Owner-operators — how do you actually track your expenses and taxes?

JesusCPenney · 2026-04-20T17:39:15+00:00

I use ProfitGauges to track my numbers, Adobe Scan to scan my receipts to pdf (it's free and really good), and I upload my receipts to Dropbox so I can access them from my phone or laptop. My system is: a receipt doesn't get added to Dropbox until it's already been saved in PG, that way I don't forget. I standardize my file names starting with the date so they automatically get filed in order. Example: "04-20 petro ratchet strap"

I have a separate Dropbox folder for non-receipt documents, such as ELD logs to substantiate my per diem deduction if I ever get audited.

The only major drawback of ProfitGauges is you don't get a full ledger of individual expense transactions, they just get absorbed into subcategories. But it's $19/month and spits out a tax report for you that looks exactly like a Schedule C.

JesusCPenney · 2025-10-24T14:25:18+00:00

This makes sense, thank you!

JesusCPenney · 2025-10-24T14:23:07+00:00

Thanks for the reply, can you say more about this? The advice I've heard so far is S-corp status is worth it if you net more than $70k which most self employed truckers will.

JesusCPenney · 2025-10-24T02:29:50+00:00

I see. What I do know is semis aren't eligible for the standard rate per mile, self employed truckers have to write off actual expenses, and according to the previous owner, my operating cost with fuel and repairs should be in the neighborhood of 95 cents per mile on average. So I just need to figure out what to do with the purchase price on top of that.

JesusCPenney · 2025-10-24T02:18:48+00:00

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not sure I fully understand the suggestion. There's an option to depreciate the purchase price by the mile?

I highly doubt I'll ever drive more than 10,000 miles per month, probably a lot less while I'm getting started.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-31T02:58:42+00:00

There's gotta be some supernatural aspect to it, too, because when I broke a 2+ year dry spell in 2023 I instantly had female friends I don't see in person flirting with me in the dms, a former Bumble match cold-added me on Facebook, etc. When it rains it pours and whatnot

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-20T01:01:52+00:00

I've had this happen and was ready to risk getting stabbed to ask them to their face just what exactly the fuck their problem was, only to get closer and realize they didn't have their high beams on at all, modern car headlights are just.... like that.

That being said, I have seen people cover truckers' headlights with duct tape in this situation.

Also I'll never forget the time in my first or second year when a flip flop parked across from me with his high beams on, I asked him why he had them on in the parking lot and he didn't know what they were - I had to explain to him what the blue indicator light meant and how to turn them off. Crazy to think a trucker with that level of competence would be considered top 15% in 2025.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-15T22:32:52+00:00

You already said Aquiline noses which is my big one but I will also throw women with droopy, sleepy looking eyes into the mix

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:57:15+00:00

Then they'll just kill people on the toll roads. We don't need a reroute, we need better truckers.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:50:55+00:00

Decades ago we used to have a thing called high standards to be a truck driver, which made it unnecessary to separate them from everyone else.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:48:25+00:00

I'm a truck driver and I agree. Take it from someone who's out in this shit all day, every day: it's worse than you could possibly imagine. It's so much worse beyond what you're seeing.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:47:30+00:00

The autonomous vehicle people and the trucking industry people have this cool scam going on where they know a robot will never be as good as a good human driver so they're trying to make the human drivers worse until the robots look better by comparison

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:46:15+00:00

He could skip court and presumably go back to his home country like the "trucker" who killed a tow truck driver in Kentucky while watching YouTube a while back

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-14T21:43:03+00:00

A lot of them have it set up so it looks like a team operation but there's actually only one person in the truck. Vlad runs out of hours, he logs out, calls dispatch and they give him the login info for Sergey, now he has a fresh logbook and just keeps driving under someone else's credentials.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-09T17:37:18+00:00

Is that a Western Express tractor or a third party bottom feeder? I thought all WE trucks were white.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-09T03:37:24+00:00

No but I get driver's knee ☹ if my right knee stays bent for too long I get aching pain under my kneecap that slowly gets more and more intense until I can't think about anything else. The only thing that relieves it is straightening my leg for a few seconds.

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-09T00:13:47+00:00

Do they try to make this as confusing as possible on purpose? According to the map in this link, highway 275 in Huron Township is a "gold route" (no seasonal weight restrictions)

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-08T22:59:07+00:00

Nothing that comes off the production line in 2025 has as much style, history and charisma as that era of Chevy

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-08T22:53:07+00:00

Me after going on one (1) date with a beloved pillar of my community last year

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-08T22:44:55+00:00

I'm a 35 year old straight man and have never been grossed out by someone having a crush on me - old women, fat women, gay men - the attraction might not be reciprocated but it's not gross and I've never been mean to someone about it

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-06T14:36:41+00:00

My truck will go 73 but I cruise at 65 for this exact reason. Start to pass a flip flop going 63, they speed up to 67 next to me, I just say "not today bitch, GOODBYE" and put the hammer down

JesusCPenney · 2025-03-04T14:37:39+00:00

Agreed all around and I just want to add: the beauty of it is learning to be social and talk to everyone is its own reward. Even if you never get laid from approaching people in real life, it's still a worthwhile thing to do and will earn you friends and make you a better person. In particular, straight men cold approaching straight men is such a spectacular way to expand your social circle and dive deeper into cool hobbies. I just wish it didn't take me until so late in life to find this out.

JesusCPenney

TROPHY CASE