October 7, 2020

Use Per Diem To Raise Trucker Pay To Attract New Drivers

Mark is our transportation industry expert and has over a decade of experience advising clients on IRS accountable per diem programs.

Designed by drivers, tax pros built it

Per Diem Plus fleets trip summary — Per Diem Plus Fleets - Trip Summary

Raise Trucker Pay To Attract New Drivers

A company-sponsored substantiated per diem plan can raise trucker pay to attract new drivers.

Our cloud-based FLEETS mobile app platform with flexible Service Plan Options enables motor carriers to easily implement an IRS-compliant fleet per diem plan that will:

Enhance recruiting and retention
Raise driver pay by 10% or more
Save a fleet several thousand dollars per driver
Eliminate the need to retain ELD backups for 3 years

"I still think to get new people into the industry, given the 150K-200K driver deficit and robust demand in 2021, pay is going to have to go up a lot more than 20%."
U.S Express CEO Eric Fuller told Yahoo Finance (9/30/20)

The Numbers Speak For Themselves

Adding a substantiated per diem program for employee drivers is a sure-fire way raise driver take-home pay by 10% or more while saving the motor carrier money. Consider the following:

The typical over-the-road (OTR) driver averages 127,000 miles annually and is away from home 295 nights a year
A driver would receive $19,470 of tax-free per diem at $66/day[1]
Unlike a cent-per-mile plan it can be earned during HOS-mandated 34-hour restarts and unforeseen delays
The average driver will save thousands of dollars in income and payroll taxes, equivalent to several cents per mile

Example - Driver Savings

per diem vs. no per diem married driver tax savings table — Per Diem v No Per Diem - Single Driver Tax Savings

A single driver from South Carolina could save $6,046 in taxes equal to an extra 5.2 cents-per-mile. Learn how state tax rates impact per diem in our post State Income Tax Considerations of Driver Per Diem

Example - Fleet Savings

A fleet with 75 drivers and could raise driver pay by 10% or more and still save $206,250. Do not believe the savings are achievable? Read our Case Study. The motor carrier saved $3,000 per driver within the first year of implementing Per Diem Plus Fleets. In addition, they received a $125,000 workers compensation premium refund.

Our cloud-based FLEETS mobile app platform enables fleets to easily implement an IRS-compliant fleet per diem plan that will raise driver take-home pay by 10% or more while also saving the motor carrier money.

About Per Diem Plus FLEETS

Per Diem Plus FLEETS is a proprietary mobile software application that was designed by truckers and built by tax pros. It is the only IRS-compliant mobile app for iOS and Android that automatically tracks each qualifying day of travel in the USA & Canada and replaces ELD backups (logbooks) to substantiate away-from-home travel.

Fleets Product Sheet