Estimated annual pre-tax owner-operator benefit for a full-year Unishippers National Franchise in the disclosure's 2023 agreement-start cohort under three evidence-led scenarios. The central scenario is about $62,000. This is a middle-band scenario range, not a system minimum or maximum. These figures are estimates, not earnings reported by Unishippers: the 2026 Item 19 discloses Gross Revenue but no business profit, owner compensation, EBITDA, or net income.
SCENARIO
Pre-tax estimate before personal taxes and debt principal.
DERIVED
The 20th observation in the 39-franchise standard cohort.
OFFICIAL
Full-year 2025 population; Parcel Only expressly excluded.
BENCHMARK
IRS net income less deficit divided by receipts for a broad transportation-support category.
OFFICIAL
Rate depends on shipment weight and service type; a minimum royalty also applies.
BENCHMARK
BLS May 2024 median wage for General and Operations Managers, before employer payroll burden.
What does the 2026 Item 19 actually report?
It officially reports unaudited 2025 Gross Revenue, not owner earnings. For a format-compatible estimate, the primary table is the 39-franchise cohort with 2023 Franchise Agreement start dates; the disclosure expressly excludes Parcel Only businesses from this cohort. Every included business operated for all of 2025.
The broader system-wide table covers 154 franchised businesses, but it combines 131 standard franchises with 23 Parcel Only franchises. That mixed-format table is useful for system context but is not used as the National Franchise earnings anchor. The 2023-start cohort was selected because it is the largest recent standard cohort in Item 19; it is not labeled typical or most likely.
| 2023-start standard cohort | Franchises | Average 2025 Gross Revenue | Median 2025 Gross Revenue | Official range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | 10 | $2,460,048 | $2,411,704 | $1,834,609-$3,446,219 |
| Second quartile | 10 | $1,225,899 | $1,200,120 | $678,273-$1,759,969 |
| Third quartile | 9 | $392,153 | $277,676 | $222,297-$671,090 |
| Lower quartile | 10 | $88,017 | $79,591 | $1,238-$208,818 |
With 39 observations ordered from highest to lowest, the median is the 20th observation. The second quartile contains observations 11 through 20, and its disclosed bottom is $678,273. That value is therefore the exact cohort median. It is derived from the 2026 table, not separately printed as an overall cohort statistic.
Source: 2026 FDD, Item 19, printed pp. 39-41; Item 20, printed pp. 41-52. The disclosure says written substantiation for the financial performance representation is available on reasonable request.
How were the owner-earnings scenarios built?
The scenarios multiply three disclosed Gross Revenue observations by a broad official industry margin proxy. The outputs are independent estimates for the full-year 2023-start standard National Franchise cohort. They are not probabilities, forecasts, or franchisor-provided profit figures.
- Revenue anchors: the official third-quartile median, the derived cohort median, and the official second-quartile median for the 2023-start standard cohort.
- Central margin: 9.17%, calculated from 2023 IRS net income less deficit divided by business receipts for “Support activities for transportation (including motor vehicle towing).”
- Margin sensitivity: 6.17%, 9.17%, and 12.17%. The plus-or-minus 3 percentage-point spread is an editorial sensitivity assumption, not disclosed data.
- Owner labor: the IRS sole-proprietor measure does not deduct a salary for the proprietor. The result is therefore owner-operator benefit, not passive business profit.
- Interest and depreciation: included only to the extent reflected in the broad IRS population. They are not separately reconstructed for Unishippers.
- Taxes and capital: personal income taxes, debt principal, working-capital changes, and capital expenditures are excluded from the published range.
| Scenario | Gross Revenue anchor | Margin assumption | Estimated owner-operator benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Conservative Official third-quartile median |
$277,676 | 6.17% | $17,000 |
|
Base Derived cohort median |
$678,273 | 9.17% | $62,000 |
|
Upside Official second-quartile median |
$1,200,120 | 12.17% | $146,000 |
Estimated annual owner-operator benefit by scenario
Pre-tax analytical estimates for the full-year 2023-start National cohort; rounded to the nearest $1,000.
Interpretation: Revenue dispersion drives most of the dollar difference; the explicit margin sensitivity amplifies it. Sources: 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 39-41; IRS nonfarm sole proprietorship statistics, 2023 Table 2. Full-precision calculations were rounded only at publication.
Which recurring fees affect the economics?
The recurring fee base is Gross Profit Margin, not Gross Revenue. The disclosure defines Gross Profit Margin as Gross Sales minus carrier-service cost, before royalties, marketing, technology, CRM, sales commissions, freight fees, and other expenses. Item 19 does not disclose the conversion from Gross Revenue to Gross Profit Margin, so a same-brand bottom-up profit bridge cannot be completed.
| Recurring obligation | 2026 disclosed term | Scenario treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty Payments | 18.5% of Gross Profit Margin on shipments up to 150 pounds and other services; 15% on shipments over 150 pounds; or the applicable minimum. | Not separately subtracted from the all-in IRS margin proxy. |
| Marketing Fund Contribution | Currently 1% of Gross Profit Margin, with Phase 2 at 2% and Phase 3 at 3%. | Captured only indirectly by the benchmark sensitivity. |
| Technology and User CRM Fees | $65 monthly technology fee and $62.24 per user per month CRM fee, subject to change. | No assumed user count; not separately modeled. |
| Administrative Group and freight fees | Administrative Group Fee currently 7%-26% of Gross Profit Margin depending on shipment type; freight fees include a current $5.20 per LTL or FTL shipment. | Major uncertainty because shipment mix and administrative arrangement are undisclosed. |
A franchise with $678,273 of Gross Revenue does not deliver $678,273 to the owner. Carrier costs are deducted before the disclosed Gross Profit Margin is calculated, and royalties, marketing, administration, payroll, commissions, bad debt, insurance, technology, and other operating costs follow.
Source: 2026 FDD, Item 6, printed pp. 9-12. The scenario does not deduct these fees a second time because the IRS benchmark supplies only an all-in net-income margin. That treatment is a proxy limitation, not evidence that the fees are immaterial.
How much does owner involvement change the result?
Owner involvement can change the apparent earnings result by roughly the market cost of a full-time manager. The disclosure requires direct supervision and full-time attention by the owner or an approved designated manager. The official franchise FAQ also says the business is not realistically part-time and that most franchisees begin as single owner-operators.
Because the IRS sole-proprietor benchmark does not deduct a salary for the proprietor, the $17,000-$146,000 range should be read as owner-operator benefit: residual operating income plus compensation for the owner's work. It is not passive profit.
Owner-operator benefit versus manager-run residual
Manager-run values subtract the BLS May 2024 median wage of $102,950; employer payroll taxes and benefits are not added.
Interpretation: at the central revenue and margin assumptions, a paid manager's wage alone exceeds the estimated owner-operator benefit. The manager-run residual is approximately -$41,000 before benefits, payroll taxes, debt principal, and personal taxes. Sources: 2026 FDD, Item 15, printed p. 35; BLS General and Operations Managers pay data; official Unishippers franchise FAQ.
A buyer should not compare the owner-operator benefit with passive investment income. Part of the figure compensates the owner for full-time sales, supervision, customer development, and management. A manager-run structure needs enough additional Gross Profit Margin to cover the manager's complete employer cost before producing the same owner cash flow.
Why should Parcel Only results stay separate?
The Parcel Only cohort has a materially different revenue scale and should not use the National Franchise earnings range. Item 19 separately reports 23 Parcel Only franchises with 2023-2024 agreement start dates and excludes them from the standard 2023 and 2024 cohort tables.
| Parcel Only quartile | Franchises | Median 2025 Gross Revenue | Official range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | 6 | $131,978 | $110,736-$242,471 |
| Second quartile | 6 | $55,794 | $32,001-$83,672 |
| Third quartile | 5 | $20,355 | $14,132-$23,837 |
| Lower quartile | 6 | $3,388 | $148-$8,901 |
No Parcel Only owner-earnings estimate is published here because the disclosure provides no format-specific expense structure or Gross Profit Margin conversion that would justify applying the National Franchise model. This separation prevents a per-format revenue difference from being hidden inside one blended income figure.
Source: 2026 FDD, Item 19, printed p. 41.
Which uncertainties matter most to an earnings decision?
The largest unresolved issue is the missing bridge from Gross Revenue to Gross Profit Margin and then to owner cash flow. Item 19 shows wide revenue dispersion but does not disclose carrier cost, shipment mix, commissions, payroll, bad debt, administrative cost, or net income for the reporting population.
- Gross Profit Margin conversion
- The royalty and several other fees use Gross Profit Margin, but Item 19 reports Gross Revenue. Without carrier-cost data, the fee base cannot be derived reliably.
- Shipment and service mix
- Royalty rates differ by shipment weight, and Administrative Group Fees vary by UPS, LTL, or truckload activity. Two franchises with the same Gross Revenue may have different economics.
- Cohort maturity
- Item 19 separates agreement start dates, and pre-2021 agreements are in renewal terms. A new franchise should not assume mature-cohort revenue immediately.
- Population exclusions
- Forty-eight franchises were omitted from the all-year table. Their excluded status is disclosed, but the table does not show their partial-year revenue or operating losses.
- Outlet movement
- Item 20 shows franchised outlets declining from 202 at the start of 2025 to 191 at year-end. That count does not establish why individual owners left or what they earned.
- Financing and taxes
- Debt principal and personal income tax are outside the estimate. Actual interest expense, entity structure, deductions, and state tax treatment will alter owner cash flow.
The 9.2% margin proxy also has a structural limitation: the IRS category includes sole proprietors across support activities for transportation, including motor vehicle towing, rather than only freight transportation arrangement franchises. The closest NAICS concept is NAICS 488510, Freight Transportation Arrangement, but the available IRS table is broader.
What should a buyer verify before relying on the range?
Verify the same revenue-to-cash-flow bridge with written substantiation and franchisee records. The model is most useful as a question framework, not as a substitute for unit-level diligence.
- Request Item 19 written substantiation and confirm how Gross Revenue is recorded, including credits, uncollected accounts, and transferred or merged customer books.
- Ask for Gross Profit Margin as a percentage of Gross Revenue by parcel, LTL, and truckload mix for comparable National Franchises.
- Confirm the current Marketing Fund phase, Administrative Group arrangement, CRM user count, sales-commission structure, and freight transaction fees.
- Interview full-time owner-operators about hours worked, owner draws, retained earnings, bad debt, sales payroll, and whether any quoted “income” includes compensation for their labor.
- Interview manager-run owners about the designated manager's wage, bonus, payroll taxes, benefits, supervision, and the revenue scale needed to cover that cost.
- Compare a prospective franchise with the same agreement-start cohort and format rather than only the system-wide average or top quartile.
- Ask former, closed, reacquired, and merged franchisees what happened before exit; Item 20 contact data and the disclosure's franchisee list are central to this check.
- Build a separate financing schedule showing interest and principal, then evaluate personal taxes with an accountant rather than converting pre-tax benefit into a generic take-home figure.
What is the strongest defensible earnings takeaway?
For a full-year Unishippers National Franchise, the strongest defensible published range is approximately $17,000-$146,000 in annual pre-tax owner-operator benefit for the 2023-start standard cohort, with a central scenario near $62,000. It is scenario-based, not an official Item 19 owner-earnings result.
The most important earnings driver is the combination of Gross Revenue, carrier-cost spread, and shipment mix that produces Gross Profit Margin. Owner involvement is the next major driver: replacing the owner's full-time labor with a manager can absorb about $102,950 in wage cost before payroll burden, leaving the central scenario negative.
The largest uncertainty is that Item 19 does not disclose Gross Profit Margin, operating expenses, or owner compensation. A buyer should verify those measures in the franchisor's Item 19 substantiation, compare the correct agreement-start cohort and format, and test the model against current and former franchisee interviews before treating any range as decision-ready.