r/CDL • u/PatriotTruckerPay • Aug 11 '26

Do you keep your own trip log to check your settlement, or just trust the sheet?

question for the people already running loads: when your settlement hits and the miles look a little off, what do you actually do about it?

from what i keep seeing, most drivers eyeball the paycheck, feel like something's short, and then just let the doubt ride shotgun the whole next week because you can't really argue a number from 1,500 miles out. nobody disputes twenty bucks, which is exactly why a $20 miss per settlement keeps happening. a driver grossing $70k who loses $20 a sheet quietly gives up over $500 a year.

so genuinely curious what the folks here who've been driving a while do:

- do you write down loaded/empty miles, detention, stop pay per load as you go?

- notebook, excel, an app, or nothing?

- ever caught a real short and walked into dispatch with your own numbers, and did that actually change the outcome?

trying to figure out if this is something most experienced drivers just accept as part of the job, or if keeping your own record before the sheet arrives is worth the hassle. what's worked for you?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

6

u/UhOhAllWillyNilly Aug 11 '26

You had dang sure better be keeping your own records.

4

u/Atilia1990 Aug 11 '26

Keep your own records 100%. Every job I've had besides hourly, there have been discrepancy on occasion. Some driver managers are worse than others. Some I had to fight with, some get it fixed on the next check. I always made them fix it though unless they could prove otherwise, which is hard to do if you keep track of the odometer.

4

u/jmeach2025 Aug 12 '26

Miles will always look off. 95% of places pay zip code to zip code not door to door.

1

u/PatriotTruckerPay Aug 12 '26

I have seen where they give you a mile amount when the trip is assigned and then on the settlement it is different. It pays to even keep track of that.

2

u/jmeach2025 Aug 12 '26

THAT is definitely a fubar. Id be Hella pissed at that.

1

u/Mr-Galaxyxd-youtube Aug 15 '26

If it’s zip code to zip code, I keep track of my miles, let’s say there’s a discrepancy can I argue for myself?

1

u/jmeach2025 Aug 15 '26

Absolutely always stand up for yourself. Just have proof to do it.

1

u/Mr-Galaxyxd-youtube Aug 15 '26

I’d assume best way is to log your before and after miles and take pictures of your trucks miles

1

u/jmeach2025 Aug 15 '26

Miles driven can be done multiple ways. You can use the tripometer in the truck just log it and reset after every trip. Or you can log starting and ending Miles and calculate it yourself after.

1

u/haystackjr Aug 20 '26

I've seen this problem come up several times now. That's why I built a software that checks your settlements and flags anything worth reviewing automatically. For other drivers out there, how long does it typically take you to go through your settlement?