Trip and Mileage Logging

IFTA is worked out on where the miles happened, not how many you ran in total. That means a run from Dallas to Chicago is not one number, it is a handful of numbers, one per state line you crossed. Logging a trip here lets you enter the split once, at the time you still remember the route, instead of reconstructing it from memory at quarter end.

Each trip records the date, the truck, where it started and finished, the total distance, and whether you were loaded or running empty. Underneath it you break the distance down by state. Deadhead miles count toward your mileage the same as loaded miles do, so the log keeps both rather than quietly dropping the empty legs.

Trips can carry miles run under a trip permit, which are kept apart from the rest because they are handled differently. The same goes for miles in jurisdictions outside IFTA — they are recorded, but held out of the quarterly figures rather than mixed in. Keeping those separate in the log is what keeps the quarter honest later.

A trip can be attached to an order, which ties the route you ran to the money the load brought in. That connection is what turns a mileage log into something you can actually run the business on, rather than a compliance chore you do because you have to.