I’ve Got Some Catching Up To Do!
Topic 32972 | Page 1
... was I provided this money out of the goodness of the hearts of leadership at HR, or is there a government mandate on this issue? Thanks in advance for the comments.
Both. Your corporate masters could have just said, "We'll give you an extra $100 every night you shut down more than 100 miles from your home". If they just gave you a lump sum it would be considered a wage under applicable laws and taxable as part of your income.
There's no law that says an employer MUST pay you every night you shut down away from home. If there were THOUSANDS of CDL drivers would be owed checks.
Your management decided to help you with out of pocket expenses when you shut down out of the goodness of their hearts. By structuring the payment as per diem the law considers it an expense reimbursement instead of a wage so you aren't taxed on those payments. There's a little extra paperwork on their end to justify the business expense without any receipts but they were willing to do that so you would get the money without having to pay taxes on it.
The government didn't force your employer to pay you for your nights out of town, but they would have forced you to pay taxes on those funds if your employer didn't structure it as per diem so you could say the government mandated that your employer structure the payments as per diem so they could do that.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Thanks for the (very) quick response, Pearl. You answered my question perfectly.
Restated, it seems that I should get one or the other: either a per diem (straight up money for which I owe no taxes) or an additional sum which will be treated as wages and I’ll need to pay the appropriate taxes on it. Either way, it seems like a win for us.
CBH
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
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Team:
I’ll be re-entering the industry after two years away. I earned my CDL during the Covid year of 2020 and went to work driving a skateboard for Home Run, Inc for about six months before returning to my pre-pandemic job in the hospitality industry with a F&B provider at a MLB ball park. I will be rejoining my truck-driving brethren in late April/early May after getting the park open and the season started.
As I recall during my first tour, I was given/provided with a $66 per diem provided I was at least 100 miles from home (not hard to do since I was driving regionally). Here’s the question/search for knowledge: was I provided this money out of the goodness of the hearts of leadership at HR, or is there a government mandate on this issue? Thanks in advance for the comments.
It’s good to be back. I should have never left.
Cincybeerhawk
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.