Landstar Questions

Because tolls come out of my pocket, off the top of the load. LS pays us by the mile. Tolls cut into our pay by mile. I always ask for tolls. At the very least, I don't want to pay LS 35% for tolls we pay.

You know you put tolls and everything else in accessories! You don't ask for detention? You put everything in your corner and you know it. Don't lie to these people! Why are you worried about telling the truth?

 

If you don't want to pay tolls...Don't run the toll roads. It's simple really.

 

I'm confused? How are you getting paid by the mile? And you know a lot agents don't even post accessorial pay.

 

I suppose everyone has they're way. I ask agents to put fuel, permits, stops, tarps and tolls in accessorials. I also ask detention go to accessorial. After more than two hours, I ask about detention. We're not in this for fun, it's a business.

Our truck cost money per mile, we get paid, by the mile. What's so hard to understand? 3100 miles in a week,$7780 gross is $2.51 per mile. Our truck runs on all miles and costs us money.

 

Uh, ok so what did 40 say that was wrong? And some of us might run on a CPM some on a Cost Per Day, but LS pays you a percentage of a load and you know this. If you want to negotiate with the agent on stuff like that to be broken out the line haul then that's cool, most good agents will do that for you.

By the you know what lanes certain lanes should cost to run a load by now. Negotiate for Tolls, it's that simple, if they don't want to pay it, move on

 

Tolls are deductible at year's end. If you are getting reimbursed you'll pay income tax on the reimbursement. I have not figured out which method gives me the most net income. Working on it more this year. Anybody know?

 

I hope you have a good accountant. If you get reimbursed tolls, you'll have a net of zero. There will be no tax due. If you are not reimbursed tolls you'll be out the toll money. You can deduct the entire amount from gross earnings, just like any other expense. Contrary to stupid belief in this industry, the more you net, the better off you are. If I make $10,000 more net than you and pay the IRS $3,000 more in taxes, that still puts me $7,000 ahead of you.

 

Nothing. She likes to pretend she knows about her husbands business, yet she says Landstar pays by the mile. Ridiculous!!! She says that her husband only gets paid 65% which is dumb as well. There is only one scenario where a flatbedder is making 65% and that would be a stupid way to do business. Then again, who knows. I'll take my 73%. Last year after the 27% vig to LS, I still averaged $2.50 per odometer mile. If I gave away 8%, that would be 26.4cpm. Total tolls ran me 3 cpm. Hmmm.

 

Who is saying "the stupid belief...," Forty. If you pay a toll, you get reimbursed as earned income. You deduct the toll, but the earned income boosts your total gross income, and now you're paying income tax on that amount, even though you deducted it. so there will be tax due. I hope you have a good accountant. I'm still figuring the most effective way, reimburse or not. I agree about the net, so I guess you're not playing me with "..the stupid belief" shot. A wealthy elder man told me, "don't worry about taxes. If you're making money, you'll pay taxes." So true. It's about paying what you legally owe, and no more. That's why I'm still calculating the best way to manage annual tolls and turnpike fees. I see your point about the plus/minus zeroing out. I'm just not satisfied with my understanding, not yet.

 

Roughly 3 out of 4 o/o I've encountered believe the less you net, so the less you have to pay the IRS is a good thing. I was not saying that you are one of those. A reimbursed expense will not add tax, per se. A reimbursed expense will end up with a zero net effect on your net taxable income. A non-reimbursed expense will give you a net tax deduction, but you are still out the expense money. For example, a $10 scale cost on a $100 load. Reimbursement is $110. $110-10=$100 in revenue that is taxable. We'll say at 30%. $70 net
Non reimbursed expense: $100 revenue minus $10=$90. 30% tax rate= $63 net.
Obviously this is just a simple explanation. Even if your tax bracket were to change to 25% due to less taxable income (not likely), it will still only pay $67.50 net, making reimbursed the better bet.

Where non reimbursed can make you money, depending on who you work for, is in individual agents. Agents want to do the least amount of work, and typical Americans suck at math. You want repeat business from agents, so if they see you as a PITA, they might not call you for that next lucrative load. Of course, that is agent dependent. I receive most of my loads via calls from agents that know me.
Most toll roads do not have to be used. I can go from FL to Boston for $12.50 in tolls (Newburgh beacon). Another driver might spend $200. I can go from Chicago to NJ without paying a toll, another driver may spend $100. I might spend $100 extra in fuel to do that trip from Chicago-NJ without paying a toll though. As a business owner, I have to make that choice. Either way, the extra $27 I'd make if my tolls were reimbursed from CHI-NJ is chump change, if that agent will reload me with another $4 a mile load as soon as I get back to CHI. If he sends me to VM, I'm out 3200 in gross revenue.