Bookkeeping for Trucking Companies: Miles, Fuel, and IFTA Explained

An owner-operator based out of Pasadena ran a single truck for four years. He kept decent records: fuel receipts in an envelope, load sheets in a folder, bank statements in a drawer. He filed his taxes every year with a general accountant who didn’t specialize in trucking.

Then he bought two more trucks, hired two drivers, and everything fell apart.

Suddenly he had three sets of fuel receipts, three different IFTA mileage logs, driver settlement calculations, equipment loan payments, and an insurance bill that tripled. His envelope system couldn’t handle three trucks. His accountant didn’t know what IFTA was. By the end of Q1, he was two weeks late on his IFTA filing and had no idea whether the new trucks were profitable or losing money.

Trucking bookkeeping isn’t harder than other industries. It’s just different. The revenue model, the expense tracking, the tax filings, and the regulations are specific to trucking. A general bookkeeper who doesn’t understand per-mile accounting, fuel tax credits, or driver settlements will miss things that cost real money.

Per-Mile vs. Per-Load Accounting

Trucking revenue can be tracked two ways, and the method you choose affects how you measure profitability.

Per-load accounting. You record each load as a separate revenue event. Load #4521: $3,200 from Houston to Dallas. Load #4522: $5,800 from Houston to Chicago. Simple to record, easy to match against specific expenses.

Per-mile accounting. You calculate your revenue per mile, cost per mile, and profit per mile across all loads. This gives you a standardized metric to compare performance across different routes, lanes, and time periods.

Most trucking companies use both. Per-load for recording individual transactions. Per-mile for performance analysis.

The per-mile calculation:

Revenue per mile = Total revenue / Total loaded miles

Cost per mile = Total expenses / Total miles (loaded + deadhead)

Profit per mile = Revenue per mile - Cost per mile

Here’s where it gets useful. Say you ran 12,000 miles last month. Revenue was $24,000. Total expenses were $19,200.

• Revenue per mile: $2.00
• Cost per mile: $1.60
• Profit per mile: $0.40

Now you can evaluate any load offer against your cost per mile. A broker offers you $1.45/mile for a 600-mile run to Memphis. Your cost per mile is $1.60. That load loses money. Unless Memphis has a high-paying return load waiting, you turn it down.

Without per-mile tracking, you’re guessing on every load decision. With it, you know your floor.

What to include in cost per mile:

• Fuel (usually the biggest line, 30-40% of total costs)
• Insurance (liability, cargo, physical damage)
• Truck payment or lease
• Maintenance and repairs
• Tires
• Permits and licensing
• Tolls
• Driver pay (if you have employees)
• Dispatch/broker fees
• ELD and technology subscriptions
• Lumper fees
• Parking and scale tickets

Track each category separately. If your fuel cost per mile jumps from $0.55 to $0.70, you need to know that specifically, not buried inside a total cost number.

IFTA: The Quarterly Filing That Can’t Be Late

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) is the system that distributes fuel tax revenue among states based on where you actually drove. If you buy all your fuel in Texas but drive through Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, those states are owed a portion of fuel tax revenue.

IFTA requires you to:

1. Track total miles driven in each state/jurisdiction during the quarter
2. Track total gallons of fuel purchased in each state/jurisdiction during the quarter
3. File a quarterly return that calculates what you owe each state (or what each state owes you)

Filing deadlines:

• Q1 (Jan-Mar): Due April 30
• Q2 (Apr-Jun): Due July 31
• Q3 (Jul-Sep): Due October 31
• Q4 (Oct-Dec): Due January 31

Late filings result in penalties and interest. Repeated late filings can result in your IFTA license being revoked, which means you can’t legally operate across state lines.

The calculation:

For each state, IFTA compares the fuel tax you already paid (through purchases in that state) to the fuel tax you owe (based on miles driven in that state). If you drove more miles in a state than the fuel you purchased there would cover, you owe that state additional tax. If you bought more fuel in a state than your mileage there requires, that state owes you a credit.

Example:

State	Miles Driven	Fuel Purchased (gal)	Tax Rate/gal	Tax Owed	Tax Paid	Net
Texas	8,000	1,200	$0.20	$266.67	$240.00	-$26.67
Louisiana	3,000	200	$0.20	$100.00	$40.00	-$60.00
Oklahoma	2,000	400	$0.19	$63.33	$76.00	+$12.67

(Simplified for illustration. Actual rates and calculations vary by quarter and state.)

In this example, you owe Texas $26.67 and Louisiana $60.00, but Oklahoma owes you $12.67 in credit. Net IFTA payment: $74.00.

The bookkeeping requirement: Every gallon of fuel purchased and every mile driven must be documented. Fuel receipts must show the date, location, number of gallons, and unit number (truck). Mileage must be tracked by jurisdiction, either through ELD data or manual trip reports.

If you can’t produce these records during an IFTA audit, the auditor will estimate your mileage using the worst-case assumptions. That almost always results in a higher tax bill plus penalties.

ELD Data: Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy

Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) track hours of service for compliance purposes, but they also produce mileage data that feeds directly into IFTA reporting and bookkeeping.

What ELD data gives you:

• GPS-tracked miles by jurisdiction (eliminates manual trip sheet errors)
• Engine idle time (shows fuel waste)
• Trip start and end locations (for matching loads to revenue)
• Speed and hard braking events (insurance and safety metrics)

The bookkeeping integration: Modern ELD platforms (KeepTruckin/Motive, Samsara, Omnitracs) can export mileage-by-state reports that map directly to your IFTA filing. Some integrate with accounting software. At minimum, the data should be exported quarterly and reconciled against your fuel receipts.

That Pasadena owner-operator didn’t realize his ELD system had been tracking jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction mileage the whole time. Once his bookkeeper started pulling that data quarterly, IFTA filings went from a three-day ordeal to a two-hour process.

Fuel Tax Credits

The federal fuel excise tax credit is available for fuel used in off-highway equipment (like a refrigeration unit on a reefer trailer). The credit is claimed on Form 4136 with your annual tax return.

If you run reefer trailers, the fuel used to power the refrigeration unit is eligible for the federal excise tax credit (currently $0.243 per gallon for diesel). A reefer that burns 5,000 gallons per year in the refrigeration unit generates a $1,215 credit. Across three reefer trailers, that’s $3,645 per year.

Many trucking companies don’t claim this credit because they don’t track reefer fuel separately. If your reefer has a separate fuel tank, tracking is straightforward. If it runs off the main tank, you’ll need to estimate usage based on run hours and fuel consumption rate.

Your tax preparer should be asking about off-highway fuel use. If they’re not, bring it up.

Driver Settlements

When you hire company drivers or lease onto a carrier, the settlement statement is the financial document that tracks revenue earned and deductions taken for each driver or truck per pay period.

A typical owner-operator settlement from a carrier:

Line Item	Amount
Load revenue (3 loads)	$7,200
Fuel surcharge	$1,080
Gross Revenue	$8,280
Less: Carrier percentage (25%)	-$2,070
Less: Fuel advance repayment	-$1,200
Less: Insurance deduction	-$350
Less: ELD subscription	-$45
Less: Escrow contribution	-$100
Net Settlement	$4,515

For company drivers you employ:

Line Item	Amount
Miles driven: 5,200
Pay rate: $0.55/mile
Gross Pay	$2,860
Per diem (non-taxable): 5 days x $69	-$345
Taxable Gross	$2,515
Federal withholding	-$302
Social Security (6.2%)	-$155.93
Medicare (1.45%)	-$36.47
State withholding (if applicable)	$0 (Texas)
Net Pay	$2,020.60

Each settlement must be recorded correctly in your accounting system. For owner-operators, the carrier’s deductions need to be categorized properly (insurance is an expense, escrow is an asset, fuel advances are a liability repayment). For company drivers, payroll must handle per diem correctly because the non-taxable portion reduces payroll tax obligations.

Per Diem: The Trucking Tax Advantage

The IRS allows truck drivers who are away from their “tax home” overnight to deduct meal expenses using a special per diem rate. For transportation workers, the rate is $69 per day (2024), and 80% of that is deductible (compared to 50% for other industries).

For owner-operators (self-employed): The per diem deduction reduces your Schedule C income. At $69/day and 250 days on the road, that’s $17,250 in deductions. At 80% deductibility, that’s a $13,800 deduction. At a 25% marginal tax rate, that saves $3,450 in income tax plus roughly $2,100 in self-employment tax.

For company drivers (W-2 employees): Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, W-2 employees can no longer deduct per diem on their personal returns. However, employers can pay per diem as a non-taxable reimbursement, which reduces both the employee’s taxable income and the employer’s payroll tax liability. Smart trucking companies structure compensation to include per diem for this reason.

Tracking requirement: You must document days away from home with a log showing dates, destinations, and overnight stays. ELD data can support this documentation.

Equipment: Buy, Lease, or Finance

The truck purchase or lease decision has significant accounting and tax implications:

Buying with a loan:

• The truck is an asset on your balance sheet
• You claim depreciation (Section 179 or bonus depreciation can allow full deduction in year one for trucks over 6,000 lbs)
• Only the interest portion of loan payments is an expense. The principal portion reduces the loan liability
• You own the truck at payoff and can sell it or trade it

Leasing (operating lease):

• Lease payments are a deductible expense, period by period
• The truck is not an asset on your balance sheet (under certain lease types)
• No depreciation to track
• You return the truck at lease end (no residual value)
• Monthly cost is often higher than a loan payment, but the total deduction is simpler

Lease-purchase:

• Payments are partly lease expense, partly building equity
• Accounting treatment depends on the specific terms
• Often the worst financial deal but may be the only option for new operators without credit history

For that Pasadena owner, the two new trucks were financed with loans. Section 179 allowed him to deduct the full purchase price ($165,000 each) in the year of purchase, creating a massive deduction that offset his increased revenue. Without that deduction, his tax bill on the higher revenue would have been crushing.

Maintenance Tracking: Not Just for Safety

Every truck needs a maintenance log. From a bookkeeping perspective, maintenance costs should be tracked per unit (per truck) so you can calculate cost-per-mile by truck and identify which units are becoming too expensive to operate.

A truck that’s costing $0.18/mile in maintenance when the fleet average is $0.08/mile is a candidate for replacement. You can’t make that decision without per-unit cost tracking.

Capital vs. expense: A $500 oil change is an expense. A $15,000 engine rebuild is a capital improvement that should be depreciated. The threshold varies, but generally, routine maintenance and repairs are expenses, while improvements that extend the truck’s useful life or add capacity are capital improvements. Your bookkeeper should be categorizing these correctly.

The Three-Truck Fleet Today

That Pasadena owner-operator now runs his three trucks with a bookkeeper who understands trucking. IFTA filings go out on time. Per-mile profitability is tracked by truck and by lane. Driver settlements are calculated accurately with per diem structured correctly. Equipment depreciation and fuel tax credits are claimed every year.

He knows which truck makes money and which one costs money. He knows which lanes are profitable and which ones he should avoid. He knows his cost per mile to the penny, and he doesn’t take loads below it.

None of that requires complicated software or a big accounting department. It requires a bookkeeping system built for trucking, consistent data entry, and an accountant who knows what IFTA is.

If you’re running trucks and your books are still in envelopes and folders, call us at (346) 389-5215. We work with trucking companies across the Houston area, from single owner-operators to growing fleets, and we’ll get your numbers organized so you can make decisions based on data instead of gut feeling.

Have questions? Call us at (346) 389-5215 or visit our contact page to get started.