No experience but getting Authority

I don't think that Microsoft Streets and Maps will give the odometer readings. No matter of how accurate the software, IFTA wants you to report the actual odometer reading along with the miles. You should have a separate trip sheet for every load with beginning and ending mileage and odometer readings for each state through which you travel.

 

Show me the reg that says that

 

Also, you should call all the big boys like Swift and such. They use Satellite tracking of their trucks and use that info for IFTA mileage for each state.

Guess they all forgot to read the memo on this.

 

Just call your state IFTA office and ask them. I know a major carrier who paid thousands of dollars in fines for not having the actual odometer readings on the paperwork when they were audited. A large number of their drivers only recorded their miles per state. Now, they won't pay their owner operators without having the odometer readings on their trip sheets. You can do what you want, but I always record the odometer miles. That was what I was told when I spoke with my state IFTA office.

 

Guess you should Swift, TMC and all the others and tell them.

Everyone and their brother is using electronic devices and truck GPS now to record miles.

Oh wait, I forgot, you don't even have a GPS.

 

I don't need to call anyone nor will I do your research for you. My state did tell me that they would accept GPS miles, but not everyone has a GPS. It may also be that not all states will accept GPS miles. I don't make the rules. I just follow them. If you want to know then you need to check with your state, if you run your own authority. Frankly, I could care less how you record your mileage. I am sure you have deep pockets to pay any fine.

 

glock: Fuel purchase optimization is coming. I'm finally getting ahead of a lot of the business details that are business breakers and getting more able to make improvements.

Meathead/Gman: What we've worked for tracking mileage is a little different. There's actually two records that I can reconcile for accuracy:

1. Garmin GPS that will do ifta reports. The only catch is that the GPS is pretty precise, where the truck odo is not. The GPS uses the input odo number to report truck miles on each trip leg.When the GPS is turned on you can true up the GPS to the odo. Based on last quarter, there isn't too much variance. But to keep the gps report accurate, the truck odo input needs updating at least once a week if not more often.

Long story short, the GPS produces two detailed reports you can check each stop with, and it will also give a miles by state summary. The first detailed report is by leg, with a start and end city. The same detail is repeated by state with a route summary within each state.

2. I keep a mileage tracker on a Google spreadsheet, mainly for tracking time to the next PM. His direction with that one is: when you're parked at the t/s and have the laptop running to scan bills, surf porn, and whatnot, take a minute and go to Google docs and add a line with the date, odo reading, and location.

When I do ifta miles, the mileage tracker is used to checksum the gps report. If the gps gets broken or stolen, I can still use the mileage tracker and trip folders to recreate the odo readings per stop. The method sounds like a lot but it really isn't. As long as he's updating the GPS and mileage tracker 2-3 times a week, I have all the mileage data I need to do ifta.

When I'm satisfied with miles, next is gallons. When I register a fuel ticket in QB, I add the 2-letter state and number of gallons in the comments like this: "AL;125.366;gal". At ifta time, I export a report to Excel format on fuel accounts (separate for road, off-road, and other). Highlight the remarks column and use the "text to columns" function using ";" delimited. Presto - now I have a table with each purchase with a state identifier. Use the "sumif" function on the chart to a table of all states and now I have gallons by state.

It sounds like a lot, but that gallons by state summary can be built in less than 2 minutes. And it's dead accurate as the exact gallons come right off the pump receipt. Since they're reconciled to the fuel card or other accounts, there's a built in double-check to make sure I don't miss any.

 

You need to get rid of that picture. Every time I see I can only think of one thing

Foot up XXXX SSS

 

The qualcomm and other similar devices report the actual miles driven and the location of those miles. That is a fully acceptable way of reporting as they are linked to the trucks ECM and far more accurate than a driver reporting odometer miles. Software produced mileage reporting without actual odometer readings is NOT acceptable for IFTA or IRP reporting. I brought this up the other day just to warn you guys. I did it for 6 years thinking I was fine, until I was audited.

 

Oh yeah.. Meathead I'm familiar with that usda report - it's a good way to follow the produce. The only downside is produce loads are almost always heavy and I can usually find something better without working too hard. Transcore and ITS reports are also good reads. Mainly for reconciling trends I'm seeing versus the industry. I don't put a lot of merit to the actual rates mentioned in those reports, as I think we all know the source data is suspect. On the other hand, trends are pretty common across the board and good indicators to follow.