Truck driver per diem calculator: your meal deduction
Enter your days away from home and how many trips you made. The truck driver per diem calculator applies the IRS transportation rate, the partial-day rule and the 80% limit.
Defaults are an example year. Count only days you were away overnight on business, and keep a log.
DEDUCTION
$16,384
80% of the allowance
MEAL ALLOWANCE
$20,480
48 partial days at 3/4
- Rate, continental U.S.
- $80 a day
- Rate, outside it
- $86 a day
- Partial-day rate
- $60 a day
Rates from IRS Notice 2026-60 for travel on or after October 1, 2026; use the rate in effect on each day you traveled. A planning estimate, not tax advice. Company drivers paid as employees generally cannot take this deduction on a federal return; ask a tax professional.
POSTED: IRS Notice 2026-60, section 3 (transportation industry M&IE, CONUS) · checked Oct 2026
268 days away is a lot of time on the road. Our dispatchers plan loads around your hours and home time, with your home dates on the plan first. Dispatch runs 5% of gross for one truck, and you confirm every load.
By Nathan Beck · Updated October 2026
If you are an owner operator who sleeps in the truck, per diem is one of the larger deductions you can take, and one of the most often missed. The IRS lets you use a flat daily rate for meals instead of keeping every receipt. This truck driver per diem calculator counts your days away, applies the partial-day rule for the days you leave and come home, and limits the result to the share you can deduct.
The truck driver per diem rate
The IRS sets a special meal and incidental rate for the transportation industry each year. For travel on or after October 1, 2026, it is $80 a day for any place in the continental United States and $86 a day outside it, under Notice 2026-60. The rate is for meals and incidental expenses; lodging is separate.
| Travel period | Continental U.S. | Outside | IRS notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2023 to Sep 30, 2024 | $69 | $74 | 2023-68 |
| Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025 | $80 | $86 | 2024-68 |
| Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026 | $80 | $86 | 2025-54 |
| From Oct 1, 2026 | $80 | $86 | 2026-60 |
POSTED: IRS Notices 2023-68, 2024-68, 2025-54 and 2026-60, section 3 · checked Oct 2026
Who can claim it
Per diem for truck drivers is mainly an owner operator deduction. If you are self-employed and your work regularly takes you away from your tax home overnight, you can use the rate for each day away. Company drivers paid as employees are in a different spot: under current federal rules, employees generally cannot deduct unreimbursed travel expenses, and many carriers instead pay a per diem as part of the paycheck.
How it is calculated
- Full days: each full day away times the rate for where you were.
- Partial days: the day you leave and the day you return count at 0.75 of the daily rate, which is one of the two methods IRS Publication 463 allows. Each trip adds two partial days.
- Allowance: full days plus partial days.
- Deductible share: 80% for drivers under DOT hours of service rules, otherwise 50%.
- Tax estimate (optional): the deduction times your marginal rate, as a rough guide only.
POSTED: IRS Publication 463 (2025), standard meal allowance and the 80% limit · checked Oct 2026
What a good and a bad result look like
A good result is a deduction backed by a simple log: the date you left, the date you returned and where you were each night. Your ELD, fuel receipts and trip sheets usually prove it. A bad result is a guess at year end with nothing to back it up, or counting days you were home. This is a planning estimate, not tax advice; a tax professional who knows trucking can confirm your case.
Per diem is one of several costs worth tracking all year. Put your other road costs in the trucking cost per mile calculator, price fuel stops with the semi truck fill-up cost calculator, and see what else you can save with trucker discounts. For the gear that makes long stretches easier, see semi truck driver accessories.
Days away are worth planning
A big per diem number also means a lot of nights away. Our dispatchers plan loads around your hours and home time, with your home dates on the plan first, so the days away are the ones you chose. You confirm every load and get the rate con yourself. Read how it works for owner operators, or apply in about two minutes.
Questions about this calculator
What is the per diem rate for truck drivers?
For travel on or after October 1, 2026, the IRS special transportation industry rate is $80 a day in the continental United States and $86 outside it, under Notice 2026-60. That is the same as the year before. The rate covers meals and incidental expenses only, not lodging. Use the rate that was in effect on the days you actually traveled.
What was the truck driver per diem in 2023?
For travel from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024, the transportation industry rate was $69 a day in the continental U.S. and $74 outside it, under IRS Notice 2023-68. From October 1, 2024 it rose to $80 and $86. If you are filing or amending a return that covers 2023 or 2024, use the rate for each period you traveled.
Can company drivers claim per diem?
Usually not on a federal return. Employees generally cannot deduct unreimbursed travel expenses under current rules; IRS Publication 463 lists only a few special groups of employees who still can. Many carriers pay company drivers a per diem as part of their pay instead, which has its own tax treatment. Owner operators who are self-employed are the drivers who typically claim the deduction.
Why is only 80% deductible?
Meals on business travel are normally only 50% deductible. Workers subject to Department of Transportation hours of service limits, which includes interstate truck drivers, can deduct 80% instead, according to IRS Publication 463. The calculator applies 80% when you tick the hours of service box and 50% when you do not.
More of those days ending at home
Your home dates go on the plan first. You approve every load.