200 to $2,500 or more a month); C.H. Robinson's carrier requirements; DAT One's and Truckstop's load-board prices (Truckstop as captured by PricingSaaS, September 9, 2026); and Outgo's factoring rates (3% for owner-operators under $18,000 a month, 2.5% for fleets to $80,000) — checked October 18, 2026.

How much a trucking company makes

A one-truck carrier earns the gap between its rate and its cost per mile, times the miles it runs loaded. The rate: DAT's September 2026 national averages were $3.01 a mile for dry van spot loads, fuel included ($2.17 without it); reefer spot was $3.62 and flatbed $3.61. Contract van rates — what shippers pay brokers and asset-based carriers — averaged $3.24. A new authority lives mostly on spot loads paid by brokers. The cost: ATRI's 2026 report put the average cost to run a truck in 2025 at a record $2.336 a mile ($2.23 in its South-Central region, the cheapest), $1.028 of it driver wages and benefits — for an owner-operator, that part is your own pay. Its fuel line was 48¢ a mile in 2025; at the EIA's diesel prices for the week of October 12, 2026 the same miles cost 75¢ to 87¢, and DAT says rates usually take three to four weeks to catch up with diesel. Empty miles are the hidden cost: ATRI's report counted 16.5% of miles empty in 2025, outside tanker fleets, as reported by Summar. Pay data covers only part of the trade: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts employed tractor-trailer drivers' median pay at $58,640 a year (2025, through O*NET), and its wage survey does not include the self-employed. Owner-operators who use ATBS, an owner-operator accounting firm, averaged $71,808 of net income in 2025 at about 95,000 miles — its own clients, not every owner-operator, and a year before the 2026 diesel rise. For the sample carrier in Fort Worth, about 6,600 loaded miles at around $3.01 is about $19,900 a month, and the plan's monthly costs leave about $3,100 to $8,200 before the owner's pay.

$3.01 — the national average dry van spot rate per mile, fuel included, in DAT's September 2026 figures
$2.336 a mile — the average cost to run a truck in 2025, driver pay included, in ATRI's 2026 report
$71,808 — average 2025 net income of ATBS's owner-operator clients

Rates and earnings: DAT's September 2026 national averages (released October 13, 2026: dry van spot $3.01 a mile with fuel, $2.17 without; reefer $3.62; flatbed $3.61; contract van $3.24); ATRI's 2026 report (released July 15, 2026: $2.336 a mile in 2025, South-Central $2.23, the cheapest region, driver wages and benefits $1.028, fuel 48¢, 85,991 miles a truck) and Summar's July 2026 summary of it (16.5% empty miles, tanker fleets aside); ATBS's April 2026 review of 2025 (owner-operator net income $71,808, about 95,000 miles); the Bureau of Labor Statistics through O*NET (heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers' median $58,640 in 2025) and its wage survey's coverage page (the self-employed are not included) — checked October 18, 2026.

Rules: the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current October 15, 2026 — 49 CFR 390.5 (a commercial motor vehicle is 10,001 lb or more), 365.109T (process agents and insurance filed within 20 days), 365.115 (the 10-day protest window), 366 (process agents), 382.103 (a one-driver employer in a random pool of two or more), 385.307 (18 months of new-entrant monitoring), 380.600 (entry-level driver training from February 7, 2022), 387.9 ($750,000 for general freight) and 395 (the ELD and hours of service); 49 U.S.C. 31144 (a safety audit within 12 months); the Federal Register's April 29, 2026 Motus notice, its February 13, 2026 non-domiciled CDL final rule and its August 10, 2026 English-proficiency proposal; Trucking Dive on the May 2026 Motus phase; TxDMV's IRP packet and motor carrier registration page; and the Texas Comptroller on IFTA — checked October 18, 2026.

Licenses and permits

Licenses, permits and insurance for a trucking company

What you need before you can legally trade in the US. Rules vary by state and city — confirm each item with your local licensing office and an accountant.

Requirement	What it means
USDOT number and operating authority	In the US a for-hire carrier hauling freight across state lines in a truck of 10,001 lb or more needs a USDOT number (no fee) and operating authority ($300), under 49 CFR parts 390 and 365. New for-hire carriers apply through FMCSA's Motus system, which opened to all applicants — for-hire carriers, brokers and freight forwarders among them — on May 14, 2026, with identity and business verification. MC numbers have not been eliminated: FMCSA's April 2026 notice deferred that to a later release, and the rulemaking it expected in spring 2026 had not been published as of October 2026 — check its status. Allow several weeks: at least eight business days of review, a 10-day protest window after the application is published, and the insurance and process-agent filings, before the authority is active. In Texas a carrier hauling Texas-only loads in a truck over 26,000 lb also registers with TxDMV: $100 to apply, $10 a truck a year and $100 for the insurance filing.
Process agents (Form BOC-3)	In the US every for-hire carrier names a process agent in each state it operates in or drives through, on one Form BOC-3, due within 20 days after the application is published in the FMCSA Register (49 CFR 365.109T and 366). FMCSA charges nothing; blanket agents charge $25 a year (ProcessAgent.com), a one-time $30 (A Process Agents), or $129 a year plus a $39 enrollment fee (InCorp).
Insurance	In the US the federal minimum for a for-hire truck of 10,001 lb or more hauling general freight across state lines is $750,000 of liability (49 CFR 387.9); Texas requires $500,000 for in-state carriers over 26,000 lb. Most brokers ask for more — C.H. Robinson's standard is $1,000,000 of auto liability and $100,000 of cargo cover. Your insurer files proof with FMCSA, and if it lapses the authority is revoked or suspended.
UCR, apportioned plates, IFTA and heavy vehicle use tax	In the US a carrier with authority registers for Unified Carrier Registration each year: $46 for one or two trucks for 2026, $55 from 2027 — registered for each year you operate. A tractor over 26,000 lb (or with three or more axles) driven in two or more states carries apportioned (IRP) plates, priced by the share of miles in each state — Texas charges $840 a year at 70,001 to 80,000 lb — and files IFTA fuel-tax returns every quarter. The IRS heavy vehicle use tax (Form 2290) is $550 a year for a truck over 75,000 lb, for July to June.
CDL, medical card, and drug and alcohol testing	In the US a tractor-trailer takes a Class A commercial driver's license and a DOT medical card; anyone getting a Class A for the first time since February 7, 2022 completes entry-level driver training first. Texas charges $96 for a commercial license. A one-truck carrier is its own employer for drug and alcohol testing and must sit in a random testing pool of two or more drivers (49 CFR 382.103) — in practice a consortium — and query FMCSA's Clearinghouse at $1.25 a query. Two driver rules are moving: FMCSA's non-domiciled CDL rule took effect March 16, 2026; and English proficiency is already a driver qualification enforced at the roadside under the out-of-service criteria, while FMCSA's August 2026 proposal to write that into its own rules was still a proposal as of October 2026; check its status.
ELD, hours of service and the new-entrant audit	In the US an ELD records your hours (49 CFR 395.8), except for trucks built before model year 2000 (by the VIN), drivers who keep logs on 8 days or fewer in 30, and short-haul drivers who stay within 150 air miles and return home each day — a regional truck that sleeps out does not qualify. You may drive 11 hours inside a 14-hour window after 10 hours off, with a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving. A new carrier is monitored for 18 months and gets a safety audit within its first 12 months of operating.
Business registration and EIN	In the US most owner-operators form an LLC — $300 in Texas — and take a free EIN from the IRS, which the federal filings ask for.

How to write it

How to write a trucking business plan

The sections a lender, a landlord or an investor expects to see — and what goes in each one for a trucking company. Red Caliche Freight's sample plan below follows this outline exactly.

Executive summary

One page, written last: what the business is, where it trades, who it serves, what it costs to start — typically $35,105–$72,912 for a trucking company — and where that money is coming from. Someone who reads nothing else should still know the whole plan. For Red Caliche Freight below, that page says: a one-truck regional dry-van carrier hauling general freight for brokers and, before long, direct shippers in Fort Worth, TX, $53,009 to start.

Products and services

What you offer and how you charge for it. For a trucking company that usually means regional dry-van freight within a day's drive, dedicated lanes for direct shippers and spot-market loads through load boards to fill gaps. Keep the base offer simple and price the add-ons separately.

Market analysis

Who pays, and why they'd pick you: manufacturers, distributors and farms shipping regional freight every week; freight brokers who need a reliable truck on short notice. Name the two or three local competitors a customer would compare you with and the one thing you do better. Skip the market-size statistics — a lender wants your customers, not the industry's.

Marketing strategy

How those customers find you: load boards for the first months, then direct shippers you've hauled for reliably; word of mouth among shippers, brokers and dispatchers — reliability travels fast; and Google Business Profile and Google — “trucking company” or “freight carrier” plus your region. Put a cost and an expected result beside each channel, and say which one you'll start with.

Operations plan

The week to week, plainly: every load quoted from your cost per mile, plus margin — never just the board rate; empty miles tracked and kept low by planning the return load before taking the outbound; and maintenance on a schedule. If the plan can't say who does what on an ordinary Tuesday, it isn't finished.

Startup costs

Every line you'll spend before you start, with a running total — typically $35,105–$72,912 for a trucking company, and the two biggest lines (working capital; down payment on a used sleeper tractor) move it most. The table above is the starting list; replace each range with a real quote as you get one.

Financial plan

Typical monthly costs ($11,668–$16,778 a month for a small trucking company, before your own pay), the monthly sales you're aiming for (Red Caliche Freight plans on $19,900 a month), and how many months it takes to recover the startup budget. Use ranges until you have quotes, and never invent a revenue forecast to make the page look full.

Milestones, risks and the appendix

The first 30 days as a dated to-do list. Red Caliche Freight's begins: work out your cost per mile before anything else — truck payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance, you. Then the risks, said out loud: rates swing with the freight market; a slow quarter can put a truck payment at risk. Then the licenses and permits you'll need, and what a lender will ask for beyond the plan: two years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement, for a start.

The sample plan

Red Caliche Freight is a fictional trucking company in Fort Worth, TX — a one-truck regional dry-van carrier hauling general freight for brokers and, before long, direct shippers. The plan below is exactly what the free generator writes from five answers, in the outline above, with every number calculated from the figures on this page rather than invented. Read it as a worked example, then make it yours.

Make this plan mine Download the template (Word)Download the template (PDF)Download this sample (PDF)

Business plan

Sample plan · fictional business

A complete trucking business plan: Red Caliche Freight

Fort Worth, TX · Startup plan · a fictional trucking company, written by the free generator from five answers

Executive summary

Red Caliche Freight is a new trucking company in Fort Worth, TX offering regional dry-van freight within a day's drive; dedicated lanes for direct shippers; spot-market loads through load boards to fill gaps; and expedited and last-minute hauls at a premium. The model is one well-maintained truck, every load priced from a known cost per mile, empty miles kept low, and direct shippers replacing the load board as reliability earns them.

Startup budget: $53,009 across 11 items, funded from savings. Target: $19,900 in monthly sales.

Twelve months from now, success looks like this: About 7,900 miles a month — the 95,000-mile year ATBS reports for owner-operators — with no more than one mile in six empty: about 6,600 loaded miles at around $3.01 a mile, DAT's September 2026 dry van spot average, is about $19,900 a month, with two direct shippers by month six

Products and services

Red Caliche Freight's core service is regional dry-van freight within a day's drive. Loads are quoted from cost per mile plus margin, return freight is planned before the outbound leaves, and the truck is maintained on a schedule so it keeps earning.

Regional dry-van freight within a day's drive
Dedicated lanes for direct shippers
Spot-market loads through load boards to fill gaps
Expedited and last-minute hauls at a premium

Market analysis

The customers are regional shippers with weekly freight that big carriers underserve, brokers who need a dependable truck, and — as reliability builds — the direct accounts that pay better than the board.

Manufacturers, distributors and farms shipping regional freight every week
Freight brokers who need a reliable truck on short notice
Local businesses receiving inbound freight that big carriers underserve
Other small carriers who overflow loads to a trusted partner

Marketing strategy

Most early loads will come from the load board, with word of mouth among shippers, brokers and dispatchers doing the rest as reliability earns a name; Google and a website with your lanes, equipment, USDOT and MC numbers and insurance details confirm a shipper's decision to call.

Load boards for the first months, then direct shippers you've hauled for reliably
Word of mouth among shippers, brokers and dispatchers — reliability travels fast
Google Business Profile and Google — “trucking company” or “freight carrier” plus your region
Direct outreach to local manufacturers and distributors with a rate sheet
A website with your lanes, equipment, USDOT and MC numbers, insurance details and a form for rate requests

Operations plan

The owner drives, dispatches and invoices in year one, keeps logs, inspections and hours clean, tracks cost per mile and empty miles every week, and adds a second truck only when direct freight fills the first one.

Every load quoted from your cost per mile, plus margin — never just the board rate
Empty miles tracked and kept low by planning the return load before taking the outbound
Maintenance on a schedule; a breakdown on the road costs far more than the service
Hours of service, the ELD, inspections and drug-testing records kept clean — the authority depends on them
Invoices sent the day of delivery, factored or not, with days-to-pay tracked for every broker

Startup costs

What it will take to open the doors, funded from savings.

Startup costs
Item	Amount
Down payment on a used sleeper tractor	$16,800
Used 53-foot dry van trailer: the first month's rent	$625
USDOT number, operating authority, process agents (BOC-3) and UCR	$470
Apportioned plates, heavy vehicle use tax, trailer plate and IFTA	$1,840
Commercial truck insurance: the deposit before the authority goes active	$3,500
Drug and alcohol testing: consortium, first test and Clearinghouse	$178
Electronic logging device (ELD)	$200
Business registration (Texas LLC) and EIN	$300
Straps, load bars, chains and road safety kit	$650
Website and Google Business Profile	$0
Working capital: two months of running costs	$28,446
Total	$53,009

Typical range to start a trucking company in the US: $35,105–$72,912. Your list is what you decided to spend — replace estimates with real quotes as you get them. Website and Google Business Profile: Your Zarla plan includes the website — your freight services and an inquiry form for rate requests, with your lanes, equipment and USDOT and MC numbers added in chat — and walks you through your Google Business Profile. Having one built by a freelancer typically runs $500 to $2,000 — a planning range.

Financial plan

The numbers below come from your own startup list and typical monthly costs for a one-truck operation in the US, at October 2026 diesel prices. Fuel and the truck payment dominate; the cash reserve covers the gap between paying for fuel today and being paid by brokers.

Typical monthly operating costs for a trucking company: $11,668–$16,778 a month, before the owner's own pay.

At $19,900 in monthly sales, Red Caliche Freight would clear $3,122–$8,232 a month before owner pay and tax, and recover the $53,009 startup budget in roughly 7–17 months.

Typical monthly operating costs
Cost	Typical range
Diesel (about 7,900 miles a month)	$5,919–$6,890
Truck loan payment	$1,500–$2,320
Trailer rent	$500–$750
Commercial truck insurance	$1,000–$2,500
Repairs and maintenance	$1,504–$2,375
Tires	$396–$412
Tolls	$166–$340
Load board and ELD plan	$35–$194
Factoring fees, if you factor every invoice (about $19,900 a month)	$498–$597
Phone, bookkeeping and IFTA filing help	$150–$400

US ranges for a small operation; replace with your own figures as you learn them.

Risks and honest downsides

Every trucking company plan should say out loud what can go wrong. For Red Caliche Freight, the real risks are:

Rates swing with the freight market; a slow quarter can put a truck payment at risk
Diesel is the biggest line and moves weekly — it rose about $2.51 a gallon in the year to October 2026, and rates take weeks to catch up
A breakdown means no income and a repair bill at once — the maintenance reserve is not optional
Insurance for a new authority is expensive and a single claim can make it unaffordable
Cash flow: you pay for fuel today and wait for brokers to pay unless you factor and give up 2.5% to 3%
Empty miles: one mile in six ran empty across ATRI's carriers in 2025 (tanker fleets aside), and every one of them is paid for

Licenses, permits and insurance

What Red Caliche Freight needs before it can legally trade in the US. Rules vary by state and city — confirm each item with your local licensing office and an accountant.

USDOT number and operating authority — In the US a for-hire carrier hauling freight across state lines in a truck of 10,001 lb or more needs a USDOT number (no fee) and operating authority ($300), under 49 CFR parts 390 and 365. New for-hire carriers apply through FMCSA's Motus system, which opened to all applicants — for-hire carriers, brokers and freight forwarders among them — on May 14, 2026, with identity and business verification. MC numbers have not been eliminated: FMCSA's April 2026 notice deferred that to a later release, and the rulemaking it expected in spring 2026 had not been published as of October 2026 — check its status. Allow several weeks: at least eight business days of review, a 10-day protest window after the application is published, and the insurance and process-agent filings, before the authority is active. In Texas a carrier hauling Texas-only loads in a truck over 26,000 lb also registers with TxDMV: $100 to apply, $10 a truck a year and $100 for the insurance filing.
Process agents (Form BOC-3) — In the US every for-hire carrier names a process agent in each state it operates in or drives through, on one Form BOC-3, due within 20 days after the application is published in the FMCSA Register (49 CFR 365.109T and 366). FMCSA charges nothing; blanket agents charge $25 a year (ProcessAgent.com), a one-time $30 (A Process Agents), or $129 a year plus a $39 enrollment fee (InCorp).
Insurance — In the US the federal minimum for a for-hire truck of 10,001 lb or more hauling general freight across state lines is $750,000 of liability (49 CFR 387.9); Texas requires $500,000 for in-state carriers over 26,000 lb. Most brokers ask for more — C.H. Robinson's standard is $1,000,000 of auto liability and $100,000 of cargo cover. Your insurer files proof with FMCSA, and if it lapses the authority is revoked or suspended.
UCR, apportioned plates, IFTA and heavy vehicle use tax — In the US a carrier with authority registers for Unified Carrier Registration each year: $46 for one or two trucks for 2026, $55 from 2027 — registered for each year you operate. A tractor over 26,000 lb (or with three or more axles) driven in two or more states carries apportioned (IRP) plates, priced by the share of miles in each state — Texas charges $840 a year at 70,001 to 80,000 lb — and files IFTA fuel-tax returns every quarter. The IRS heavy vehicle use tax (Form 2290) is $550 a year for a truck over 75,000 lb, for July to June.
CDL, medical card, and drug and alcohol testing — In the US a tractor-trailer takes a Class A commercial driver's license and a DOT medical card; anyone getting a Class A for the first time since February 7, 2022 completes entry-level driver training first. Texas charges $96 for a commercial license. A one-truck carrier is its own employer for drug and alcohol testing and must sit in a random testing pool of two or more drivers (49 CFR 382.103) — in practice a consortium — and query FMCSA's Clearinghouse at $1.25 a query. Two driver rules are moving: FMCSA's non-domiciled CDL rule took effect March 16, 2026; and English proficiency is already a driver qualification enforced at the roadside under the out-of-service criteria, while FMCSA's August 2026 proposal to write that into its own rules was still a proposal as of October 2026; check its status.
ELD, hours of service and the new-entrant audit — In the US an ELD records your hours (49 CFR 395.8), except for trucks built before model year 2000 (by the VIN), drivers who keep logs on 8 days or fewer in 30, and short-haul drivers who stay within 150 air miles and return home each day — a regional truck that sleeps out does not qualify. You may drive 11 hours inside a 14-hour window after 10 hours off, with a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving. A new carrier is monitored for 18 months and gets a safety audit within its first 12 months of operating.
Business registration and EIN — In the US most owner-operators form an LLC — $300 in Texas — and take a free EIN from the IRS, which the federal filings ask for.

Milestones: the next 30 days

The first month's to-do list for Red Caliche Freight, in order:

Work out your cost per mile before anything else — truck payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance, you
Register the business, get an EIN and apply for your USDOT number and operating authority through FMCSA's Motus system
Get insurance quotes from three brokers who specialize in new authorities
Buy the truck and rent the trailer only after the insurance and authority timelines are clear
Name your process agents, join a drug testing consortium, install the ELD and set up IRP, IFTA and UCR
Set up a free Google Business Profile and put a website with your lanes, equipment and USDOT and MC numbers live
Book the first loads from the board, then call every shipper you delivered to about direct work
Invoice the day of delivery and track days-to-pay per customer

Appendix: what a lender will ask for

This plan tells the story and shows the numbers. If you take it to a bank, expect to be asked for these documents as well:

Two years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement
A month-by-month 12-month cash-flow projection built on your cost per mile and realistic loaded miles
Your CDL, years of driving experience, the authority status and proof of insurance
Any contracts or letters of intent from direct shippers
The quote or purchase agreement for the truck, and the trailer rental agreement
Your credit report and the truck itself as collateral

Every figure in Red Caliche Freight's plan is a typical US range from the tables above or arithmetic on the sample's own startup list and $19,900 monthly sales target — nothing is a market projection. The template downloads above are the same plan with [bracketed] lines for your own business.

Step two

Turn this plan into a website

Add your name and your city to the line, and Zarla builds the website with your services in place. You edit the rest in chat.

Or download the free template (Word)

Keep going

The plan is the thinking. These are the next pieces for a trucking company:

Trucking business plan FAQ

How much does it cost to start a trucking company?

Typically $35,105–$72,912 in the US, counting every required line in the table above. The range is wide because the biggest items (working capital; down payment on a used sleeper tractor) depend on what you already have and where you are. The free generator turns the table into your own list with your own figures.

How much can a trucking company make?

$3.01 the national average dry van spot rate per mile, fuel included, in DAT's September 2026 figures; $2.336 a mile the average cost to run a truck in 2025, driver pay included, in ATRI's 2026 report; $71,808 average 2025 net income of ATBS's owner-operator clients. A one-truck carrier earns the gap between its rate and its cost per mile, times the miles it runs loaded. The rate: DAT's September 2026 national averages were $3.01 a mile for dry van spot loads, fuel included ($2.17 without it); reefer spot was $3.62 and flatbed $3.61. Contract van rates — what shippers pay brokers and asset-based carriers — averaged $3.24. A new authority lives mostly on spot loads paid by brokers. The cost: ATRI's 2026 report put the average cost to run a truck in 2025 at a record $2.336 a mile ($2.23 in its South-Central region, the cheapest), $1.028 of it driver wages and benefits — for an owner-operator, that part is your own pay. Its fuel line was 48¢ a mile in 2025; at the EIA's diesel prices for the week of October 12, 2026 the same miles cost 75¢ to 87¢, and DAT says rates usually take three to four weeks to catch up with diesel. Empty miles are the hidden cost: ATRI's report counted 16.5% of miles empty in 2025, outside tanker fleets, as reported by Summar. Pay data covers only part of the trade: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts employed tractor-trailer drivers' median pay at $58,640 a year (2025, through O*NET), and its wage survey does not include the self-employed. Owner-operators who use ATBS, an owner-operator accounting firm, averaged $71,808 of net income in 2025 at about 95,000 miles — its own clients, not every owner-operator, and a year before the 2026 diesel rise. For the sample carrier in Fort Worth, about 6,600 loaded miles at around $3.01 is about $19,900 a month, and the plan's monthly costs leave about $3,100 to $8,200 before the owner's pay.

What licenses and permits do I need to start a trucking company in the US?

USDOT number and operating authority; process agents (Form BOC-3); insurance; UCR, apportioned plates, IFTA and heavy vehicle use tax; CDL, medical card, and drug and alcohol testing; ELD, hours of service and the new-entrant audit; and business registration and EIN. Rules vary by state and city — confirm each item with your local licensing office and an accountant before you spend on it.

Do I need a business plan to start a trucking company?

You need the thinking more than the document: what you'll offer, who pays, what it costs to start, what it costs to run each month and how long the budget takes to recover. A lender, a landlord or an investor will ask for the document — and for things beyond it: two years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement; a month-by-month 12-month cash-flow projection built on your cost per mile and realistic loaded miles. The sample plan above has every section; the generator writes yours from five questions.

Can I turn this business plan into a website?

Yes — that's the point. Your plan's own marketing section says people will find you on Google and through word of mouth; a website is how both happen. Zarla builds your trucking company website from what you've already told us — free to build, pay when you publish.

Is there a free trucking business plan template?

Yes. The trucking business plan template on this page downloads free as a Word document or a PDF — no email, no sign-up. It's the complete plan for a placeholder business with [bracketed] lines to fill in, and the typical figures for a trucking company already in the tables. The generator writes the same plan with your own name, city, services and numbers in five questions.

What should a trucking business plan include?

The sections a lender, a landlord or an investor expects: an executive summary, products and services, market analysis, marketing strategy, an operations plan, startup costs, a financial plan, the risks, licenses and permits, milestones and an appendix. Red Caliche Freight's sample plan above has all eleven, and the section-by-section notes explain what goes in each one for a trucking company.