This is record-keeping guidance from one operator to another, not tax or legal advice. Rules differ by state and province and by how your business is structured, so use it as a list of what to keep and take the filing questions to a CPA who works with carriers.
The habit that matters more than any deduction: capture the paperwork the day it happens. A receipt photographed at the pump is worth more than a shoebox in April, because the shoebox always has holes in it and the holes are always the expensive items.
Income side — keep every settlement statement, every rate confirmation, and every 1099 you receive, and reconcile them against your own load records. If your own records and the settlements disagree, you want to know in the same month, not the following year.
Fuel and mileage — fuel receipts and total miles by jurisdiction, which you are already keeping for IFTA. Keep them in a form you can total, because the same records answer both the tax question and the cost-per-mile question.
Truck and equipment — purchase documents, loan or lease statements, tires, repairs, maintenance, parts, washes. Big purchases are treated differently from ordinary repairs, so keep the invoice, not just the card statement line.
Operating costs — insurance premiums, permits, plates, IRP and IFTA filings, tolls, scales, parking, ELD and software subscriptions, association dues, phone, and any office or accounting fees. Also keep the days you were away from home with a location; the per-day meal treatment for transportation workers depends on those records.
Money set aside — quarterly estimated payments, self-employment tax, and any retirement contributions. Missing estimates is how a profitable year turns into a cash-flow problem, and the penalty for underpaying is a cost with no truck attached to it.
Practical routine: one folder per month, photograph receipts the day you get them, reconcile settlements monthly, review numbers with your CPA quarterly rather than annually. It takes ten minutes a week and it turns filing season into a formality.
Because the same records feed your cost per mile, the Tower keeps your legs, expenses and invoices in your own account rather than in a browser, and you can export them for whoever prepares your return.
— Vincent Scott, TeamScott LLC · Memphis, TN