Glossary
Trucking terms, in plain English.
The vocabulary every owner-operator and small-fleet bookkeeper should know. No jargon, no salesy padding — just clean definitions you can send to a new driver, a bookkeeper, or your spouse who keeps asking what “deadhead” means.
Cost per mile (CPM)
Total operating cost divided by total miles driven, usually per month. The most-cited operational metric in trucking.
Deadhead miles
Miles driven with an empty trailer. Pure cost, zero revenue.
DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid)
A urea-based fluid required by modern diesel trucks to reduce NOx emissions. Tracked separately from fuel.
Escrow (in trucking financing)
Money withheld from each settlement to cover future maintenance, taxes, or insurance. Common in lease-purchase agreements.
Factoring
Selling your unpaid invoices to a third party at a discount in exchange for immediate cash.
IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement)
A quarterly fuel tax reporting system covering all 48 contiguous US states and 10 Canadian provinces.
Owner-operator
A truck driver who owns their tractor (and sometimes trailer) and operates it as an independent business.
Per-truck P&L
A profit-and-loss statement calculated separately for each truck in a fleet, rather than aggregated at the fleet level.
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