Simple IFTA for Owner Operators

I was reading about strategies to reduce your IFTA taxes and someone suggested that you buy fuel in every state – and only enough for that state. I think that finding a simple IFTA for owner-operators would be a lot easier. Likewise, it will make it less likely for truckers to need a rescue on the road.

Owner Operators Don’t Need Complex IFTA Calculators

If you’re running a single truck, the last thing you need is a complicated IFTA calculator.

What’s complicated?

1. Re-entering all of your data into a single purpose program. If you’ve got all of your data already stored on a database or spreadsheet or if you’re stuck retyping all those numbers into a new program.
2. A program that doesn’t track your fuel purchases and your miles together.
3. A trucking program designed for a fleet, not a single user.
4. A program that hasn’t been updated with the latest tax rates.

The problem is that any solo IFTA calculator is going to make you do more work and increase the chances of it being wrong. Transpose just 2 numbers and you may spend hours trying to figure it out, or be at risk of overpaying your taxes.

Do you have hours to fix a problem that you shouldn’t have had in the first place?

Accurate, simple IFTA without the extra work?

Owner-operators are concerned with one truck. And IFTA looks complicated when you read about what you’re supposed to figure out with the mileage per state and the taxes paid per state.

Shouldn’t the owner-operator’s IFTA filing be simpler too?

How about so simple that you can get it done in less than a minute? And be confident that the numbers are right?

That’s not asking too much. In fact, we think you’re asking too little.

The Power of the Numbers

Every dispatch you take on, every load you pick up and deliver, every fuel purchase you make – the numbers are there. You can use them for your IFTA – no problem. But that’s a sad waste if that’s all you’re going to do with them.

• Do you want to know how much it costs you to haul freight for a mile? That single number may be the difference between taking a load that will make you a profit or costing you more to haul than you’ll make.

• Do you want to know how much money you made on a single trip? Is this load a good one for you to take in the future? Should you pass on it next time?

• Do you want to know how much you’re spending and what you’re spending it on? Making a profit isn’t strictly on what’s coming in – it’s also controlling what’s going out and where.

All of those questions can be answered by tracking your dispatches with a trucking management system. Using software to manage your trucking business makes it possible to answer all of those questions with little or no extra work on your part.

A stand-alone IFTA calculator isn’t going to do that for you. A simple IFTA calculator doesn’t have to only do your IFTA. It should do a lot more because the simplest IFTA calculator should be a part of your entire trucking management software solution for your owner-operator business.

IFTA Done Simple: Benefits of Integrating Your ELD With a TMS 

When you add an electronic logging device to your trucking management software, you get the advantage of having all the best benefits from both programs. Your ELD will take care of some of the most tedious tasks in your office, making it the ideal software for business management. 

This device will decrease the amount of tax paperwork you have to work with and cut down on time spent verifying driver logs’ accuracy. When paired with a TMS like TruckingOffice’s software, the app will allow your ELD to obtain information using Bluetooth technology. This data is then used to help calculate mileage reports and generate other detailed information to keep your office on track and well organized. 

By integrating your ELD with a TMS, your drivers will no longer need to worry about documenting their mileage on paper. Instead, the software will calculate all of their data automatically to avoid human error. When these programs work together, you can rely on your TMS software to keep any payments based on mileage accurate and fair. 

Besides helping you with IFTA reports, TruckingOffice’s ELD will help to expedite inspections since all the information about your fleet is available in one convenient location. And pairing your ELD with a TMS program can help improve highway safety because it keeps truck drivers in compliance with all FMCSA regulations to help prevent accidents caused by fatigue.

Get Your Free Trial Today!

You want simple. Make it simple on yourself because a software program that does one thing isn’t simple. It makes other things more complicated.

Make your trucking office management tasks simple with TruckingOffice. We’ll even make it simpler: we’ll let you try it for free. Sign up today for our free trial of TruckingOffice TMS and manage your trucking business – including your IFTA – for nothing down and no credit card, debit card or checking account number needed. That’s pretty simple, right?

That’s because TruckingOffice makes it easy.

Got more questions about IFTA? We’ve got the IFTA Resource Center with plenty of answers for you.