Guide · Per diem and meals

Truck driver per diem and meals: the IRS numbers for 2026–2027

Short answer: For travel from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the IRS special meal rate for the transportation industry is $80 a day in the continental US and $86 a day outside it, unchanged from the year before (IRS Notice 2026-60). Separately, interstate truck operators under DOT hours-of-service rules use an 80% limit on meal expenses instead of 50% (IRS Publication 463). Which method fits you is a question for your tax preparer.

The rates

The notice describes the special rate as applying to workers whose job directly involves moving people or goods by truck (and by air, barge, bus, ship or train) and regularly requires travel away from home to places with different federal meal rates.

The 80% rule

IRS Publication 463 lists interstate truck operators and bus drivers who are under Department of Transportation regulations among the workers who can use 80% of meal expenses while traveling away from home during an hours-of-service period, instead of the usual 50%.

One method for the year

Publication 463 says that if you use the special transportation-industry rate, you use it for all the trips you take that year rather than mixing it with the regular rates. Whether the standard rate or your actual meal costs fits you better is the kind of question to bring to your preparer, with your records.

What your bookkeeping should track

Whichever method your preparer uses, the inputs are the same, and your books should have them:

• Nights away from home, with dates. For leased drivers, settlement sheets and trip records usually show them.
• Actual road meal spending, recorded in full in its own account, with receipts.
• Local meals near home kept separate from road meals, because they're treated differently.

A trade-off to raise with your preparer if you plan to borrow: bigger deductions lower the profit lenders see. See what lenders look at, and how meals fit our chart of accounts.

Sources: IRS Notice 2026-60 (special per diem rates, effective October 1, 2026); IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (80% limit for individuals subject to DOT hours of service; special rate used for all trips that year). Checked October 29, 2026.