Truck Driver Per Diem 2026: The $80 Rate, the 80% Rule & What It's Really Worth

Per diem is one of the biggest tax breaks in trucking — and one of the most misunderstood. Used right, it can take $12,000–$19,000 or more off an owner-operator's taxable income every year without saving a single meal receipt.

The 2026 per diem rate for truck drivers

Travel area	Daily rate
Continental U.S. (CONUS)	$80 per day
Outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS)	$86 per day

These are the IRS special transportation industry rates for meals and incidental expenses. The IRS kept them the same for the period starting October 1, 2026 (IRS Notice 2026-60), so the rate is $80 for all of 2026.

The 80% rule

Normally, business meals are only 50% deductible. But drivers subject to DOT hours-of-service rules can deduct 80%. That makes your deductible amount:

$80 × 80% = $64 deducted for every full day on the road.

Partial days: your first and last day

On the day you leave and the day you come home, you generally use 75% of the daily rate — $60, which becomes $48 after the 80% rule. A 5-day run is 3 full days plus 2 partial days.

What per diem is worth

Full days away per year	Per diem ($80/day)	Deductible (80%)
200	$16,000	$12,800
250	$20,000	$16,000
300	$24,000	$19,200

For a self-employed owner-operator, a $16,000 deduction lowers both income tax and self-employment tax. Depending on your tax bracket, that's roughly $4,000–$6,000 less tax for the year.

Who qualifies for per diem?

• You have to be away from your tax home long enough that you need to stop for sleep or rest. Local and day-cab runs where you're home every night don't qualify.
• You need a tax home. Drivers with no regular home base (living full time in the truck) may not have a tax home — and without one, you can't claim travel expenses. Talk to a tax pro if this is you.
• Owner-operators (1099 / self-employed) claim per diem as a business expense on their return.
• Company drivers (W-2) generally can't deduct per diem on their federal return under current law. Instead, ask whether your carrier offers a per diem pay program that pays part of your wages tax-free.

Records you need to keep it

With per diem you don't need meal receipts, but you do need to prove the days you were away. For each trip, keep:

• Dates you left and came back
• Where you traveled (origin, destination, overnight stops)
• The business purpose (load, customer, rate confirmation)

Your ELD logs, rate confirmations and fuel receipts make strong backup. A simple monthly log of nights away turns into a solid audit trail.

Common per diem mistakes

• Counting every calendar day instead of only days away overnight.
• Using 100% instead of 80% of the rate.
• Forgetting the 75% rule for departure and return days.
• Claiming per diem and also deducting the same meals from receipts.
• Not tracking it during the year and trying to rebuild it in April.

Set up per diem the right way

Keep What You Haul includes the complete per diem system for owner-operators — how to track it in your books month by month so it's ready at tax time — plus a trucking chart of accounts, QuickBooks setup, Section 179 vs. bonus depreciation, the full write-off list and a year-round tax calendar.

Related: the complete truck driver tax deductions list and Form 2290 explained.