Few metro areas are built around freight the way Atlanta is. Three interstates meet downtown, I-285 rings the city with warehouse and terminal traffic, Hartsfield-Jackson moves air cargo, and a steady stream of containers comes up from the Port of Savannah. That network supports thousands of trucking companies, owner-operators, freight brokers and third-party logistics firms, from one-truck operations to fleets running hundreds of units out of the Fulton Industrial and south metro corridors.
Trucking is also one of the hardest industries to keep accurate books for. Revenue arrives by load, costs arrive by mile, compliance filings arrive by quarter and by state, and margins are thin enough that a few cents per mile decides whether a lane is worth running. This guide covers the trucking company accounting and tax issues that matter most for carriers and logistics businesses in Atlanta.
Books that produce cost per mile
A trucking company that only knows its annual profit is flying blind. The numbers that drive decisions are per mile and per lane, and the books have to be built to produce them:
- Cost per mile, split into variable costs (fuel, maintenance, tires, driver pay per mile) and fixed costs (truck payments, insurance, permits, office overhead).
- Revenue per loaded mile and revenue per total mile, which makes the cost of deadhead visible.
- Lane and customer profitability, including detention, lumper fees and accessorial charges that are billed separately and frequently go uncollected.
- Maintenance cost by unit, which tells you when a truck has become more expensive to keep than to replace.
Most of this data already exists in fuel card reports, ELD mileage and the dispatch system. The accounting job is to connect those sources to the general ledger every month rather than rebuilding them at tax time.
The compliance calendar carriers live on
Interstate carriers file far more often than most small businesses. The core obligations:
- IFTA. Carriers operating qualified motor vehicles in more than one jurisdiction file quarterly International Fuel Tax Agreement returns through their base jurisdiction, reporting miles driven and fuel purchased in each state. Returns are due at the end of the month following each quarter. Missing trip records are the most common reason IFTA audits go badly.
- IRP. Apportioned registration under the International Registration Plan divides registration fees among the jurisdictions where a vehicle operates, based on miles. Mileage records from IFTA and IRP need to agree.
- Heavy vehicle use tax. Highway motor vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more are subject to the federal heavy highway vehicle use tax, reported on Form 2290. The tax period runs from July 1 through June 30, and the stamped Schedule 1 is needed to register the vehicle.
- Unified Carrier Registration. An annual registration and fee for interstate motor carriers, freight forwarders, brokers and leasing companies. Carriers and freight forwarders pay based on fleet size, while brokers and leasing companies pay the smallest bracket fee.
None of these are income tax filings, which is exactly why they fall between the cracks when a carrier’s bookkeeper, tax preparer and permit service are three different people.
Owner-operators, company drivers and classification
Many carriers run a mix of company drivers and leased-on owner-operators. The tax difference is large: company drivers are employees, with payroll tax, withholding and workers’ compensation, while owner-operators treated as independent contractors receive a Form 1099-NEC and handle their own taxes.
The classification depends on the actual relationship, not the label in the lease agreement. Control over how and when the work is done, who owns and pays for the equipment, and whether the driver can work for other carriers all matter. A driver who operates a company-owned truck, on company schedules, exclusively for one carrier looks like an employee regardless of what the contract says. Misclassification exposes the carrier to back payroll taxes, penalties and state unemployment claims, and it tends to surface when a driver files for unemployment or is injured.
Per diem and meals on the road
Drivers who are away from home overnight have meal expenses the tax law treats differently from other businesses. Individuals subject to the Department of Transportation’s hours-of-service limits can deduct 80% of otherwise deductible meal costs incurred while away from home during their DOT-regulated duty periods, rather than the usual 50%, and the IRS publishes a special per diem rate for meals and incidental expenses for the transportation industry, updated each year.
How that plays out depends on who the driver is:
- Owner-operators can use the per diem rate for meals and incidentals on their own return, with records showing the days away from home.
- Company drivers cannot deduct unreimbursed employee expenses on their federal returns, so the benefit comes from the carrier paying per diem under an accountable plan. Properly structured, those payments are not taxable wages to the driver.
An accountable plan needs a business connection, substantiation of time and place of travel, and the return of any excess. Per diem paid without that structure is simply taxable wages.
Trucks, trailers and depreciation after the 2025 tax law
Equipment is the largest investment most carriers make, and its tax treatment has shifted again. Over-the-road tractor units are generally three-year property under the federal depreciation system, and trailers are generally five-year property. Following the 2025 federal tax law, qualifying equipment acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 is generally eligible for 100% bonus depreciation.
Three cautions:
- Georgia does not follow federal bonus depreciation, so the Georgia return will depreciate the same equipment more slowly.
- Trade-ins are taxable events. Like-kind exchange treatment now applies only to real property, so trading in a truck is treated as a sale of the old unit and a purchase of the new one.
- Depreciation comes back when you sell. Gain on the sale of a fully depreciated truck is generally taxed as ordinary income up to the depreciation taken. Carriers that expense every purchase and then refresh the fleet can face a large tax bill in the year they sell.
Buying equipment late in the year for the deduction alone is rarely a good strategy. It should fit the fleet plan and the cash position first.
Freight brokers and 3PLs: a different revenue question
Brokers and logistics companies face a question carriers do not: whether to report the full freight charge as revenue, or only the margin. Under the revenue recognition standard, the answer depends on whether the company controls the transportation service before it is provided to the shipper, which turns on who is responsible for the service, who bears the risk and who sets the price. The answer changes the revenue line dramatically, and lenders and buyers will test it.
Property brokers must also have $75,000 of financial security in effect before operating, in the form of a surety bond or trust fund filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Cash flow: factoring and receivables
Many carriers factor their invoices to bridge the gap between delivering a load and getting paid. Factoring has an accounting consequence that is easy to miss: depending on the terms, the arrangement is recorded as a sale of receivables only if the carrier gives up control of them under the accounting rules. Otherwise, and often with recourse agreements, it is recorded as a secured borrowing. Factoring fees should be recorded as a cost of financing, not netted out of revenue, so that the true cost of cash is visible.
Trucking company accounting from our Atlanta office
Manay CPA’s Atlanta office works with carriers, owner-operators, brokers and logistics companies across the metro area. We handle monthly bookkeeping built around per-mile reporting, payroll for driver fleets, and tax planning for equipment purchases. Learn more about our work in transportation and logistics, or read our guide to owner-operator tax deductions.
Frequently asked questions
When are IFTA returns due?
IFTA returns are filed quarterly and are due on the last day of the month following the end of each quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. A return is generally required for each quarter even if no taxable miles were driven.
Who has to file Form 2290?
Owners of highway motor vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more that are used on public highways generally must file Form 2290 and pay the heavy vehicle use tax. The tax period runs from July 1 to June 30.
Can truck drivers deduct per diem?
Self-employed owner-operators subject to DOT hours-of-service rules can deduct meal and incidental expenses using the IRS transportation industry per diem rate, generally at 80%. Company drivers cannot deduct unreimbursed expenses on their federal returns, but carriers can pay them per diem under an accountable plan.
How are semi tractors depreciated?
Over-the-road tractor units are generally three-year property for federal tax purposes, and trailers are generally five-year property. Qualifying equipment acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 is generally eligible for 100% bonus depreciation federally, though Georgia does not follow bonus depreciation.
Talk to us
If you run a trucking or logistics company in Atlanta and your books cannot tell you what a mile costs, we can help build them so they can. Book a consultation with our Atlanta team.
