Question:
After several weeks of talking with recruiters from about a dozen companies & searching through old posts here, I have decided to go with JDC Logistics.
While searching through several pages of old posts I didn’t come up with anything really that bad about them other than one post about someone only staying there for 6 days counting orientation! However that post didn’t explain why?
I’m scheduled for orientation on the 17th and I would like to hear any comments (good or bad) from anyone that’s driving for them now or who has driven for them in the past!

Answer:
It looks like they pay per diem. I wouldn't work for any company that pays per diem because I would loose to much on tax write offs and adjusted gross wages. Plus it's just another way for a company to make money off you while paying you a low wage. To much good for them and to little good for you.

Answer:

Yea I was told that I would get $0.38 per mile & $0.07 of that would be per diem!
I don’t really understand all that tax stuff basically because I’ve never been able to take advantage of it before! Unfortunately I don’t own a home just renting for now, So it doesn’t even pay for me to file an itemized tax return. From what I’ve been told & understand the per diem pay shouldn’t be that big of a concern to me as a Company Driver!

Being I don’t understand any of that tax stuff, Can you explain it to me in laymen’s terms or possibly post a link to a site that could better explain it!
Thanks!

Answer:
At the end of the year when you prepare your tax return, the IRS lets truck drivers who live on the road itemize certain deductions for their on-the-road expenses. I'm not sure what the current amount is, but the maximum is basically a fixed figure -- assuming you can produce receipts for the motel stays, meals, etc.
Per diem is basically a legal shortcut to the hassle of filing that more complicated tax return.
At the end of the year, per diem basically comes out the same as if you'd filed a tax return with the maximum itemized deductions allowed OTR truckers.
The effective difference is:
Pro:
With per diem you do NOT have to produce receipts for those expenses if you're audited.
(big plus, since your receipts might not add up to as much as the per diem amount))
With per diem you do NOT have to wait for an end of year refund for those deductions --- the per diem is never taxed in the first place and the money goes straight in your pocket.
(big plus, since you're not loaning the IRS that money till the end of the year)
Con:
Since per diem is a reimbursement, and not "income", you're official income on paper will only be the amount you receive in regular wages, and will not include the per diem. This may be a problem if you're trying to qualify for a loan. If 20% of your wage is paid in per diem, your official wage statement will be 20% less than straight wages.
And here's the big one ---> Neither you or the company pays Social Security on per diem.
This means your accumulated life benefits will reflect a smaller "income" with per diem, compared to straight wages.
And the company is saving a few bucks not paying their share of your Social Security on the money they pay you in per diem -- what Stuffs was talking about -- and why some companys promote per diem to lower their employer SS contribution.
Confused? Sorry... ..that's the best I can do.
I personally would not take per diem either and I'm a little suspicious of carriers that insist you be paid this way. But if it's an othewise decent job with good pay, the company's intentions may not be as sinister as they look. Besides, if you're young, Social Security will probably be gone by the time you retire and you're better off investing the difference on your own.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:

Sums it up in one sentence. Only fools accept the Per Diem
plan. Per Diem wages not only affect your credit score,they will short you
on benefits if you become injured(Workmans Comp.) or Disabled(SSI).
Answer:



Thanks! It looks like I need to check into this a little more!

Answer:
Looks like a trust component is missing. Per diem is an illusion that cheats the employees, while making them feel good about it.
Overt, bald-faced cheating.Government Ain't YO' Friend. Nor your Servant.
A Tax Reduces Incentive & Capacity. A Regulation is also a TAX.


Answer:

Yes but....EVERY trucking company cheats its employees one way or another and tries to make them feel good about it. One that pays straight wages may do more overall cheating than one that pays per diem.
Some drivers WANT per diem -- drivers who want to hide some of their income from court ordered child support (those are nice guys ), or just don't want to hassle with receipts or want as much money in their picket as soon as possible, don't care about retirement right now...etc.
I'm not recommending it, wouldn't want it myself this close to retirement and SS benefits .... but for someone else, it's one of many considerations. And if the trend to per diem continues, it may be hard to find an OTR company that doesn't pay this way in a few years....
Just saying -- look at the whole picture.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:
The whole picture is you wouldn't want it, I wouldn't want it and any driver with common sense wouldn't want it. It not only lowers your income it also lowers your deductions at the end of the year so you loose more of your income to taxes.
Nope, assumptions suck. The company is paying your cost of living and will also deduct that cost of living expense. The driver gets no deductions while the company takes them all.
That's exactly what the companies are doing.
If companies that do this had a little integrity they would pay the driver an average wage and then put a per diem on top of it, they wouldn't deduct it from it.
Nope, that's not the way it works. You do not need receipts to take the daily allowable deductions, per diem. The amount you can deduct is a fixed number. You do need receipts for anything other than cost of living expenses, boots, required clothing, gloves, tools etc.. But. by taking per diem pay your deductible cost may not reach the IRS required minimum for deductions so you would not be able to count them. Again you would loose by taking per diem. If you take per diem you might as well use the Short Form when filing taxes.

Answer:
JDC runs through Chicago all the time, they seem to have an abundance of bad drivers, IE, excessive speeding, tailgaiting, third lane shoving the 4 wheeler down the road type drivers.
I don't know if it is because the company pushes them, or they hire from the bottom of the trucker gene pool. Also, the TA at exit 22 on I94 in IN used to be their favorite hangout, good place to stay away from.

Answer:
You've got your facts screwed up, Stuffs. There are many references you can Google explaining per diem and deductions for truck drivers. They all say the same thing, as will any knowledgable tax preparer.

More---> http://www.truckingsuccess.com/taxes.html
If you itimize your deductions on 2106 for "meal, lodging, and other incidental expenses", you must have receipts (for audit) to back up those deductions.
The IRS does not require expense receipts for per diem. You've confused the two - and a few other facts regarding per diem and deductions. These are matters of fact, not opinion.
But you're right about one thing. Per diem lowers the expenses an employer usually contributes to the overall employment "well being" of an employee -- not contributing to your IRS fund for the portion paid as per diem.
I tend to agree with your opinion that this reflects negatively on the carrier.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:
Sorry but the facts are correct. Actually you have confused the two by not using that comprehension thing.
Fact, if you use the standard per diem rate you do not need receipts. It is a fixed amount.
Fact, you must meet the criteria.
Of course what Shuffler has done is Googled per diem and posted a very generalized web page concerning per diem rates etc. and then claimed some fictitious benefit to drivers. If you get into itemizing each expense you should use a qualified tax person who understands trucking and can file your tax forms correctly. Taking advice from those who only have a general knowledge is not smart. This forum is not the place to discuss filing taxes. There is a tax forum for that purpose where you can get factual information from those who are informed. Tax Forum . We could all spend the entire day googling for the answers we want so we can prove our point but that does not make them correct.
That is exactly what it is. The company benefits and the employee looses.

Answer:

Per diem doesn't "lower" your deductions at the end of the year. It replaces them with a fixed amount which does not need to be documented with receipts. The tax is excused at the time of reimbursement -- when you're paid -- instead of claiming the deduction by computing an adjusted taxable income at the end of the year.

As posted above, if your deductible expenses exceed your per diem, you can still adjust your taxable income even more by itemizing the difference on form 2106 at the end of the year -- the same itemization you'd prepare without per diem. You don't "lose" any IRS tax advantage by doing this. It creates the same result.
Of course, you need receipts for EVERY deduction to prove the per diem doesn't cover it -- the same receipts you'd need if you itemized all your expenses on 2106 without per diem.
The maximum IRS tax advantage for your carrier wages (per se) is no less with per diem. In fact, if your expenses are lower than the per diem amount, your adjusted income will be less than if you itemized your deductions, and you'll pay less federal income tax than itemizing your deductions.
Please don't mischaracterize me as misrepresenting the facts or promoting per diem. These are simply the facts and they will not vary from one reliable source to another, Googled, tn tax forum or otherwise.
(note: the IRS per diem rules for Owner/Operators are a little different))
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:
I characterize you accordingly.
Pure BS
They can legally hide more income by keeping receipts and itemizing their deductions than by taking per diem. Most child support is based on the previous years adjusted gross income. Stupid people would think per diem helps. More stupid people.
The daily allowable per diem is $52.00 you can only claim 75 percent of it. Not the total, where does the rest of it go? The tax is not excused, there simply isn't one on the cost of living, meals etc because it is not taxable income. You simply loose the ability to claim all your tax deductibles when you get paid a per diem by some scum company. They get the tax advantage, you get what's left over and that's usually nothing or at best minimal.
Fact
Fact
A company would not offer per-diem pay unless it benefited them. They do not care about you. Basically if the going rate of pay is .38cpm and they offer you .38cpm minus .07cpm per diem they are gaining a tax advantage and you are being screwed out of actual income and taxes. They will pay taxes on .31cpm and not the total. It will cost you the same each day to live in the truck. So at the end of the year your per diem cost will be the same but you can not claim it as a deduction if it is employer paid. Which is in fact a farce to begin with because they are not paying one cent above the going rate of pay for experience. If the going rate is .38 per mile then that is what your pay should be and then per diem added on top of it and not taken away from it. Simply put, .31 cpm plus .07cpm per diem is not the same as .38cpm plus .07 per diem. With per diem pay your income will change and be lower. You will have a lower income and no ability to claim taxes on your cost. You do not come out ahead or even. You loose the amount of refund you could possibly get for your cost of living and your tax liability becomes higher. Your companies tax liability is lowered.
Your turn, I have all day and tomorrow to.

Answer:
As I've posted before, I'm not disagreeing with your opinion about carriers that pay per diem.

Simply wrong (except the scum company part).
You can adjust your taxable income up to the allowed limit if you have receipts to prove it -- per diem or otherwise -- by combining per diem with a form 2106 documenting that your expenses exceeded your per diem. There's no effective difference in taxable income at this top end.
And on the bottom end, if you don't spend much on the road, you may get a larger allowable "deduction" with per diem than your receipts add up to.
Now...games carriers play with adjusting the cpm for per diem is another story.
And I agree, there' a strong possibility they're playing hat tricks with the numbers. Count on it!
But the IRS allowed deduction limit is not defined by your wage level, so whether you're getting 43 or 39 doesn't change the maximum net deduction you can claim for expenses.
I don't "know everything". But it's not unusual for an experienced trucker (especially one who's run his own small business and has spent hundred of hours filling out tax forms and learning how such things work) to understand the rather simple nature of per diem, whether it be for truckers or the many other jobs that use it as a simplified means to expense deductions.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs