April is tax season. If you drove last year and didn't track your mileage, there's a good chance you left real money behind. That's not a small thing — for a driver putting in 30,000 to 50,000 miles a year, a missed mileage deduction can mean hundreds of dollars out of your pocket that you should have kept.
Here's what you need to know.
Why Mileage Tracking Matters for Delivery Drivers
If you're an independent contractor (a 1099 driver), the IRS lets you deduct business miles from your taxable income. In 2025, the standard mileage rate was 67 cents per mile. If you drove 40,000 business miles and didn't track them, that's $26,800 in deductions you may have missed — which translates to real money owed back to you at tax time.
Even if you're a W-2 employee, there are situations where you might have personal vehicle expenses or unreimbursed work costs that are worth documenting for your own records and future negotiations.
The point is: mileage is money. Treat it that way.
What Counts as a Deductible Business Mile
Not every mile counts. Here's the general breakdown:
Miles that count: from your first pickup location to your last delivery stop, driving between stops on your route, miles to a fuel stop during your shift, driving to pick up supplies required for your route.
Miles that don't count: the drive from your home to your first pickup location (unless you have a home office), personal errands, and commuting miles if you're a W-2 employee going to a fixed workplace.
When in doubt, log it and let your tax preparer sort it out. A log with too much is better than a log with too little.
How to Actually Track Your Mileage (Without Making It a Second Job)
You don't need a complicated system. You need a consistent one.
Option 1 — Use an app. MileIQ, Everlance, and Stride are all popular with gig and delivery drivers. They run in the background on your phone and use GPS to log every drive automatically. At the end of the month, you classify each trip as business or personal. Takes about 5 minutes.
Option 2 — Manual log. A simple notebook in your glove box. At the start and end of each shift, write down your odometer reading. Date, start miles, end miles. That's your record. Simple, admissible, and works even if your phone dies.
Option 3 — Your delivery app. Some routing and dispatch apps generate mileage reports you can export. Check if yours does — it may already be tracking distance per shift without you realizing it.
Whatever method you pick, the rule is: log it the same day. Don't rely on memory a week later.
Keep It IRS-Ready
If you're audited, the IRS wants to see: the date of the trip, where you started, where you ended, the business purpose, and total miles. Apps like MileIQ generate reports in exactly this format. A manual log works too as long as it's consistent and you keep it.
Don't reconstruct your mileage after the fact using estimates. Reconstructed records are one of the first things the IRS pushes back on.
A Quick Word From JWA
At JWA Logistics, we want our drivers to win — not just on the route, but with their finances. If you have questions about how your routes are documented or what records JWA keeps on your behalf, reach out to your dispatcher. We're here to make sure you have what you need to stay protected, both on the road and at tax time.
This post is for general informational purposes. For advice specific to your tax situation, consult a tax professional.