After Two Weeks On The Road As A Drive Away Driver I Can Answer Questions

AA-88 lists his bennies:

As a vet I have healthcare coverage. I carry my own workmans comp insurance in the form of a large savings account that could cover me for 2 solid years.

Well, Aces, you may have a great job. On Trucking Truth, we are very down on 1099 for the reasons Tractor Man listed. Yes, you are getting hard questions here.

The two goodies that I quote here kind of limit who your line of work may be good for.

*As a vet I have healthcare coverage - So you get (is it free, I think) VA medical. So non-lifer veterans and others would need to do something for medical care, up to several hundred dollars per month off their earnings.

* I carry my own workmans comp insurance in the form of a large savings account that could cover me for 2 solid years. - Workmans comp is not your "income savings" as you describe. Get in a bad accident and the medical you need (If you're not a retired vet) can suck up most of your savings in a week. And you need to prepare for that two years not working, to boot.

Yes, many people work under 1099, and this may be a legal gray area. But Trucking Truth does not recommend or support people who decide to work this way. Two of your requirements are someone that already has prepaid full medical, and around $80,000 socked away for lost income and medical, if it's needed. This itself pares away many TT members.

Oh, and your title of "Two Weeks ... ": is that the experience you have already? Few rookie truck drivers, who don't need to worry about their financials, with two weeks under their belt would be so confident.

Oh, and your title of "Two Weeks ... ": is that the experience you have already? Few rookie truck drivers, who don't need to worry about their financials, with two weeks under their belt would be so confident.

look at the date of the original post

9 months, 2 weeks ago

So when I first posted about being a drive away driver I had many questions, well after two weeks I can answer questions.

OK, nine months and two weeks ago, you had all the answers then after two weeks. I trust you're better at it now, so you bumped the old post. We still have out doubts how 1099 pay would work for the average newbie driver.

But, sure! answer any questions that come up about driveaway!

Someone asked the name of the company..... the response was "several". That is vague and does not allow others to look into it. List the several companies... otherwise you are saying "I found a great opportunity you guys may like but I'm not going to tell you how to get it for yourself"

Everything I do is a tax write off, from fuel to tolls to dinner and hotels

You said they're paying for your hotels and fuel. You can't write off stuff the company is paying for, you know that, right? If the company pays for your hotels and fuel you can't put that money in the bank and then turn around and write it off on your taxes. I mean, you can, but that's illegal. You can only write off any expenses they didn't cover, like if the hotel bill was great than their reimbursement.

I have to say you really are a self-promoter but not much is this is that helpful to anyone. You're saying fuel and hotels are a write off when the company is either paying for them up front or reimbursing you for them, your bank account is your worker's comp, and you've been asked a couple of times for the name of this great company but won't give it.

Do you run a logbook?

if I do three runs like that in a week 430x3=1290

Can you do 3,000 miles per week with a job like that? How often would that happen? As an OTR driver I could average nearly 3,000 miles per week but if you're having to jump on flights or get rental cars or get trucks registered and all that stuff I don't see how you could have the time for very many 3,000 mile weeks.

I appreciate that you're trying to give people information but whether or not it's very helpful information isn't clear. You throw a few pie in the sky numbers out there and make it sound like everything's a write off and you have it made but I'm skeptical that over the course of a year after all of the taxes and other expenses that go with being a 1099 contractor are properly paid that you're really in that great of shape.

Many OTR companies have you in the 40 - 45 cpm range your rookie year, you can consistently average 2,600 - 3,200 miles per week, you're in brand new or nearly brand new equipment, you have all of the perks and benefits that come with being a company driver, and you can legally write off meal expenses and any work-related items you had to purchase. I'd be interested in comparing that to what you actually earn after all taxes and expenses in a year. It doesn't sound like you have a bad job but there's no way we can really tell what kind of position you're in with the things you've said.

I read this last night, too tired to reply. Aces I cannot determine what exactly the point of all this is.

Working as a 1099 for the same company beyond 12 months is an invitation to the IRS to audit you and the company you are contracting to. As. 1099 you must consistently show multiple, different sources of income. If you have one, ask your account.

You mention a variable work schedule of for example, one week on, two weeks off. Most of us on here require or want full time employment, not something that appears to be part time work.

The biggest piece of ambiguity in your post is you are evading basic questions, like who is the company, etc. It's seems like Repo work.

Sorry, appreciate you taking the time to share all of this, but for what we are here for, it has little to no value.

I'm only adding to this thread to show the reality of a small business being selected for a tax audit. I closed my business in 2015 to focus on my trucking career. We were a successful business. Early this summer we received notice that we were randomly selected for a 'research project' being conducted by the IRS - it wasn't because there were 'red flags.' I'm not sure how much I believe the random part, because apparently small businesses that can be viewed as also hobbies (photographers, music store owners, artists) are 'randomly' selected more often.

At any rate, my point in posting this is to share that I got audited for my fiscal year of 2014, and even though I diligently kept all my financial records, it was a royal PAIN IN THE $%#. The IRS not only wanted to see my business records, but also told me to prepare to show personal finances for that year, including paper trails of any loans, all banks statements, credit card statements, and I had to PROVE how and why I determined any tax write-offs and deductions.

Needless to say we finished the audit a few weeks ago, but it pretty much took up our entire summer. I'm glad I'll never have to go through being audited as a small business again, it was very time consuming - and that's with maintaining good records. You better be able to prove every single deduction or write-off you claim as a small business owner because they will go through everything with a fine tooth comb.

Forget about drive away, I want to hear how you made 6 figures driving tour buses (which was mentioned in a different thread, unless I misunderstood). I think it would be hard to walk away from that.