Fuel for load or fill tank?

That's right... you only write one check. If you overpay your IFTA tax in state A and underpay your IFTA tax in state B, the overage in state A (collected at the pump) is passed on to state B by IFTA. At the end of the period, there's either a refund from the aggregate collected in all of the states you ran in, or you owe IFTA money. The days of "having to buy" fuel in any given state in order to cover your IFTA tax are long gone.

 

Your wrong but not going to argue. I do this every single quarter.

 

Trust me... I'm not wrong on this. Many old timers remember the day when you DID have to buy fuel in every single state you ran in. You also plastered tax stickers from every state all over your truck. That changed many years ago, but the idea that you have to buy fuel in every state persists.

It change a long time ago. Go check out the facts at www.iftach.org

 

Buy all your fuel in one state, and run all your miles in the same state. Run the IFTA numbers and let us know what you find.

 

That would be rather difficult since I run 48-state OTR. There are states I won't buy fuel in simply because of the low tax rate... Georgia is a good example of this. The pump price there often looks like a good buy... lower than Florida where there is a higher fuel tax rate. When you subtract fuel tax off of the pump price (less whatever discounts you get) the base price of the fuel - what you're actually paying for fuel - is less in Florida than it is in Georgia. You'll pay whatever you owe in those states when IFTA reconciles your account, and whatever you've paid into IFTA at the pump will be used to cover your tax bill in ALL of the states you run in. Paying the lowest base-price rate you can find for fuel will save you hundreds of dollars every year.

BTW... that works out just fine. IFTA is happy, the several states are happy, and I definitely like the dead presidents I collect.

 

Ironpony, you are correct on the account of the escrow but you need to apply your strategy on the rate after tax is removed.

When I lived in Central IL the fuel at the Road Ranger in Champaign was $.05/gal higher than the fuel at the Pilot just across the boarder in IN on the 74. But IL fuel tax was over $.20/gal higher. IL was cheaper than IN from a pure profit stand point.

 

People who fuel based on the load or what will be charged back that week on the settlement are focused on cash flow. Don't confuse cash flow and profit. They are two separate things. And often drivers that are focusing on cash flow are doing so at the expense of profit.

 

it like a lease purchase mentality, where the guy is focused only on a week to week settlement instead of a monthly or quarterly planning. like a battle between near sighted and far sighted.

 

Bill... what I do is download the corporate web page that shows the daily fuel price at all of our in-network fuel stops before I start out on a trip. I select the states I'll run in, sort to eliminate out-of-route locations, and subtract the state fuel tax rates. Finally sort what's left for price in ascending order. Sounds complicated, but its quite easy and quick with a spread sheet. The result is the lowest price fuel I can find along my route.

And yeah... I spend a lot of fuel bucks in Effingham IL.

 

And you sir are doing it 100% correct to maximize profitability. Great job and great post.