Manage Trucking Company Expenses

Trucking company expenses are the costs of running your trucking business, and you manage them by recording every dollar that leaves your pocket and then reviewing your own business history. If you want to control trucking company expenses, it’s not complicated. It sounds like it’s going to take a lot of time and require a lot of extra work, maybe staying off the road or spending time away from family. There’s no way to run a trucking company without expenses, but there is a way to manage trucking company expenses by looking at your business history.

Expense tracking is only half the picture — trucking accounting software also ties those expenses back to the loads that created them.

Cold weather raises costs fast. Our winter trucking prep checklist for owner-operators covers reserve funds, insurance, and subscription audits.

Tracking expenses is far easier when the numbers are entered once. See how efficient trucking software for owner-operators reuses one entry across every report.

Expense tracking is only one piece of the puzzle. See how the rest of it fits together in trucking software for owner-operators and small fleets.

Tax Deductible vs. Non-Deductible Trucking Expenses

Trucking expenses fall into two categories: tax deductible and non-deductible. Tax deductible expenses are business costs you can subtract from your taxable income. Non-deductible expenses are personal costs that the business cannot write off, even when you pay for them while you are working.

Personal expenses are not deductible. What are they? Non-uniform clothing, food and housing at home (as opposed to on the road) and travel expenses to and from your trucking business office. Personal transportation is also not deductible. These aren’t the only non-deductible expenses, so it’s better to put everything related to your trucking business into your expenses report.

Why? Because you might be spending money on something that will become deductible. Or you might find that those expenses are a drag on your trucking business.

Coffee May Not Be Deductible — But It Is Vital

How do you track all your expenses? We recommend TruckingOffice PRO for one simple reason. Those expenses can go onto an expense report that impacts your basic cost per mile number. Even if the government won’t let you deduct your mid-afternoon coffee, if it’s a regular expense, tracking it can help you examine if you need to invest in a coffee pot onboard instead of paying Starbucks (and losing all that time in the line.) If a daily coffee from Starbucks averages $5.00 in (2025), it won’t even take a month to pay off a battery-powered coffee maker from Amazon that costs $130.00.

(The coffee pot might be tax deductible. Ask you accountant to be sure.)

Yeah, I know. I sound like your mother – or your accountant.

Managing Trucking Company Expenses

The key to managing expenses is tracking them. Just like the best way to lose weight is to write down every item eaten every day – and making choices to reduce calories – managing expenses starts with keeping an accurate record of all funds going out of your pocket.

Some methods suggest writing everything down in a notebook.

It is the 21st century, right?

Others might suggest using a spreadsheet or a database.

But do you want to do twice the data entry? If these are trucking business expenses, keeping them in a trucking business software that will give you an expense report based on your criteria makes a lot more sense. After all, this is what computers are made for.

TruckingOffice PRO Expense Auto Entry

That’s another thing that computers are getting good at. Using TruckingOffice PRO, you can now snap a pic of a receipt and it will upload the data into the system. No typing, just a quick check to make sure the data is correct.

(We also upload ret cons, too!)

With every expense entered, it’s simple to select an expense report. What makes TruckingOffice PRO even better is that you can specify a range of dates or even a single trip for analysis. Compare a week of low-mileage local trips with a long-distance trip and discover which is making you the most money. (You might be surprised!)

Once you have data, it’s time to run an expenses report. Grouping expenses together will show where your money is going. A $5 coffee once a day doesn’t sound like much, but tote up five per week and that’s $100 per month.

There are some expenses you can’t eliminate. Cutting corners on some expenses isn’t worth it. But once you see where your money is going, it’s time to make decisions. Those might be big changes that are added to your trucking business plan. Others might be smaller. But when systems and habits change, it will be important to review how the business is doing. More modifications may be needed – or more money may stay in your pocket.

Why Bother With Trucking Software?

The best way to track expenses is to keep records. But what’s the best way to keep records?

That’s why TruckingOffice PRO is a great method to track expenses. Every expense not only shows up in the expense report, but it also shows up in many other profitable ways. (Yes, pun intended.) You’ll discover your trucking business’s

• cost per mile
• cost per loaded mile
• revenue per mile
• loads make the most money
• loads that cost money to haul.

All without you spending any more time than pressing a few buttons on your tablet or even your smartphone. Once a dispatch is created in TruckingOffice PRO, expenses are automatically tallied – and then that data is used over and over to manage your trucking business finances.

If you want to give TruckingOffice PRO a try, sign up today for a free trial. You’ll have complete access to the program. You can track your expenses as well as send out invoices and track your maintenance in the complete trucking software. Add the full quarter’s information and you’ll get an IFTA report to show your taxes due without paying a nickel more.

You can sign up today and discover what TruckingOffice PRO can do to help you explore your trucking business expenses.

Trucking Company Expenses: Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a trucking company expense?

A trucking company expense is any cost of operating your trucking business. Because it is hard to tell in advance what will qualify as a deduction, it is better to put everything related to your trucking business into your expenses report, including spending you do not expect to write off.

Which trucking expenses are not tax deductible?

Personal expenses are not deductible. That includes non-uniform clothing, food and housing at home as opposed to on the road, personal transportation, and travel to and from your trucking business office. These are not the only non-deductible expenses, so confirm the details with your accountant.

Why should I track expenses I cannot deduct?

Two reasons. You might be spending money on something that will later become deductible, and you might discover that those expenses are a drag on your trucking business. Non-deductible spending still lands in your expense report, where it affects your basic cost per mile.

How do trucking expenses affect cost per mile?

Your expenses feed the expense report that produces your basic cost per mile. Once a dispatch is created in TruckingOffice PRO, expenses are tallied automatically and that data is reused to show cost per mile, cost per loaded mile, revenue per mile, which loads make the most money, and which loads cost money to haul.

Is a spreadsheet good enough for tracking trucking expenses?

A notebook or a spreadsheet will hold the numbers, but it means doing the data entry twice. Keeping trucking business expenses in trucking software gives you an expense report built on your own criteria, including a date range or even a single trip, without re-entering anything.