CDL Driver Per Diem Calculator
Estimate your federal per-diem deduction for overnight driving days. Default rate is the IRS transportation industry M&IE special rate of $80/day CONUS (continental U.S.) per Notice 2024-68, with the 80% DOT meals deduction under IRC §274(n)(3).
Estimate your per-diem deduction
Days you're required to rest away from your tax home. Most OTR drivers count 200–280; regional 80–150; local typically 0.
IRS transportation-industry special rate per Notice 2024-68 effective Oct 1, 2024. Verify the current rate before filing.
For a rough estimate only. State tax savings are separate and depend on your state of residence.
0.80 for DOT-regulated CDL drivers per IRC §274(n)(3). Lower only if you're not on HOS.
- Gross per-diem total
- Deductible portion (at 80%)
- Eligible days
- Rate used
- Marginal rate used
Estimate only — not tax advice. Work with a trucking-focused CPA for your actual return. W-2 company drivers cannot claim the unreimbursed employee per-diem deduction post-TCJA (2018+) unless the carrier runs an accountable per-diem plan. Owner-ops on Schedule C and carrier per-diem plan participants still benefit.
How CDL per diem works
Per diem is a daily allowance the IRS lets transportation workers use instead of tracking and receipting every meal expense on the road. The IRS publishes two numbers annually that matter for CDL drivers:
- A transportation industry special rate for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) applicable to workers in that industry. As of Notice 2024-68 (effective October 1, 2024), this is $80/day CONUS (within the continental United States) and $86/day OCONUS (outside the continental U.S., including Canada and Mexico for a driver's purposes).
- A deduction percentage that limits how much of those meals expenses are actually deductible. Most industries can deduct 50%. Internal Revenue Code §274(n)(3) elevates this to 80% for individuals subject to Department of Transportation hours-of-service rules — i.e., CDL drivers subject to FMCSA HOS.
Multiply the rate by the number of eligible overnight days, then multiply by the 80% deduction factor, and you have the federal income-tax deduction. Multiply that deduction by your marginal federal tax bracket for a rough federal tax-savings estimate. State income tax savings stack on top and depend on your state's conformity to federal rules.
Who qualifies, and who doesn't
Two conditions must both be true: you must be away from your tax home long enough that rest is required before returning, and you must be subject to DOT hours-of-service regulations. Day-cab local drivers who return home every night do not qualify for per diem — they aren't "traveling away from home overnight." Dispatchers, mechanics, and back-office staff don't qualify even if they're in the trucking industry.
Your tax home is generally your regular or main place of business, per IRS Publication 463. For an OTR driver based at a carrier's terminal, the terminal is usually the tax home, not the driver's family residence if the two are in different cities. Work with a trucking-specialized CPA to nail this down — it affects which days are eligible.
The W-2 company driver problem
From 2018 through at least 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses on Schedule A. That means a W-2 company driver who pays for meals out of pocket cannot deduct them on their federal return. The only way a W-2 driver captures the per-diem benefit is to work for a carrier that operates an accountable per-diem plan — the carrier reclassifies part of the driver's mileage pay as a non-taxable per-diem reimbursement, reducing the driver's taxable W-2 wages.
Carrier per-diem plans sound like free money, but there's a tradeoff: the reclassified portion does not count toward Social Security earnings, workers' comp wage calculations, short-term disability benefits, or the income a mortgage lender will consider. A driver with a 30-year work horizon who opts in to a carrier per-diem plan trades some future Social Security benefit for current-year tax savings. If the driver is in a low tax bracket, the future benefit loss may outweigh the current tax win. If the driver is in a higher bracket or nearing retirement, the math often favors opting in. Run the numbers with a CPA.
Owner-operators on Schedule C
Owner-operators filing Schedule C deduct per-diem straight against Schedule C business income — no TCJA problem, no carrier plan required. This is one of the meaningful tax advantages of owner-op status. A driver with 220 eligible overnight days at $80/day CONUS and 80% deductibility claims a $14,080 deduction. At a 22% marginal federal rate, that's $3,098 in federal income tax savings, plus ~$2,156 in self-employment tax savings (~15.3% of the same deductible amount), totaling over $5,000 per year for a moderately-driven OTR schedule.
Our assumptions and sources
| Assumption | Default | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation industry rate — CONUS | $80/day | IRS Notice 2024-68, effective Oct 1, 2024 through Sep 30, 2025 |
| Transportation industry rate — OCONUS | $86/day | IRS Notice 2024-68 |
| Meals deduction percentage | 80% | IRC §274(n)(3) — DOT HOS workers |
| Tax-home rule | Regular or main place of business | IRS Publication 463 |
| Who qualifies | DOT-regulated drivers away from home overnight | IRS Publication 463 |
| Owner-ops vs W-2 | Owner-ops deduct on Schedule C; W-2 needs carrier accountable plan | TCJA 2017 (effective 2018) |
Rate freshness note
The IRS issues a new transportation industry special M&IE rate every fall, effective October 1 through the following September 30. The default shown here is from Notice 2024-68. Before filing your actual return, verify the current rate via IRS Publication 463 or the most recent IRS Notice — the IRS lists the current transportation rate at irs.gov/publications/p463. We re-verify this calculator's defaults quarterly.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim per diem if I sleep in the truck?
Yes. Sleeper-berth time on a long-haul trip away from your tax home counts as an overnight stay for per-diem purposes. You don't have to pay for a hotel to claim the meals portion.
Do I need to keep meal receipts?
No — that's the point of the per-diem method. You use the IRS daily rate instead of receipting actual meals. You do need a reliable daily log of where you were and whether you were away overnight. Your ELD data, logbook, or dispatcher's trip records usually serve as contemporaneous proof.
What about state income tax?
Most states conform to federal tax treatment on per-diem, but not all. Your actual state tax savings depend on your state's conformity and rate — we don't model state tax here because it varies by filer. A driver's CPA can stack the state savings on top of the federal estimate this calculator produces.
Is per diem different from "company per-diem pay"?
Yes — and this is where confusion starts. The IRS per-diem deduction (this calculator) is a federal tax treatment. "Company per-diem pay" is a carrier payroll practice where the carrier reclassifies part of your mileage CPM as non-taxable per-diem reimbursement. They interact: if you're enrolled in a carrier per-diem plan, your W-2 wages are already lower (and your federal tax already lower), so you've effectively taken the deduction at the payroll level instead of at tax-filing time.
Should I enroll in a carrier per-diem plan?
Enrolling reduces current federal income tax and FICA withholding. It also reduces your reported W-2 wages — which reduces future Social Security benefits, short-term disability basis, workers' comp wage calculations, and the gross income a mortgage lender sees. Drivers in lower tax brackets with long careers ahead usually come out behind; higher-bracket drivers closer to retirement usually come out ahead. Model it with a trucking-focused CPA before enrolling.
