WageTime is payroll for trucking and logistics companies: $50 a month per company plus $10 per person paid that month, with unlimited runs, so 52 weekly Fridays cost nothing extra. Per-mile, per-stop, and per-load pay run as native pay codes beside hourly and salary. Per diem rides the same check as its own earning line, configurable as non-taxable. And your W-2 company drivers, 1099 owner-operators, and office staff settle in one run, with W-2s and 1099s both included at year-end.
91.5% of US for-hire carriers run 10 or fewer trucks (ATA, 2025), which means the person fighting the payroll system on Friday is usually the owner. The math isn’t the hard part. The hard part is that generic payroll can’t say what a mile, a load, or a layover is.
The same load pays different money depending on which map the pay plan means, and the spread between short-route and odometer miles can run to double digits. Your TMS and PC*MILER decide the count; payroll just needs to hold the rate and show the work. When the paystub can’t show basis, miles, and rate on one line, every shortage looks intentional, and drivers audit every sheet.
Driver pay is never one number. It’s miles plus detention after two free hours, layover between loads, tarp pay on flatbed, stop pay past the first drop, a safety bonus each clean quarter. ATRI found drivers were detained at 39.3% of stops in 2023, so this isn’t edge-case money. Each one is its own earning code, or it’s a spreadsheet column somebody reconciles by hand.
Per diem only works as a clean two-line paycheck: taxable wages on one line, a non-taxable per diem line beside it, backed by nights actually spent out. Run it as a vague pay-rate haircut and drivers call it a scam on every forum, and they’re not always wrong. The IRS rate also resets every October 1, so the program needs maintenance, not a napkin.
A driver who lives in Tennessee and delivers in 38 states is not taxed in 38 states: federal law points interstate drivers’ income tax withholding at the residence state (49 USC 14503). Generic payroll defaults to withholding where the work happens and gets it backwards. Unemployment insurance follows a different rule entirely, usually the home terminal. Cleaning up a wrong-state year means amended filings, driver by driver.
Company drivers live in payroll. Owner-operators live in a settlement spreadsheet with fuel advances, insurance chargebacks, and escrow lines. Office staff live wherever payroll was cheapest in 2019. Come January that’s W-2s from one system, 1099-NECs from another, and a reconciliation nobody billed for.
The TMS or the spreadsheet already computed what every driver earned. Then somebody retypes it into a payroll system so the taxes come out right, line by line, every single week. Per-run pricing meters all 52 Fridays, and every retyped number is a fresh chance to pay a driver wrong.
Every one of these has a concrete answer below, built for a fleet office, not a campus.
WageTime runs per-mile, per-stop, and per-load pay as per-unit pay codes, alongside hourly for local P&D, day rates, and salary for the office. Percentage-of-load pay settles through tiered commission structures. Detention, layover, tarp pay, stop pay, breakdown pay, and safety bonuses are pay codes, not spreadsheet columns. Underneath all of it: minimum-wage processing at federal, state, and local levels across every hour worked, and when a week owes overtime, say a driver spends part of it on a truck at 10,000 pounds or less, it computes on the weighted-average regular rate automatically. Already have the quantities in your TMS or ELD? We import the hours and units so there’s no double entry; tell us your system on the demo and we’ll confirm the exact flow for your setup.
| Line | Quantity | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linehaul miles per-mile code | 2,412 mi | $0.58 | $1,398.96 |
| Detention per-hour code | 3.5 hrs | $22.00 | $77.00 |
| Tarp pay per-load code | 2 loads | $75.00 | $150.00 |
| Stop pay per-stop code | 4 stops | $30.00 | $120.00 |
| Safety bonus quarterly | 1 | $250.00 | $250.00 |
Replaces the settlement spreadsheet with eleven tabs, and the Friday it gets retyped into a payroll system that only speaks hours.
WageTime runs per diem and mileage reimbursement as their own pay codes, configurable as non-taxable earning types and paid on the same check as wages. The stub shows the split the way drivers and their lenders need to see it: taxable earnings on one line, per diem on its own line, flat per night or per mile, however your program is designed. Earning-code rules control the tax treatment; you and your tax advisor decide the program itself, including what happens when the IRS transportation rate resets each October. What WageTime removes is the napkin math: the split computes in the run, every week, the same way.
| Earning | Basis | Tax treatment | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linehaul miles | 2,238 mi × $0.46 | Taxable | $1,029.48 |
| Detention | 2.0 hrs × $25.00 | Taxable | $50.00 |
| Per diem | 5 nights × $63.00 | Non-taxable earning | $315.00 |
Replaces the per diem program that lived in the owner’s head, and the driver who quit over a stub nobody could explain.
WageTime handles driver taxation with residence and work-state withholding overrides, state reciprocity, and effective-dated tax setup, on a tax engine covering all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and 11,000+ local jurisdictions. For interstate drivers, federal law points income tax withholding at the home state (49 USC 14503); WageTime’s overrides let you set exactly that, per driver, while unemployment insurance reports to the right single state. When a driver moves from Ohio to Indiana in May, the change is effective-dated: old state through April 30, new state from May 1, no retroactive mess. Every federal, state, and local filing and deposit is handled automatically.
| Driver | Home state | Income tax withheld | SUI state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus D. | TN | TN only interstate override | AR |
| Denise K. | IL | IL only interstate override | IL |
| Luis O. | TX | None no state income tax | AR |
| Pete R. | OH until Apr 30, then IN | Effective 05/01 | AR |
Replaces the payroll that withheld Ohio tax on a Tennessee driver, and the amended returns that followed.
WageTime pays 1099 owner-operators in the same payroll as W-2 company drivers and office staff: contractor tax setup on one side, full withholding on the other, year-end W-2s and 1099s both included. Whether a driver is a contractor is your call, made with your attorney; what WageTime removes is the second system. Deductions the fleet office actually runs are built in: equipment and asset assignments tracked with paycheck deductions where state law permits them, and child-support orders set up once, calculated against disposable earnings, and remitted by ACH. That last one is not rare in this industry: the transportation and utilities sector carries the highest child-support garnishment rate of any industry, 6.6% of employees (ADP Research Institute). Multiple authorities under separate EINs run under one login, reported per company or combined.
| Worker | Type | Gross | Net pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus D. | W-2 driver | $1,995.96 | $1,512.44 |
| Denise K. support order | W-2 driver | $1,394.48 | $1,006.87 |
| R&J Hauling LLC | 1099 owner-operator | $4,812.50 | $4,812.50 |
| Tom V. | W-2 office | $1,240.00 | $941.72 |
Replaces the owner-operator spreadsheet next to the payroll login, and the January reconciliation between them.
WageTime tracks CDLs, endorsements, DOT medical certificates, and any other dated credential on the driver record, with recurring 30, 60, and 90-day expiration alerts and the documents stored right on the record. The stakes went up in June 2025: medical examiners now file certification results electronically and states must downgrade a CDL within 60 days of an expired medical certification, so a missed expiration date now parks the truck. Endorsement tracking also earns its keep on the pay side: hazmat and tanker endorsements often carry pay premiums, and the credential record keeps who holds what beyond dispute. Renewed documents land on the driver’s record, so the audit trail lives in one place instead of a glovebox.
| Driver | Credential | Expires | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus D. | DOT medical certificate | Aug 14, 2026 | 30-day alert |
| Luis O. | TWIC card | Sep 22, 2026 | 60-day alert |
| Denise K. | CDL-A, H endorsement | Mar 18, 2027 | Current |
| Pete R. | DOT medical certificate | Jul 2, 2027 | Current |
Replaces the whiteboard of expiration dates, and the driver sent home from the yard because a medical card lapsed quietly.
Set up a per-mile pay code, and each pay period the miles go in as quantities; detention, tarp, and stop pay run as their own codes. The mileage basis (short, practical, or hub) stays your call. We import hours and quantities from your TMS or ELD export so there’s no double entry; tell us your system on the demo and we’ll confirm the exact flow for your setup.
Most interstate CDL drivers are overtime-exempt under the federal motor carrier exemption, but there are sharp edges: any week an employee works even partly on a vehicle of 10,000 pounds or less generally owes overtime, and some states add their own rules. When overtime is owed on mixed pay, WageTime computes it on the weighted-average regular rate automatically, and minimum-wage processing checks every hour worked.
For an interstate driver with regular duties in two or more states, federal law (49 USC 14503) points income tax withholding at the driver’s residence state only. WageTime implements that through per-driver withholding overrides with effective dates, while unemployment insurance reports to its own single state. Bring your driver list and home states to the demo and we’ll walk the setup.
Yes. Company drivers run with full withholding, owner-operators run as contractors with W-9 collection and contractor tax setup, and both settle on the same Friday. Year-end W-2s and 1099s are both included. Whether someone is a contractor is a decision for you and your attorney; WageTime just removes the second system.
As its own earning line beside taxable wages: per diem and mileage reimbursement run as pay codes configurable as non-taxable earning types, paid on the same check. You and your tax advisor design the program (flat per night, per mile, and the October rate reset); the earning-code rules then apply it identically every week, and drivers see the split on every stub.
$50 a month for the company plus $10 for each person actually paid that month, with unlimited runs. Weekly settlements cost the same as biweekly, there are no per-run fees, and off-cycle runs like bonuses cost nothing extra. A fleet paying 12 people in a month is $170, whether that month had four Fridays or five.
Last week’s settlement sheet, your driver list with home states, and however you count miles. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo company: you’ll see per-mile pay codes, the two-line per diem stub, residence-state withholding setup, and your W-2 and 1099 drivers in the same run.
Book a 20-minute demo