Trucking payroll software that calculates driver pay, not taxes.
Trucking payroll software for carriers who pay owner-operators and company drivers. Set each driver's pay contract once — per-mile, percentage, flat or salary — and Fleetive does the math on every load, applies the deductions, and produces a statement your driver can actually check.
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Fleetive is not a payroll processor — and that is deliberate
"Trucking payroll" means two different jobs. One is working out what each driver earned this period — miles, percentage, accessorials, advances, deductions. The other is withholding tax and filing it. Fleetive does the first job thoroughly and does not do the second at all.
For carriers paying owner-operators and contract drivers, the first job is the whole job — the settlement is the pay record. If you run W-2 employees, keep your payroll provider and let Fleetive hand them a gross figure that is right the first time.
What Fleetive does
- Calculate what each driver earned, per pay period
- Apply per-mile, percentage, flat-per-load or salary pay
- Handle accessorials, advances and recurring deductions
- Produce an itemized statement each driver can check
- Track year-to-date earnings per driver
What it does not do
- Withhold federal, state or FICA taxes
- File 941s, W-2s or 1099s
- Move money, run ACH or issue direct deposit
- Replace a payroll provider for W-2 employees
Pair Fleetive with your payroll provider or accountant for withholding and filing.
Settlement software vs a payroll processor vs a spreadsheet
Most small carriers end up with one of these three. Here is what each actually does with a driver’s week.
| Fleetive (that’s us) | A payroll processor | A spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works out pay from loads (per mile, %, flat, salary) | Yes, from each driver’s pay contract | Usually not — you enter the gross | By hand, every period |
| Advances, escrow, lease and fuel deductions | Yes, carried period to period | Generic deductions only | By hand |
| Itemized statement the driver can check | Yes, with year-to-date | A pay stub, without the load detail | Only if you build one |
| Withholds and files payroll tax | No | Yes | No |
| Moves money / direct deposit | No — you pay the way you do now | Yes | No |
Paying owner-operators? Settlement software alone covers it. Paying W-2 drivers? Use both: Fleetive for the calculation and statement, your payroll provider for withholding and deposit.
Two kinds of driver, two sets of rules
An owner-operator runs as their own business under your authority, so overhead — dispatch, insurance, IFTA, trailer rent — is itemized as deductions on their settlement. For a company driver that same overhead is your margin on the revenue split, not a line they see. Fleetive treats driver type as a record, not a label, and applies the right deduction rules automatically.
- Owner-operator: itemized overhead deductions
- Company driver: overhead in the split, not the statement
- Mixed fleets run in one system
- Driver type stays in sync when someone changes status
Set the pay contract once
Percentage of gross, per-mile, flat per load, or salary — plus accessorials, advances, bonuses and recurring deductions like insurance, escrow or truck lease. Configure it once per driver and every load applies it, so the period close is a review rather than a rebuild.
- Percentage, per-mile, flat-per-load or salary
- Accessorials, advances and bonuses
- Recurring deductions carried period to period
- Year-to-date earnings tracked per driver
- Insurance-$250.00
- Truck lease-$400.00
- ELD subscription-$50.00
- Plates / permits-$150.00
- Per-trip deductions-$200.00
- Fuel advance-$37.50
An itemized statement ends the argument
Most pay disputes are arithmetic disputes. When a driver can see the miles, the rate, each accessorial, each advance and each deduction — with year-to-date alongside — the conversation stops being about trust and starts being about a number either of you can check.
- Every line itemized, nothing implied
- Drivers see their own statements and YTD
- Corrections leave an audit trail
- Records stay audit-ready for DOT and tax time
Related
If you already use the industry's vocabulary, the mechanics live on the driver settlement page. Drivers wanting to understand their own pay should read how to read a settlement sheet, and owner-operators leasing on should know their rights under Truth-in-Leasing. To check a single load without an account, use the free truck driver pay calculator or the owner-operator pay calculator.
Trucking payroll questions
- Is Fleetive a payroll provider?
- No — and this is the most important thing to know before you buy. Fleetive calculates driver pay and produces settlement statements. It does not withhold taxes, file 941s, generate W-2s or 1099s, or move money. If you run W-2 company drivers you still need a payroll provider; Fleetive gives you the accurate gross to hand them, which is the part spreadsheets get wrong.
- Then who is it actually for?
- Carriers paying owner-operators and contract drivers, where the settlement IS the pay record — that is most small-to-mid US carriers. It also fits mixed fleets: Fleetive distinguishes owner-operators from company drivers and applies the right deduction rules to each, so you can run both without keeping two systems.
- How does it handle owner-operators versus company drivers?
- They are different record types, not a label. An owner-operator runs as their own business under your authority, so overhead — dispatch, insurance, IFTA, trailer rent — is itemized as deductions on their settlement. For a company driver that overhead is your margin on the revenue split, not a line item they see. Setting the driver type applies the correct deduction treatment automatically.
- What pay structures are supported?
- Percentage of gross, per-mile, flat per load, and salary — plus accessorials, advances, bonuses and recurring deductions such as insurance, escrow or truck lease. You configure it once per driver and every load applies it.
- Can I use it alongside QuickBooks or a payroll service?
- Yes, and for W-2 drivers that is the intended setup. Fleetive owns the calculation and the driver-facing statement; your payroll provider or accountant owns withholding and filing. The year-to-date figures Fleetive tracks are what feed those filings.
- Do drivers see how their pay was calculated?
- Yes. Every driver gets an itemized statement showing miles or percentage, each accessorial, each advance and each deduction, with year-to-date earnings. Most pay disputes are arithmetic disputes, and an itemized statement ends them.
- What is the best trucking payroll software for a small fleet?
- It depends on who you pay. If your drivers are leased-on owner-operators, the settlement is the pay record and driver settlement software like Fleetive is the whole job, from $29/month. If you employ W-2 company drivers, you need a payroll provider for withholding and filing — pair it with settlement software so the gross you hand them is calculated from the loads, not retyped from a spreadsheet.
Stop rebuilding settlements every Friday
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