Calculator · Per diem

Truck driver per diem calculator

By Jordan Sanders, leased owner-operator · About

Short answer: Multiply your full days away from home by the IRS transportation-industry rate ($80 a day in the continental US for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027), add three-quarters of that rate for each day you left or came home, and you have your per diem total. Enter your days below. Whether and how you use per diem on your return is your tax preparer's call.

The numbers filled in are a made-up example: four trips in a month, 20 full days out and 8 travel days. Nothing you type leaves this page. Days at home don't count.

How the calculator works

1. Pick the rate period. The IRS sets the transportation-industry rate each year in a notice that starts October 1. For travel from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 it's $80 a day in the continental US and $86 outside it (Notice 2026-60). A trip in, say, March 2026 falls in the October 2025 to September 2026 period.
2. Count full days away from home. A full day is a 24-hour day on the road, away from your tax home.
3. Count travel days. The day you leave and the day you get home are travel days. Under Publication 463's Method 1, each counts at three-quarters of the daily rate. (Method 2 allows another consistent, reasonable proration; this calculator uses Method 1.)
4. Read the total. Full days × rate, plus travel days × rate × 3/4.

A worked example

Made-up numbers: four trips in a month, each out Monday and home Saturday. That's 4 full days and 2 travel days per trip, so 16 full days and 8 travel days for the month. At $80: 16 × $80 = $1,280, plus 8 × $60 = $480, for $1,760. (The calculator's default of 20 full days and 8 travel days gives $2,080.)

The 80% figure

Publication 463 lists interstate truck operators under Department of Transportation hours-of-service rules among the workers who use 80% of meal expenses while away during an hours-of-service period, instead of the usual 50%. The calculator shows 80% of the total for reference. Whether that applies to you, and how, is for your tax preparer. Full rate history and the rules in plain English: truck driver per diem rates, 2018 to 2027.

What to keep so the number holds up

• Dates of every night away, from settlement sheets, trip records or your ELD.
• Departure and return days, marked separately.
• Actual road meal spending, in its own account, with receipts, so your preparer can compare per diem with actual cost.

The free owner-operator expense spreadsheet has a Nights Away tab that counts these for you.

Sources: IRS special per diem notices 2026-60, 2025-54, 2024-68, 2023-68, 2022-44; IRS Publication 463 (travel-day methods; 80% limit under DOT hours of service). Checked October 30, 2026.