owner-operator

American  

[oh-ner-op-uh-rey-ter] / ˈoʊ nərˈɒp əˌreɪ tər /

noun

1. a driver, especially of a truck or taxicab, who owns and operates a vehicle used to earn a living.

2. a person who both owns and operates a business.

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Etymology

Origin of owner-operator

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

The court this week sided with Marriott International, owner of the Ritz-Carlton brand, the Kenyan camp’s owner-operator Lazizi Mara and the Kenyan government over Meitamei Olol Dapash, who brought the lawsuit.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026

"I also nursed this dream, which I never confessed to my socialist comrades, of becoming an independent owner-operator or working in the industry as a logistics expert," Davis said.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2022

“If you go into the port and you get in the wrong line, you can’t make a U-turn. You’re surrounded by trucks on all sides,” Richard Resek, an owner-operator in New Jersey, told me.

From New York Times • Nov. 18, 2021

Locals and patrons know Gatesman as the owner-operator of The Friendly Fermenter, but he is first and foremost a father and family man.

From Washington Times • Oct. 10, 2020

Economic activities, in the course of the great revolution, had less and less connection with the homestead, and except for a tiny minority of the personnel, had no connection with the family of the owner-operator.

From Civilization and Beyond Learning from History by Nearing, Scott