For some expenses, such as fuel purchased, this form will function as a recap. Fuel purchases must be recorded first on a daily or trip cost report because you must, of course, record the state in which the fuel was purchased, vendor, method of payment, etc. For other expenses, this form may be your only record of payment, so be sure to fill it out carefully.
In a month you may gather a lot of receipts, so it might not be a great idea to staple receipts to this form. Instead, store all truck expense receipts in a large 8 x 10" or 9 x 12" envelope and keep that alongside the truck expense report. If you can find an envelope printed with the monthly expense report on the front, that's a great way of keeping everything together. If you can't, you might consider taping the expense report to the front of a large envelope or just keeping both together on a clip board.
Top of the Form
Fill in the top of the form with your carrier's name and your name. If you are an independent owner-operator who hasn't leased on with a company, put your own name in both spaces. Fill in your truck number. Leave it blank if you only own one truck. Fill in the commodity that you're carrying, and finally the month and year, such as February, 1998.
Recording Expenses
As you can tell when you look at the form, the form is organized by date. Each day of the month has a single line for all truck-related expenses for the day. If you pay for a certain item two times on one day, you will need to total the two expenses before you record them on the line. For this reason, it may be a good idea to use a dark pencil for recording costs. In most cases, you will only have one of each type of expense each day, so you can write it in as soon as you pay for it. However, in rare cases, you may have two expenses of the same type on one day. For example, you might have two repair costs on an unlucky day. If you record the first expense in pencil, you can erase it when a second expense arises and record the total of the two amounts instead.
The individual expense items are fairly self-explanatory, but let's take a moment to discuss them.
- List the total miles covered each day under MILES COVERED. This can be useful information to you or an accountant. For example, if you are covering a great many miles each day, that can help explain why you stopped so frequently for fuel or oil. It's helpful to have this information handy on the same form as the truck expenses.
- Under GALS. FUEL PURCHASED list the number of gallons of fuel purchased. Fill this in after you have recorded your fuel purchase on your primary fuel purchase record form.
- Put the dollar amount for fuel under the heading $ COST.
- Under QTS. OIL PURCHASED list the number of quarts of oil purchased.
- Put the dollar amount for oil under the heading $ COST.
- Charges for lubrication, either for service and supplies or just for supplies go under LUBE $ COST.
- If you purchase tires, list the total amount spent for tires under TIRES $ COST for the day on which you bought them.
- Any repairs or routine maintenance go under REPAIRS $ COST. This includes parts for service you perform yourself, parts and services for repairs, and routine maintenance by a paid mechanic.
- Costs for insurance may be considered truck expenses or miscellaneous hauling expenses. If you or your trucking company wants them considered as expenses, list them on the form under INSUR. $ COST.
- Your truck/trailer payment, if you're an owner-operator, needs to be recorded somewhere. Chances are you will pay that on about the same day each month. Record it under TRUCK/TRAILER PAYMENT. It certainly is a truck expense - one of the biggest, and you don't want to forget about it. Recording it on the line for the day on which you paid it helps you record exactly when you paid the bill and can help you avoid late charges.
- Notice that there is a space for comments at the bottom of the form. Some drivers use this to make comments about why expenses were either very high or very low on a particular month. This helps them plan for future expenses and types of runs. For example, if they were hauling extremely heavy loads one month, expenses for repairs might be high. If the expenses are too high, they may point out to the driver that his or her rig just wasn't designed to haul that kind of load, and it might not be cost-effective to haul that kind of cargo in the future. On the other hand, if expenses looked very low for a given month, the driver might want to write in the comments section "On vacation 3 weeks." That might explain it.
- Each item has a space for a total at the bottom of the form. Use these to total up expenses in each category. If you are a company driver, the accountants may prefer to do the totals themselves. On the other hand, if you are an independent owner-operator paying your own truck expenses, these totals will tell you a lot. By comparing them with the total miles covered each month and revenue earned each month, you can get useful information to help you figure out if you're earning what you think you ought to be earning or whether you're spending too much per mile for truck repairs, etc. A successful owner-operator uses the information on the Monthly Truck Expense Report in making decisions about how to earn the most money for his or her time on the road.
- The GRAND TOTAL is the bottom line. It shows how much it cost to operate the truck for the month. Of course that's not the whole picture. Personal expenses and miscellaneous hauling expenses are also part of keeping a truck on the road. But it's a start. By indicating what it cost to operate the truck for the month, the trucking company or the owner-operator gets a good idea of the cost of running that truck. And that information is crucial in determining over- all costs of operation and in setting fees for hauls. It's the day-to- day operational costs that will make or break you.
