Pay owner operators for everything their trucks haul, with fuel and expenses deducted automatically. How it works, how to set it up, and what to check when numbers look off.
How it works
With owner operator settlements by truck, the truck decides who gets paid, not the driver. Each truck is linked to an owner operator company. When you generate settlements, Truckbase finds every load those trucks hauled in the pay period, applies the owner operator's pay setup, and deducts the truck's fuel and expenses.
You get one settlement per owner operator, covering all of their trucks. This works well when an owner operator owns one or more trucks and is paid for everything those trucks haul, no matter who is driving.
By truck vs. by driver
| By truck | By driver |
What connects the load to the owner operator | The truck on the load | The driver on the load |
Builder tab | Owner operators (trucks) | Owner operators (drivers) |
Fuel is matched by | Truck | Driver |
Note: This guide covers settlements by truck
If a load isn't showing up where you expect, the first thing to check is whether the truck or the driver is linked to the owner operator.
Set it up
Important: Complete every step
If any step is missing, the Owner operators (trucks) tab will be empty, usually with no error message.
Step 1: Turn on Owner Operators
Go to Settings → Organization.
Turn on Owner operators. This adds an Owner Operators tab under Companies and an Owner operator field on your trucks.
Step 2: Turn on settlements by truck
Go to Settings → Settlements.
Find Owner operators - Default settlement types.
Turn on Owner operator settlements by truck. New owner operators will have settlements by truck turned on automatically.
Step 3: Set up the owner operator
Go to Companies → Owner Operators and open the owner operator, or create one.
On the Profile tab, find the Settlements types card.
Make sure Owner operator settlements by truck is on.
Tip: Owner operators you already had
Step 2 only applies to owner operators created afterward. Turn this toggle on by hand for any owner operator set up before.
Step 4: Set the owner operator's pay
Open the owner operator's Pay tab and edit the payment info. The Pay tab is visible to Admin and Owner users.
Set the pay fields:
Percentage: the share of load revenue the owner operator keeps, for example 75%.
Apply percentage to selected services only: when checked, the percentage only applies to the charges picked under Services. When unchecked, it applies to all charges, fuel surcharge included.
GL account: where this pay posts.
Deduct fuel from pay: turn on to take the truck's fuel purchases out of the settlement.
Add optional items:
Trip pay defaults: extra pay on every load, such as a stop-off or tarp payment.
Period pay defaults: items added once per settlement, such as insurance, trailer rental or an ELD fee.
Reserves and advances: a running balance like escrow or a repayment plan, with a set amount withheld each settlement.
Example: Paying 100% of fuel surcharge on top of a 75% linehaul split
Set Percentage to 75%, check Apply percentage to selected services only, and pick your linehaul-type services (for example Transportation, Stop Offs, Tarp). Leave Fuel Surcharge out.
Under Trip pay defaults, add a percentage item at 100% with Fuel Surcharge as the selected service.
If you skip the first step, the owner operator gets 75% of the fuel surcharge on top of the 100%.
Step 5: Link each truck to the owner operator
Open the truck from your equipment list.
Set Owner operator to the owner operator company.
Save. Use the Owner Operator filter on the equipment list to see every truck linked to an owner operator.
Important: Only the Owner operator field counts
The Ownership text field on a truck doesn't affect settlements. Assigning a driver to the truck doesn't link it either.
Step 6: Leave the load's Owner operator field empty
For loads you pay by truck, leave the Owner operator field in the load's dispatch info empty. The truck on the load is what matters. Filling this in can send the load to the wrong tab, or to no tab at all.
Run a settlement
Generate, review, pay
Go to Settlements → Settlements Builder and click Owner operators (trucks).
Choose the Settlement pay date(s), then click Generate settlements. You can filter by Owner Operator or Truck. You'll see one row per owner operator.
From the row menu, click Edit to review. Check each load's pay, add pay items or deductions, and add any fuel or expenses that weren't picked up.
Click Save draft. The settlement moves to Draft Settlements and its loads, fuel and expenses are held so they can't land on another settlement.
Click Mark as paid from Draft Settlements. This locks the settlement and applies any reserve or advance withholdings. Select several rows to mark them paid together.
From Paid Settlements, use Send to Owner Operator or Export as PDF. The email goes to the address on the owner operator's company profile.
Note: Which loads are included?
The load's truck is linked to an owner operator with settlements by truck turned on.
The load's settlement pay date falls in your period. This is set under Settings → Settlements → Default settlement pay date (delivery, pickup or custom).
The load isn't cancelled and isn't already on another settlement.
Tip: Need to fix a paid settlement?
Choose Mark as Draft from the paid settlement's menu. This unlocks it and reverses any reserve withholdings. Mark it as paid again when you're done.
How fuel and expenses are picked up
These settings are under Settings → Settlements and apply to your whole organization.
Setting | Option | What gets picked up |
Include fuel transactions based on | Fuel transaction date | Fuel for any of the owner operator's trucks, dated in the pay period |
| Trip # | Fuel tied to a load on this settlement, regardless of date |
Include expenses based on | Expense date | Expenses for the owner operator's trucks, dated in the pay period |
| Trip # | Expenses tied to a load on this settlement, regardless of date |
Deduct fuel from pay must be on for the owner operator.
Each fuel transaction must have a truck assigned. Fuel assigned only to a driver won't appear.
Only expenses marked deduct from pay or reimburse are included.
Anything already on another settlement isn't picked up again. An expense added on a settlement with + New expense stays there whatever its date.
Recalculating
If you change an owner operator's pay or add fuel or expenses after building a settlement, click Recalculate all inside the settlement. On a saved settlement it refreshes loads, pay, fuel, expenses and reserves, and keeps the settlement number, status and attachments. Nothing is saved until you click Save.
Tip: Save first, then recalculate
Items you added but haven't saved yet may not carry over.
Review manual deductions and per-load pay afterward. If a load still shows old pay, reset that load's pay to recalculate it from the current setup.
Troubleshooting
The Owner operators (trucks) tab is missing or empty
Check:
Settings → Organization → Owner operators is on.
Settings → Settlements → Owner operator settlements by truck is on.
The owner operator's Profile → Settlements types → Owner operator settlements by truck is on. Owner operators created before you turned on the setting are the most common cause.
The truck's Owner operator field is set.
The loads fall inside the Settlement pay date(s) you picked.
The loads aren't cancelled or already on another settlement.
The Owner operator field on the loads themselves is empty.
Fix: If everything checks out and the tab still doesn't appear, contact support.
A load is missing from the settlement
Check:
The load's truck is the owner operator's truck. If a different truck was assigned, the load goes with that truck.
The load's settlement pay date is in your period.
The load isn't already on another settlement, including a draft.
Fix: Loads delivered after you built a draft aren't added automatically. Click Recalculate all on the saved settlement, or rebuild the draft.
Fuel is missing
Check:
Deduct fuel from pay is on in the owner operator's pay setup.
The fuel transaction has the truck filled in, not just the driver. This is the most common cause. Unit numbers typed at the pump or in a spreadsheet import must exactly match the truck's name in Truckbase.
The transaction date is in the period, or it's tied to a load on the settlement, depending on your Include fuel transactions based on setting.
The transaction isn't already on another settlement.
Fix: Add the fuel by hand on the settlement, or correct the truck on the fuel transaction and click Recalculate all.
An expense is missing
Check:
The expense is classified as deduct from pay or reimburse.
With Expense date: the expense date is in the period. The load on the expense doesn't matter.
With Trip #: the expense is tied to a load on this settlement. Expenses tied to an already-paid load won't appear on a new settlement.
The expense isn't already linked to another settlement.
Pay looks wrong
Check:
Fuel surcharge paid twice or at the wrong rate: check Apply percentage to selected services only (see the example in Set it up).
Pay didn't change after updating the pay setup: click Recalculate all, then check each load and reset any that still show old pay.
Deductions disappeared after recalculating: re-add them and save. Next time, save before recalculating.
Base pay is $0 on some loads: look for the Missing driver pay on load(s) warning and confirm the owner operator's percentage is set.
Cash advances aren't being deducted
Check:
Add the advance to the settlement by hand.
Or use Reserves and advances on the owner operator's Pay tab to recover it over several settlements.
Error messages
Message | What it means | What to do |
All trucks must belong to the same owner operator | A truck on the settlement is now linked to a different owner operator, or to none | Check the Owner operator field on each truck, then rebuild |
All trips must belong to the settlement truck | A load's truck changed after the settlement was built | Recalculate, or rebuild the settlement |
Truck or owner operator not found | A truck or owner operator on the settlement was deleted | Rebuild the settlement |
Equipment is not linked to an owner operator | The truck's Owner operator field is empty | Set the owner operator on the truck |
Settlement requires at least one trip | No loads in the period | Check your dates |
Supporting trips cannot be included in settlements | A supporting trip was added | Remove it. Only main trips can be settled |
Validation error (on save) | Something unexpected failed. Nothing was changed | Contact support with the settlement number |
Setup checklist
☐ Settings → Organization: Owner operators on
☐ Settings → Settlements: Owner operator settlements by truck on
☐ Owner operator Profile: Owner operator settlements by truck on
☐ Owner operator Pay: percentage, services, fuel deduction and period items set
☐ Every truck: Owner operator field set
☐ Loads: Owner operator field left empty
☐ Settings → Settlements: fuel and expense rules chosen
☐ Owner operator company email is correct for sending settlements
Still stuck?
Reach out to Truckbase support through the chat in the app. Include the settlement number and the owner operator's name so we can jump right in.