JB Hunt - Lowell, Ar.

i can belive that i got burnt while i worked with them i got hurt and while i was under a doctors care thay fired me and is getting a way with it that sucks as well i feel for you i was hired in NJ and thay used the right to work law to burn me

 

i too always make sure i get all my holidays and vacation times before i quit. i try to never let any company keep anything that i earned while in their employ..............

 

I drove for JB way back in 1994 and lasted a whole 8 months. If you like 300 mile runs, a lot of the east coast, Chicago rail yards and sitting for hours waiting on a load with no pay, then JB is for you.
I only averaged 1800 miles a week and when I had a meeting with my dispatcher and the terminal manager, I was told they couldn't promise it getting any better.
I gave them notice, left and never looked back.
No way would I drive for them again.

 

I agree, I did the same thing, got myself blackballed for safety sake. But if I did not I still would been out or 6' under. I was given the choice of drive or be fired, I took Fire me, your not worth the DUI for driving under medication. And Driving while sick. By me refuse and they fired me they basicly took the violation on their self, not to mention trying to pracitice Medicine without a license. But try to find a lawyer to take the case was fruitless. Good luck all..

 

My brother-in-law just hired on to JBHUNT recently. He was hired on for the dedicated Walmart account. And was told He would have to particpate in their "per diem" program. Would'nt this be illegal from the IRS stand point?


I was'nt sure were to post this.If there a better place move it please.

 

Let me start off by mentioning that I am not a tax professional, and the tax code changes all the time, so what I know may not be true come next tax season.

Per Diem is a deduction taken by a person who spends time away from home. The IRS assumes that you will spend $52 per day for 2006 on food on the road. You are allowed to deduct 75% of this number as a DOT regulated truck driver. This is for meals and incidental expenses. You count your time using your log books, and some people go as far as dividing up their day into quarters, some just count nights spent away from home. The last thing to mention is that this goes on schedule A of your personal tax return, so if you don't have enough other things to make itemizing worth your while you might not bother with it. For example: 200 nights spent away at 75% of $52 is $7800. The standard deduction that you will replace by itemizing is $5000 per person, $10000 for a couple married filing jointly, so the itemizable deductions have to be more than the standard deduction. If you have other itemizeable schedule A deductions it might work in your favor. Some medical expenses (not covered by insurance) and some types of Interest payments are the biggest things that add up quick on schedule A. The other thing that you may accumulate is un-reimbursed employee expenses such as tolls, lumpers, truck washes, repairs, etc that total more than 2% of your adjusted gross income.

If you want a more in depth answer I urge you to make an appointment with an H & R Block office. They give free advice, and most larger stores are open all year.

So if your company offers per diem pay and doesn't stick you with un-reimbursed expenses this is what I suggest. Take the per-diem pay since it is tax free (assuming that it isn't MORE than your allowed per-diem deduction) and take the standard deduction on your taxes. You won't have to itemize deductions and keep track of much.

It will reduce the contribution to Social security. This may reduce your social security benefit at retirement IF social security is still around. I believe that taking the extra tax free money and investing it in a Roth IRA that will earn interest that won't be taxed is a better deal anyway. You will have a lot more money to spend as you please at retirement. Social Security won't be enough to pay your living expenses anyway.

The above numbers apply if you do NOT take per diem pay from your employer. If you accept per diem pay then that is subtracted from the amount that you can deduct. If you receive per-diem pay then it is most likely in your best interest to simply take the standard deduction instead of keeping track of expenses. You will get that per-diem pay tax free more or less. The downside is that there will be less contribution to social security with this plan. IF social security is around by the time you retire you may receive a reduced benefit with this option.

My reasoning is that you could take the per diem pay and invest it in a roth IRA. A roth IRA earns interest and that interest will not be taxed when you take it out at retirement. I have not worked up all the numbers involved and if/when I get bored I'll post some real numbers.

 

Okay,here it is in a nutshell, I just heard the whole thing from a tax expert last week on Nemo,xm radio. He said that he has done and still is taxes for trucking oo and drivers for 40 years, Per deim is 52.00 a day in usa,if you cross into Canada you can claim 58.00 a day. if you don't have per diem of any amount taken out by your company you only get 3/4 of 52. or 3/4 of 58... .THIS is important to remember,if a company takes out 58. or 52. you get all of it,the company pays the difference of 13.,they accept the penalty so to speak,if your company pays you so much a day for per deim,say 40.00,you can claim the full amount of the 52.or 58.,you can claim 12.00 at the end of the year,you will get it all,instead of the 39.00 of 52.00. again there is a legal loophole that has always been there,all the good accountants know of this. ONE important thing to remember,if you get per diem it doesn't show up as income on your tax statement,in other words if you want to buy a house,that bank only goes by your statement,it will show a lower income on a mortgage you are trying to quailify for, One difference is if your employer lists all you income on your tax return on gross and states perdiem after,you will get the full credit score from the bank for buying power. When you take the per diem,you are not taxed on it,it lowers your tax rate on ssi and medicare and state taxes if you have state tax. that part is good,the bad part is when you retire you are not paying the full amount of ssi so you retire with less. If you put the difference of your savings from less taxes into your ira or 401 you will do even better when you retire. If your company gives any perdiem at all it is better to take it in most cases, because if you work for a company that doesn't give it,at the end of the year you claim whatever you had out on your log books to prove it, 52. or 58.,but only get 39 of the 52. You are paying ssi,state and federal,medicare all year long on that perdiem, When your company has it,it comes off the top, as an expense or like when you have health insurance out before taes etc. I tell all of you don't skip your per diem allowance ever,its like a 100000.write off 270 x 39.==10530dollars. ITs always worth filing the long way,cost more for accountant,but you get that plus back later in returns. H&R block isn't as a rule truck savy, you need a good accountant that knows trucks. If anyone here says I don't know what i'm saying here, I will challenge them to call a tax expert or Dave Nemo xm site and ask about all of this. Most companys out there that take per diem,do not show it as income,thus,like i said the bank goes directly by your statement on your income for a loan. It can hurt your qualifying, your ss retirement will be less if your close to retiring. Overall if company gives you perdiem,take it,in most cases it works better for you, you will have more money in your pocket everyweek and at the end of the year you can save more by claiming the full difference of what the company takes out and the 52 or 58 are all yours, and not just 39.00,don't forget to deduct the half days . i hope I have helped you,I repeated alot to help you understand it better,hope you do.

 

When my two boys were single and they were told by me to file perdiem ,they got back something like 2400. more at the end of the year. That's alot of money that you may need more than uncle sam does. Rawlco you explained it good too. hope we both helped others out there.

 

I do understand your post. Thanks to both of you. Heres the problem,When my husband drove at Swift they took out .10 a mile and gave back 8 1/2 for per diem. He had a choice as to participate or not.
I'm not sure what JBHUNTs deal is exactly.I did'nt get all the details, Just what I have posted.
Heres the question.... "Is it legal for them to make it a requirement? From my understanding they only require it on certain accounts.

 

So are you saying that if I work for company X @ .X cpm, and there is no mention of perdeim I can deduct 75% of $52 a day I am out... I already itemize, so I could for sure use another deduction..