Your margins move in cents per mile. So do we.

Depreciation timed for this year instead of the cycle. Bonus depreciation feels great until the year you sell the tractor and recapture bites. We model the whole replacement cycle.

Per-diem money left on the table. A properly documented per-diem program cuts payroll tax for the company and raises take-home for drivers — but sloppy documentation converts it to taxable wages.

The 1099 owner-operator question. Classification rules keep tightening, and reclassification with back payroll taxes is the industry's most expensive surprise. We audit yours before an agency does.

Cost per mile is the only honest rate benchmark. Split fixed costs (equipment, insurance, permits) from variable (fuel, maintenance, driver pay) and the break-even rate per mile becomes a number you can quote against — and refuse business below.

IFTA and fuel tax reporting follow your trucks across state lines quarterly, and mileage records are the substantiation. Sloppy logs turn a routine filing into an assessment, so this belongs in a system rather than a spreadsheet.

Driver classification is the existential risk. Owner-operator arrangements face aggressive scrutiny, and in California the ABC test makes the “usual course of business” prong extremely hard for a carrier to satisfy. A reclassification reaches back years and stacks payroll tax, penalties, and workers’ compensation exposure.

Per-diem and equipment strategy. Driver per-diem handled correctly is a real benefit for both sides; tractors and trailers under Section 179 and bonus depreciation decide which year large deductions land. Both reward planning before the purchase or the pay-plan change.