Most small businesses can get by with reasonably good books. A trucking business cannot, because the margin on a load is thin and a truck can quietly lose money for months before anyone notices. Good bookkeeping is how you find out which trucks and which lanes actually pay.
What to record
- Income: every load or settlement, matched to the deposit that paid it, including any chargebacks or deductions the carrier took.
- Fuel: date, gallons, price and the state, because fuel-tax reporting depends on gallons purchased by jurisdiction.
- Maintenance and repairs, including tires, kept by truck.
- Insurance, truck payments or lease payments, and interest.
- Permits, registration and the federal Form 2290 tax, kept by truck.
- Tolls, scale fees, lodging and days away from home.
- Driver pay, if you have drivers, and factoring fees, if you factor invoices.
Keep the business separate
A dedicated business bank account and card is the single most useful step. Once truck costs and personal spending share an account, every month starts with sorting them apart, and the cost of a mistake is a missed deduction or an unsupportable one.
Reconcile monthly
Match the books to the bank and card statements every month. Small differences are easy to find a month later and painful to find a year later.
Cost per mile
Add up the year’s truck costs, divide by the miles driven, and compare that with what you earn per mile. It is the fastest way to see whether a lane, a load type or a whole truck is worth running. It only works if the miles and the costs are both recorded.