Straight Pay vs. Per Diem

How they pay you has nothing to do with vacation time. It is a tax ploy, where they are fronting you the M&IE deduction you'll get in exchange for lowering the wages they are paying you thereby reducing the contributions made to SS & Medicare. However, that also reduces any wage-based benefits you might be eligible for...vacation pay, short & long term disability, Social Security, etc...as well as adversely affecting your eligibility for loans because of your lower wages on paper. The ONLY benefit to you as a driver is if you have a need to "hide" some of your earnings...such as if you have alimony, child support, or a judgement with wage garnishment that takes a percentage of your wages. Since per diem is considered a "reimbursed business expense", it is not used to calculate your wages.

 

where did you see one week of unpaid vacation. I mean, by the time I left Millis I wasn't getting paid vacation anymore but I took as much time off as I wanted. I usually took like 4-5 weeks off per year no matter how much vacation they gave me. Most of it was long weekends. Vacation pay is always Monday thru Friday.

 

With the "pay increase " last Jan they took away paid vacations for anyone on straight pay. Per diem still gets paid while on vaca but straight pay doesn't. As for straight vs per diem its been discussed ALOT in other Millis threads and there is some very good breakdown of the topic. Just use the search button

 

While this has been discussed seemingly ad nauseum, with the new tax code eliminating the write off for company drivers (what you would do to get your per diem via straight pay), is per diem pay now a legit better option or still a way to hide income if you are in an alimony sort of situation?

Sometimes options are a pain, haha.

 

Vacations are meaningless.

IF we spent three days in Timbuktu with a rental car and a parked semi, there is that. A short one. Unpaid usually but one we planned on.

The whole country is a home. Here is the same as there just different on cost of daily expenses.

As far as the meals, you will learn that has changed against company drivers. There is no point in taking that kind of pay from your company who will benefit greatly. Take your straight pay and go be happy. You will learn years later when it is time to calculate your social security against your lifetime earnings (They already did mine and down to the penny from highschool) you will find a more beneficial balance to your name.

 

That paid vacation looked sweet. Sad it is only for per diem. Would have been nice to have some paid time when I have to come back here (China) with my wife for her sister's wedding or other such things. Of course, we don't get paid vacation here, we just have to build it in our budget for that long round-trip flight.

 

How does the company benefit greatly?

 

They take it to the tax man not you.

The last time we claimed full perdiem for the two of us over 306 service days away from home in 2001 flat rate I think was around 13700 deducted against taxes on 67K That was some GOOD money. Be ###### if FFE claimed that and not us. It's our'n money.

 

It’s kind of a wash now, for company drivers. The new allowances offset the per diem losses. Would have been nice to have both though.

Giving the company their share seems to be the only way to get a piece of the pie now. While lowering your future SS check. Which sucks.