Trucker Tax Deductions: A Practical Guide for Owner-Operators and OTR Drivers

The deductions you can claim hinge on how you operate.

• Owner-operators or independent contractors (1099-NEC) typically report on Schedule C and pay self-employment tax. Ordinary and necessary business expenses are generally deductible when they are directly tied to hauling income and properly documented.
• Company drivers (W-2) may have fewer federal deductions for unreimbursed job expenses in many recent tax years. Some states still allow employee expense deductions. Confirm both federal and state treatment for the current year.
  
• Operating pattern also matters:
  • OTR drivers with a tax home who travel away from that tax home under HOS rules may qualify for per diem treatment for meals/incidentals (documentation requirements apply).
  • Regional or local drivers may qualify less often for away-from-home treatment but can still deduct business-use expenses (e.g., tools, communications, fees) when self-employed.

In my work supporting fleets on compliance and recordkeeping, I see the strongest outcomes when drivers maintain a clear tax home, a consistent log of trips, and a separation of personal vs. business spending from day one.

Per Diem & Meals Under DOT Hours-of-service

Per diem is designed to simplify substantiation for meals and incidentals when you’re traveling away from your tax home under hours-of-service rules. Three pillars determine eligibility:

1. Tax home: You maintain a principal place of business or residence.
2. Away from home: The trip requires rest/sleep away from your tax home.
3. Business purpose: The travel is ordinary and necessary for hauling.

Two common approaches:

• Per diem method: Use the applicable federal per-diem rate for the locality or a special transportation rate if available for your tax year. You still need start/end times and locations for each travel day. Keep logs consistent with HOS.
• Actual expense method: Deduct actual meals (subject to DOT meal rules) and incidental expenses, supported by receipts and logs.

Many tax years allow a higher deduction percentage for DOT-regulated drivers’ meals than for the general public. Confirm your current-year percentage and any temporary provisions that may apply.

Documentation habits that win audits

• Trip-by-trip HOS logs aligned with per-diem days.
• A simple calendar or TMS export showing dispatches, lanes, and overnights.
• If you’re reimbursed by a carrier, do not double-dip: exclude employer-reimbursed amounts.

Day-to-Day Operational Costs

Owner-operators live in the “ordinary and necessary” lane, routine costs that keep wheels turning:

• Fuel & DEF (keep electronic receipts and IFTA reports).
• Maintenance & repairs (PMs, tires, brakes, fluids, washes).
• Insurance (primary liability, cargo, physical damage, bobtail/NON-TRUCKING, occupational accident when applicable).
• Tolls & parking (including truck-stop overnight parking).
• Load-related fees (lumper, scale tickets, reefer fuel, late fees).
• Permits and compliance user fees (more on this below).

When we centralize receipts for carriers and owner-operators through a structured process, missings drop sharply, especially small receipts (showers, laundry, supplies) that add up by year-end.

Tools & Technology

Technology is deductible when used for business:

• ELD subscriptions and hardware, GPS, trucking apps, weigh-station bypass services.
• Mobile phone and data plans: allocate the business-use percentage (logs or a 2–3-month sample).
• Laptop or tablet, scanners, cloud storage, TMS or accounting software.

If a device serves both personal and business purposes, document your business-use ratio. In reviews we handle, a reasonable method with contemporaneous notes often passes muster.

Taxes, Licenses & Sector Fees

Common deductible outlays for self-employed drivers:

• Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT).
• IFTA fees and state mileage/weight distance taxes.
• IRP apportioned registration.
• CDL renewals, endorsements, TWIC and other credentialing fees.
• State and local permits, oversize/overweight permits, UCR.

From a compliance standpoint, we organize these in a “taxes & licenses” expense bucket. I’ve seen fleets reduce headaches by aligning renewal calendars with accounting reminders so nothing lapses, and every payment is captured for deduction.

Exams, Training & Compliance

Expenses tied to regulatory compliance are part of running a trucking business:

• DOT medical exam and related fitness-for-duty costs (when borne by the self-employed driver).
• Drug & alcohol testing program fees.
• Driver Qualification File (DQF) maintenance and internal audit services.
• Safety training and policy manuals.
• Third-party compliance services that file and maintain paperwork for your operation.

In my experience working with a full-service trucking compliance provider like Simplex Group with two decades in this space, bundling DQF, testing, and filings into a single workflow improves documentation quality and ensures the expense trail is clean for tax purposes.

Office & Recordkeeping

Treat your rig like a business:

• Maintain a dedicated business bank account and, ideally, a separate credit card.
• Use accounting software or a spreadsheet with a consistent chart of accounts (fuel, maintenance, insurance, per diem, taxes & licenses, communications, tolls/parking, fees, etc.).
• Store digital copies of receipts (phone scanner, cloud). Tie them to trip numbers or settlements.
• Reconcile settlement statements (carrier or broker) to your books monthly.

From our compliance engagements, a simple monthly close checklist, bank recon, settlement recon, IFTA data export, receipts uploaded, fixed-asset updates, keeps drivers audit-ready.

Costly Mistakes

1. Mixing personal and business funds: creates messy substantiation and lost deductions.
2. No tax home / poor travel logs: undermines per-diem eligibility.
3. Overlooking small cash expenses: showers, laundry, paid parking, PPE—individually small, material in aggregate.
4. Misclassifying capital vs. repairs: accelerates deductions improperly or understates basis.
5. Skipping estimated taxes: penalties and cash-flow crunches.
6. Double-dipping reimbursements: disallowed deductions where the carrier already paid.

A recent engagement we supported uncovered over a thousand dollars in missed parking and incidentals because drivers didn’t photograph receipts. A standardized capture routine fixed it within a quarter.

Annual Trucker Checklist & Mini Tax Calendar

Quarterly

• Pay estimated taxes (federal/state) and self-employment.
• Export IFTA data and reconcile to fuel receipts.
• Update fixed-asset ledger (repairs vs. improvements).

Annually

• Review Section 179 or bonus strategy with your advisor.
• Confirm HVUT, IRP, and UCR renewals are filed and stored.
• Refresh DQF contents; archive prior-year paperwork.

Anytime

• Log per-diem days alongside HOS.
• Photograph and upload receipts immediately.

Keep mile or freight notes to connect expenses to revenue.

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