I travel from time to time for work and if it's under ~8ish hour drive, I'll just drive it. I don't mind driving however it obviously puts miles on my truck. The current standard mileage rate for 2023 is 65.5 cents per mile.

We don't have company vehicles but do have a couple of company trailers we use, primarily for taking some of our big 3D printers to tradeshows and whatnot.

If there is one I can't find it but what's a good rate for mileage pulling someone else's trailer? What about pulling your own trailer? I've always just used the standard mileage rate and tacked some extra on my expense reports depending how far I've pulled said trailers.

It depends on what engine you have in your truck. Depending on the size of the trailer with a gas engine it could cut your mileage by half. With a diesel engine and a big trailer your mileage might drop by 25%.

He is asking about reimbursment rates when pulling a trailer.

TKM is correct. Since there isn't a "standard" for reimbursement of hauling trailers I'm curious what others are doing mainly.

We're a smaller company so I'm not trying to charge them hot shotting rates but also want to be fair to myself. I could make all kinds of calculations on what my average mileage in my truck is empty vs. loaded but we're loaded differently depending on which trade show we're headed to. For example, I hauled one of our trailers (tall 14' v-nose enclosed) to Houston 2 weeks ago and averaged 11.5mpg. Same trailer but had different machines (more weight and had a much stronger wind) and averaged 9.5mpg. 2022 cummins if it matters but the standard mileage rate doesn't care what kind of vehicle you drive. My coworker got 9 mpg in his gasser chevy pulling our tiny 8 foot box trailer. Since we aren't corporate we don't have some of these reimbursement standards like some of the bigger companies have come up with.

There’s no mileage rate for a trailer. The standard/federal mileage rate is purely for reimbursement to cover expenses/depreciation of the vehicle itself

I’d say find out what hot shots are charging around you and then go somewhere between the federal mileage and that. Everything the transportation industry does is based on cost per mile, so they all have a mileage rate. Make it worth your time to do it and their time to save by paying you, everyone wins

I know and since there is not a federal reimbursement rate for mileage with a trailer I was trying to show how much his actual cost will increase when pulling a trailer.

That's pretty much what I've been doing but have been doing an additional amount. Say a 4 hour round trip was $50 extra over standard mileage, 6 hour RT was $75, etc. I don't think there's a right or wrong number, mainly just curious

I would say be fair to yourself and then be fair to the company. Your expense out weighs being fair to the company.

I'd use $1.25 per mile. The few times I've had stuff shipped on a trailer it was always between $1-$1.50 per mile.

I would compute the cost of extra fuel per mile. Then double that. The extra will help cover extra fuel and wear and tear of the tow vehicle.

I’d just double the irs rate. Or use the normal irs rate and let company pay for fuel.

Not a bad idea.

I use my pickup for work and the company pays me the IRS rate for mileage, I pay for fuel. On rare occasions I do have to pull a company trailer. On those trips they pay for my fuel and mileage.

I like this. If you have a diesel, do you have them pay for DEF as well just out of curiosity?

Assuming you are an hourly or salaried employee.

Without crunching some real numbers, my guess is because 63.5 cents a mile is a passenger vehicle number, I would want 63.5 cents when I was empty. When hauling anything other me and my personal gear, i would expect 63.5 cents a mile plus actual fuel costs.

Milage would be portal to portal, actual odometer milage, not Google Map milage. This would help prevent you from being hurt badly.

When using your personal vehicle for employer buisness, it is fine line between being a team player and taking a beating.

Mine's a gas pickup. But if it were diesel, then yes, they'd pay for "consumables" and mileage.





You're right, it can be a fine line. There are two critical factors in my experience. The first is being realistic about what you're doing and buy a vehicle for that reason. No Denali trim packages, no lifts, no computer flashes, no aftermarket exhaust, just a basic trimmed moderately powered and comfortable truck that is basically my second home. Second, keeping it maintained.... It's easy to blow that mileage money when it comes in, the trick is to pay off the truck asap and stow away enough to cover a major repair or two when they come along, because they will. I choose pickups that give me the most power with the fewest moving parts, so far Chevy has won that fight hands down. Times are changing though.

I've been through about 4 trucks with two companies this way and I've profited off of every one of them averaging about 50k miles a year (probably about 30k of those billed). I'm averaging about 250k miles per truck before renew. Might try to push the current one past 300k to see how that plays out.

The biggest plusses in all of this is, I stay in relatively new pickups basically for free, and it's MY truck. I can get in it and go where I want, when I want, do what I want, with no trackers or other BS. I can exercise my 2nd amendment right without violating company policy too.

and FYI, 2023 mileage rate is 65.5 cent per mile.

I put 50,000 miles on my truck this year, about 30,000 for work. I sure enjoy my little diesel getting 27-28 mpg for most of it.