Stevens Per Diem

For company drivers it is $.10 a mile. Per Diem.is considered a reibursment as opposed to income so it is not taxed.

For example of you are earning $.30 a mile and you drive 3000 miles, you have earned $900. What per diem does to that is it makes $600 taxable and $300 not taxable. So you end up with a higher pay check and a lower tax burden. Sounds good right? Not so fast.

Because your income is lower, your yearly earnings is less affecting things like your social security, loan qualifications etc. Also when you file your taxes that 80% of $58 per day or what ever it is, may not apply depending how much per diem you have already paid.

It actually benefits the company more than the driver, but it is one more consideration when considering joining or remaining with Stevens.

 

You can (or at least use to) opt out of the per diem.

 

I did not know that... it was not presented as optional to me.

 

They try to skip over that but it's your money. If its that important then be persistant in getting a definite answer, document who you got it from etc.

 

Yep, I will address this I think at the Start of the new year. Halfway through this one already, I'll just ride it out till then.

 

You used to be able to go to Driver Services and ask for a form, fill it out and that was it. This was over three years ago though, on my first go around. They may have made it mandatory, however, when I came back to work, many things in the system still remained, and that opt out was one of them. So I didn't have to worry about that this time around.

 

A few things to consider: (1) per diem only applies to company drivers, as it is a schedule C deduction for Alliance drivers. Therefore, if you don't have enough deductions to itemize, you're better off taking the per diem, otherwise you won't be able to deduct it on your taxes. (2) any good loan officer should understand the per diem, therefore that shouldn't be an issue. (3) spot on about the social security

 

ah grasshoppa!