Miles, loads, per diem nights, and settlements that mix W-2 drivers with 1099 owner-operators: trucking pay never fit an hourly payroll. WageTime is payroll for trucking and logistics companies, built to run driver pay the way the industry computes it.
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.
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. Every accessorial, detention to tarp, settles as a pay code, not a spreadsheet column.
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: taxable earnings on one line, per diem on its own line, computed the same way every week.
Replaces the per diem program that lived in the owner’s head, and the driver who quit over a stub nobody could explain.
WageTime withholds an interstate driver’s income tax in the residence state, the way federal law points it (49 USC 14503), with per-driver overrides, while unemployment insurance reports to the right single state.
| Driver | Income tax withheld | SUI state |
|---|---|---|
| Marcus D.Home TN · interstate override | TN only | AR |
| Denise K.Home IL · interstate override | IL only | IL |
| Luis O.Home TX · no state income tax | None | AR |
| Pete R.OH thru Apr 30 · IN eff 05/01 | IN only | 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 stays your call, made with your attorney.
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 before a quiet lapse parks a truck.
| Driver | 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.
Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.
Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.
Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month
HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.
See a demoSet 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