What information should be included on a CDL trip report?
A trip report looks like paperwork for driver pay and fuel. To an auditor, it is the source record behind every mile on your IFTA return and IRP renewal.
The trip report in numbers
A CDL trip report should include the trip's start and end dates, origin and destination, route, beginning and ending odometer readings, total miles, miles in each state, and the truck's unit number or VIN. Add the driver's name or ID, plus the date, nearest town, and time at stops, and it supports hours of service too.
No federal rule hands drivers a form called a CDL trip report. But IFTA and IRP both spell out what a trip record must show to be accepted in an audit, and FMCSA counts trip records among the documents that back up a driver's log.
This guide covers the fields, which miles count, how a driver fills one in, the errors auditors find, and how long to keep it. For the quarterly return built from these records, see our IFTA reporting guide.
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Key takeaways
There is no single federal form
But IFTA and IRP list seven trip details that make a distance record adequate when they are all present.
One record can serve three audits
Add the driver, date, nearest town, and time, and the same report becomes an hours-of-service supporting document.
Every mile counts, not just loaded ones
Deadhead, bobtail, local, toll, and off-highway miles all belong on the report.
Odometer readings must chain
Each trip should start at the previous trip's ending reading. A gap reads as unrecorded miles.
Keep it four years, not six months
Hours-of-service rules need 6 months; IFTA needs 4 years from the return's due date or filing date, whichever is later.
It is not a DVIR
The driver vehicle inspection report is a separate record about the truck's condition, under 49 CFR 396.11.
In this articleContents
What is a CDL trip report?
A CDL trip report is the record a driver completes for each trip a truck makes: where it went, when, by which roads, and how many miles in each state. Carriers also call it a trip sheet, a trip envelope, or a driver's trip record.
California's IRP handbook calls these source records, the documents an auditor uses to test your total miles and the miles you reported in each jurisdiction. Your mileage summaries, IFTA returns, and IRP renewals are all built from them.
No federal regulation prescribes one trip report form. What exists is a content standard: distance records with the elements in the next section must be accepted as adequate under both the IFTA Procedures Manual and the IRP Plan. Under IFTA, records in any format work, as long as the auditor can audit them.
Is a trip report the same as a DVIR?
No. The driver vehicle inspection report under 49 CFR 396.11 covers the truck's condition at the end of each day's work: brakes, steering, lights, tires, and other parts. A driver prepares one only when a defect is found or reported, signs it, and the carrier keeps it for three months. Our guide to pre-trip inspections covers the inspection side.
What information should be included on a trip report?
A trip report should include seven trip details for fuel tax and registration, plus a few data points if you want it to back up hours of service. The first seven come from IFTA Procedures Manual P540.100 and IRP Plan Section 1010; the rest come from 49 CFR 395.11.
| Field | What to record | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Trip dates | The date the trip began and the date it ended | IFTA, IRP |
| Origin and destination | Where the trip started and where it ended | IFTA, IRP |
| Route of travel | The highways actually driven | IFTA, IRP |
| Odometer readings | Beginning and ending reading from the odometer, hubodometer, or ECM | IFTA, IRP |
| Total trip miles | Ending reading minus beginning reading | IFTA, IRP |
| Miles by jurisdiction | Miles driven in each state or province | IFTA, IRP |
| Vehicle | The power unit number or VIN | IFTA, IRP |
| Driver | Name, PIN, or a unit number the carrier can link to the driver | Hours of service |
| Date, place, and time | The nearest city, town, or village, and the local time, at each stop | Hours of service |
The hours-of-service fields are what let an investigator line the trip report up against the driver's log. Our ELD mandate checklist covers the other supporting documents and the eight-per-day limit.
What else is worth adding?
- Fuel stops. Date, place, gallons, and the unit fueled. The receipt itself is the IFTA fuel record, and it must identify the vehicle.
- Trailer and load numbers. A trailer number and a bill of lading or load number tie the trip to dispatch and billing records.
- Odometer at each state line. The simplest way to get miles by jurisdiction without routing software.
- The driver's signature. These rules don't require it, but it settles who stands behind the numbers.
Which miles go on a CDL trip report?
Every mile the power unit drives goes on the report, not just loaded miles. California's IRP handbook lists the distance that must be recorded and reported:
- Interstate and in-state miles
- Loaded and empty miles
- Deadhead and bobtail miles
- Toll and non-toll miles
- Off-highway miles
- Miles driven while the truck is trip-leased to another carrier
Miles taken from a map or routing software must follow the roads actually driven, including local miles. They don't replace odometer readings: the handbook still requires a beginning and ending reading for each trip, and auditors compare the odometer total with the miles you recorded.
What if mileage comes from GPS?
Then the tracking data is your distance record, and IFTA sets a stricter standard: a reading at least every 10 minutes while the engine runs, with the date, time, latitude and longitude to four decimal places, ECM odometer, and unit number, in a spreadsheet file rather than a PDF. Our guide to ELD data for IFTA explains why the hours-of-service log alone falls short.
How does a driver fill out a trip report?
Fill it out as the trip happens, not from memory at the end of the week. Five steps cover it.
Step 1: Open the trip before you roll
Write the date, the unit number, the origin, and the beginning odometer reading. That reading should match the ending reading on the truck's last trip; if it doesn't, note why.
Step 2: Mark every state line
Note the odometer reading and the highway each time you cross into a new state or province. Those readings become your miles by jurisdiction.
Step 3: Log stops with place and time
At pickups, deliveries, fuel stops, and breaks, write the nearest city or town, the date, and the local time. Keep each fuel receipt with the unit number on it.
Step 4: Close the trip and check the math
Record the destination, the ending odometer reading, and the total miles. The miles for each state should add up to the total.
Step 5: Turn it in on time
Hand the report and its receipts to the carrier within 13 days, the federal deadline for hours-of-service supporting documents. Your carrier can set a shorter one.
What errors do auditors find on trip reports?
The most common findings are breaks in the record: miles the paperwork can't account for. California lists these among the errors found in IRP audits:
- Odometer gaps. A trip's beginning reading doesn't match the previous trip's ending reading, which indicates unrecorded movement.
- Totals that don't match the odometer. The miles recorded differ from the miles the readings show.
- Missing local miles. Local, in-state, and deadhead miles left off the report.
- Missing fields. No unit number, state miles, trip dates, odometer readings, or route.
- Unexplained idle time. Stretches with no trips and no fuel or repair records showing the truck was down.
- Disorganized files. Reports not filed by unit number in trip-date order.
When records are inadequate for the fleet as a whole, the IFTA Procedures Manual has the base jurisdiction assess more tax by setting your fleet fuel economy at 4.00 miles per gallon or cutting your reported figure by 20%. That raises taxable gallons in every jurisdiction at once.
How long should you keep CDL trip reports?
Keep trip reports for at least four years. Each rule sets its own clock, and the longest one governs a record that serves all three.
| Rule | Keep for | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hours-of-service supporting document | At least 6 months from receipt | 49 CFR 395.8(k) |
| IFTA distance record | 4 years from the return's due date or filing date, whichever is later | IFTA P510 |
| IRP distance record, California example | 3 years after the close of the registration year | California Vehicle Code 8057 |
The IFTA clock runs longer under a waiver or a jeopardy assessment, and records behind a refund request stay until the request is decided. Once a record is filed, leave it as it is: FMCSA prohibits altering supporting documents under 49 CFR 395.11(f), and IFTA rejects altered fuel receipts unless you can show they are valid.
File reports by unit number in trip-date order, on paper or electronically. If you want us to prepare the quarterly return from them, see our tax preparation service, and for everything else a carrier keeps on file, our DOT compliance checklist.
How Simplex helps with trip records and fuel tax
Trip reports feed your IFTA return, your IRP renewal, and your hours-of-service file. We help with each one.
IFTA license and decals
Our IFTA permits team files the application and helps keep your license active.
Quarterly fuel tax returns
Our tax preparation service prepares and files IFTA quarterly returns along with your other trucking taxes.
Hours-of-service management
The Managed Program in our compliance programs includes hours-of-service management and policies.
Frequently asked questions
What information should be included on a trip report?+
Does FMCSA require a CDL trip report?+
Does an ELD replace a trip report?+
How long should a carrier keep trip reports?+
Can trip reports be electronic?+
Where this information comes from
The requirements below come from the IFTA Procedures Manual (effective August 26, 2026), California DMV's IRP Handbook, and 49 CFR Parts 395 and 396, checked on October 19, 2026.
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1
IFTA, Inc. — Procedures Manual (August 26, 2026)
P510 to P570: retention, adequacy, the seven distance-record elements, the GPS standard, and the inadequate-records assessment.
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2
California DMV — IRP Handbook, Chapter 10
Trip reports as source records, IRP Plan Section 1010 elements, accountable miles, and odometer continuity.
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3
California DMV — IRP Handbook, Chapter 11
Common IRP audit errors and the three-year retention under Vehicle Code 8057.
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4
eCFR — 49 CFR 395.11
Supporting document categories and data elements, the 13-day turn-in rule, and the ban on altering them.
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5
eCFR — 49 CFR 395.8
The 6-month retention of logs and supporting documents.
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6
eCFR — 49 CFR 396.11
The driver vehicle inspection report, a separate record.
Written by
Simplex Group
Permits & Fuel Tax Team, Simplex Group
Reviewed for technical accuracy by a Simplex permitting manager before publication. Simplex has registered and filed permits and fuel taxes for interstate carriers across all 50 states for more than 20 years.
Published · Updated
Related articles and services
A trip report holds up when its miles connect
Complete fields, every mile, and odometer readings that chain from one trip to the next are what let a trip report stand up in an IFTA or IRP audit.
If you want help setting up trip records, filing your IFTA returns, or getting ready for an audit, talk to our team.