Should You Get Your Own Authority or Lease On?
Every new carrier hits this fork in the road: get your own authority and keep everything you earn, or lease onto an established carrier and let them carry the weight. Ask this question in any truck stop or on reddit and you'll get strong opinions both ways. The real answer depends on your money, your experience, and your apptitude for mountains of paperwork. And there is a third option: doing both, in the right order.
Leasing on costs a few thousand dollars to start and hands your compliance burden to the carrier in exchange for a cut of every load. Your own authority can cost somewhere in the range of $15,000 to $35,000 to launch but you keep everything you earn. Many owner-operators do both: lease on while a new MC ages for a few months, then switch to running solo.
What does leasing on mean?
Leasing on means you own the truck, but you operate under another carrier's MC authority, insurance, and safety record. Your truck gets their placard, your loads move under their operating authority, and your settlement check comes from them, minus their percentage. You're an independent contractor supplying equipment and driving; they're the motor carrier in the eyes of the FMCSA.
One thing to get straight before anything else: leasing on is not the same as a lease-purchase. Leasing on means your truck under their authority. Lease-purchase means their truck, sold to you through payments deducted from your settlements. This article is about leasing on. If a company is offering you a truck and a job in the same breath, that's a different conversation and a much more careful one.
What each path costs to start
The money difference up front is dramatic, and it's the main reason leasing on exists.
| Cost | Leasing on | Your own authority |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | $1,000 to $5,000 | $15,000 to $35,000 |
| What that covers | Escrow deposit, drug test and physical, getting the truck inspected and decaled | Registrations, insurance down payment, truck down payment, gear, cash cushion |
| Insurance | Carrier's policy covers the operation; you typically buy bobtail and physical damage | All yours, and a new authority pays $15,000 to $25,000 the first year for a semi |
| Compliance filings | Almost all handled by the carrier | All yours: DOT, MC, UCR, IFTA, IRP, 2290, drug testing, driver files |
We broke down the full own-authority number in our startup cost guide. The short version: the insurance down payment and the truck dominate, and the registrations are the small end of it. Leasing on makes most of that someone else's bill, which is exactly why the carrier takes a piece of every load you pull.
Revenue share vs. responsibility
That piece is the whole trade. Carriers commonly keep somewhere between 10 and 30 percent of the load, more if they're providing the trailer, plates, or a fuel card program. What does that percentage buy you?
- Their authority and insurance. The two most expensive, slowest parts of starting from scratch, already in place.
- Their freight relationships. Established carriers have broker relationships and direct customers a brand-new MC can't get near.
- Their back office. IFTA reporting, permits, safety compliance, and often dispatch, depending on the carrier.
Run the math both directions before you decide the percentage is robbery. A leased-on driver keeping 75 percent of steady, well-paying freight can out-earn an owner-operator keeping 100 percent of whatever a new authority can scrape off the load boards, especially in the first year while brokers treat a young MC like a risk. But the ceiling is different: once your own authority has age, direct customers, and clean numbers, nobody's percentage sits between you and the rate again. Leasing on has a better floor. Your own authority has a better ceiling.
Why leasing on makes sense when you're new
If you've never run a trucking business before, leasing on is a paid apprenticeship. You learn what freight pays, which lanes work, how settlements and deductions flow, and what breakdowns cost, all while someone else's compliance department catches the mistakes that put new authorities out of service. You also build the two histories that make going solo cheaper later: time running as a business, and years of clean driving that insurance underwriters price. A first-year authority with a first-year business owner behind it pays the worst insurance rates in trucking. The same driver two years later, with history to show, gets much more favorable insurance quotes.
Watch out for the predators
The lease-on world has real, decent carriers in it. It also has operations built entirely around collecting fees from drivers who don't read paperwork. Red flags worth walking away from:
- Escrow that only flows one direction. Deposits that grow with vague deductions and somehow never come back when you leave.
- Chargebacks that aren't itemized. If they can't show you exactly what each deduction is for, the deductions are the business model.
- Forced services. Required dispatch fees, mandatory ELD subscriptions at triple retail, insurance you must buy through them at unstated markups.
- Percentage stacking. A reasonable-sounding cut of the load, plus a trailer fee, plus an admin fee, plus a factoring fee, until your 75 percent turns into 55.
- Overseas "agents" and dispatch outfits. A growing number of setups run through offshore dispatchers or brokers-of-convenience who cold-call new MCs, promise loaded miles, and take a cut from both ends. If you can't figure out who holds the authority, where they're located, and who answers when something goes wrong, run in the opposite direction.
- Pressure to sign today. Legitimate carriers vet you back. Anyone rushing your signature is rushing it for a reason.
Check any carrier before you sign: look up their DOT number, their safety record, their authority status, and how long they've held it. Takes ten minutes and it's all public.
Read the agreement. All of it.
Nobody gets burned leasing on by surprise. They get burned on page six of a contract they didn't read. So read your agreement, every line, before you sign it, and know that federal law is on your side here. The Truth in Leasing rules (49 CFR Part 376) require a lease-on agreement to be in writing and to spell out, among other things:
- Exactly how you're paid. The compensation has to be stated in the lease: percentage, mileage rate, whatever it is, in writing.
- Every chargeback, itemized. Anything they deduct from your settlement has to be specified, and you're entitled to see the documentation behind it.
- Escrow accounting and return. If they hold escrow, the lease must say how it's accounted for, and it must come back to you within 45 days of the lease ending.
- No forced purchases. A carrier cannot require you to buy products or services from them as a condition of the lease.
- Copies of the rated freight bill when you're paid on percentage, so you can verify your cut against what the load paid.
If an agreement is missing these, that's not an oversight; the rules have been on the books for decades and every legitimate carrier knows them. And if you're staring at a lease and something smells wrong, get a second set of eyes on it before you sign.
Lease on while your MC ages, then go solo
You can get the benefits of both paths by doing them in order. Brokers and shippers are wary of brand-new authorities; many won't load an MC that's under three to six months old, and first-year insurance prices reflect the same distrust. So the age of your MC matters, and the clock only starts when you get it. The play: get your authority now, lease on while it ages, then go solo.
- Start your authority early. Get the DOT number and MC authority filed so the aging clock runs while you're earning under someone else's authority instead of sitting still.
- Lease on for the first few months. Steady settlements, experience, and business history, while your MC gets older and more trustworthy to brokers.
- Pick your carrier for the exit. Lease with a carrier that lets you run your own IFTA and IRP accounts instead of folding you into theirs. If the accounts are in your name, your plates and fuel tax account go with you when you're done leasing on.
- Flip the switch and be your own boss. Around the three month mark, with your MC aged, your escrow recoverable, and your insurance quotes improved, transition back to your own authority and keep the whole rate.
Read your lease with the exit in mind before you sign it: notice periods, escrow return, and anything that penalizes leaving.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to lease on or get your own authority?+
Up front, leasing on wins by a mile: a few thousand dollars against $15,000 to $35,000 for a full own-authority launch. Per mile over the long run, your own authority usually wins once it has age and direct freight, because no carrier percentage comes off the top. Floor versus ceiling.
Can I lease onto a carrier while holding my own MC number?+
Yes, and it's the core of the aging strategy. Your loads run under the carrier's authority while your own MC gets older. Talk to the carrier about it up front, and talk to us about timing the insurance and activation pieces so nothing lapses while you're leased.
What percentage do carriers take when you lease on?+
Commonly 10 to 30 percent of the load, climbing when the carrier provides the trailer, plates, or other equipment. The stated percentage matters less than the total deductions: read the settlement math in the agreement, add up every fee, and judge the real number, not the advertised one.
What has to be in a lease-on agreement by law?+
The federal Truth in Leasing rules (49 CFR Part 376) require a written lease that states your compensation, itemizes every chargeback, spells out escrow accounting with return within 45 days of termination, and doesn't force you to buy the carrier's products or services. An agreement missing those isn't legitimate.
Can I take my IFTA and IRP accounts with me when I stop leasing on?+
Only if they were yours to begin with. If the accounts are registered in your name, your apportioned plates and fuel tax history move with you when you go solo. If the carrier ran you under their accounts, you start fresh. Ask before you sign, and pick a carrier accordingly.
How long should I lease on before going solo?+
Three to six months covers the window where brokers distrust a new MC, and a year buys noticeably better insurance quotes. Past that it's personal: some drivers switch the month the math tips, and some stay leased for years because the freight is good and the headaches aren't theirs. Both are fine answers.
Your MC only ages if it exists.
Whichever path you pick, the authority is worth starting now. TIPS files your USDOT number, sets up your MC authority, and registers your IFTA and IRP in your own name so you keep them when you're ready.
Questions? Call (208) 278-6722 or text (208) 398-0635
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Sources: 49 CFR Part 376: Truth in Leasing · FMCSA: Registration
Last updated August 24, 2026. Cost figures reference our August 2026 startup cost guide; lease terms and percentages are market typical and vary by carrier.