Skip to content

Deductions

A deduction is an amount subtracted from a carrier's settlement before payment. Deductions cover things like fuel advances, insurance premiums, equipment lease payments, and other charges that reduce what the carrier takes home.

Overview

There are four types of deductions that can appear on a settlement:

Type How It Gets There
One-Time Manually added to a single settlement, or auto-applied from a one-time recurring deduction template.
Recurring Automatically applied from a recurring deduction template set up on the carrier, truck, or driver.
Carry-over Automatically added when the carrier had deductions exceeding service pay on their previous settlement.
Accessorial Automatically added from carrier-responsible accessorial charges on the settled legs.

Deductions can only be added or changed while the settlement is in Draft status. Once a settlement is approved, its deductions are locked.

Getting There

To see deductions on a specific settlement: Open the settlement and click the Deductions tab.

To manage recurring deduction templates: Go to Settlements > Deductions in the main menu. This shows all recurring deduction templates across all carriers, trucks, and drivers.

To manage deduction tags: Go to Settings > TMS > Settlements and click Manage Deduction Tags.

How It Works

Deduction Tags

Tags are labels that categorize deductions. They help you filter and group deductions for reporting. Examples:

  • Fuel Advance
  • Insurance Premium
  • Equipment Lease
  • Logbook Fee
  • Trailer Rental
  • Damage Repair
  • Parking

Tags are shared across the system -- the same tag can be used on both one-time deductions and recurring deduction templates.

Managing Deduction Tags

  1. Go to Settings from the top menu.
  2. Click TMS in the settings sidebar.
  3. In the TMS Settings page, find the Tags & Categories section.
  4. Click Manage Deduction Tags.
  5. The tag list opens. You can:
  6. Click New to add a tag
  7. Click any tag to rename it
  8. Archive tags you no longer need (they will not appear in dropdowns but stay on existing records)

Adding One-Time Deductions to a Settlement

To add a deduction that applies only to this specific settlement:

  1. Open the settlement (it must be in Draft status).
  2. Click the Deductions tab.
  3. Click Add a line at the bottom of the deduction list.
  4. Fill in the row:
  5. Description -- What the deduction is for (e.g., "Fuel advance - Load #4521")
  6. Type -- Select One-Time
  7. Tags -- Optionally select one or more tags for categorization
  8. Date -- Defaults to today
  9. Amount -- The dollar amount to deduct
  10. Optionally add Notes (click the column header to show it) for additional context.
  11. Click away from the row or press Tab to save it.

To give the carrier a credit (for example, a reimbursement), enter a negative amount. Negative amounts appear highlighted in green.

Setting Up Recurring Deductions

Recurring deductions are templates that automatically apply to future settlements. They are set up on a carrier, truck, or driver -- not on individual settlements.

From the Carrier Form

  1. Open the carrier's record under Carriers > Carriers.
  2. Click the Recurring Deductions tab.
  3. Click Add a line to create a new deduction template.
  4. Fill in the row:
  5. Carrier / Truck / Driver -- Who this deduction belongs to. On the carrier form, this defaults to the carrier. You can also assign deductions to specific trucks or drivers belonging to this carrier. To create a driver-level deduction, leave the Carrier and Truck columns blank and select the driver in the Driver column. Each deduction must be linked to exactly one of Carrier, Truck, or Driver.
  6. Name -- A clear description (e.g., "Weekly insurance premium")
  7. Tags -- Category tags for filtering
  8. Amount -- Dollar amount per occurrence. Use a negative amount for bonuses or credits.
  9. Currency -- Defaults to USD
  10. Frequency -- How often the deduction should be applied (see table below)
  11. Accumulate -- Whether missed periods should be caught up (see below)
  12. Active -- Uncheck to pause the deduction without deleting it

From the Deductions Menu

You can also manage all recurring deductions from Settlements > Deductions. This view shows deductions across all carriers, trucks, and drivers in one place. Use the filters to narrow by owner type, frequency, or carrier.

Recurring Deduction Frequency Options

Frequency When It Applies
One-time Applied once on the next settlement, then automatically deactivated. Use this for a single charge that should be automatically picked up.
Per Load Applied once for every leg on the settlement. If a settlement has 3 legs, the deduction amount is multiplied by 3.
Weekly Applied once per week. If more than 7 days have passed since the last application, it applies again.
Monthly Applied once per month. Checks whether a full calendar month has passed since the last application.
Annually Applied once per year. Checks whether a full year has passed since the last application.

The Accumulate Option

For weekly, monthly, and annually frequencies, you can turn on Accumulate. Here is what it does:

  • Accumulate OFF (default): If the deduction is overdue, it applies once regardless of how many periods were missed. For example, a monthly deduction not applied for 3 months still only deducts one month's worth.
  • Accumulate ON: Missed periods are caught up. A monthly deduction not applied for 3 months will deduct 3 times the amount on the next settlement. The settlement notes will show "3 periods accumulated" so you can see what happened.

The accumulate option is not available for One-time or Per Load frequencies because they do not have periodic schedules.

How Recurring Deductions Apply to Settlements

When a settlement is created (either automatically or manually), the system:

  1. Checks for carry-over. If the carrier has a carry-over balance from a previous settlement where deductions exceeded service pay, a carry-over deduction is added first.

  2. Finds all active recurring deductions for the carrier, the trucks used on the settled legs, and the drivers of that carrier.

  3. Calculates the multiplier for each deduction based on its frequency:

  4. Per Load: multiplied by the number of legs
  5. Weekly/Monthly/Annually: checks if enough time has passed since last applied

  6. One-time: applied if never applied before

  7. Creates deduction lines on the settlement with the calculated amounts. Each line links back to its source template.

  8. Updates tracking. The "Last Applied" date on each recurring deduction template is set to today. One-time deductions are automatically deactivated after being applied.

How Owner Type Affects Application

  • Carrier deductions apply to all legs on the settlement.
  • Truck deductions apply only to legs hauled by that specific truck. If a settlement has legs from multiple trucks and only one truck has a deduction, only the legs for that truck count toward the per-load multiplier.
  • Driver deductions apply to all legs on the settlement (same as carrier-level).

Accessorial Deductions

When a leg has accessorial charges where the carrier is the responsible party, those charges are automatically added as deductions on the settlement. These deductions have the type Accessorial and link back to the source charge.

If an accessorial charge includes a reimbursement amount (for example, the carrier paid a lumper fee and is being reimbursed), the system creates two lines on the settlement:

  1. A deduction line for the full charge amount (positive, labeled "Accessorial: {charge type}").
  2. A reimbursement line for the reimbursement amount (negative, labeled "Reimbursement: {charge type}").

The reimbursement line appears as a credit (green) and reduces the total deductions, so the carrier's net pay reflects the reimbursement. Both lines link back to the same source charge for traceability.

What Happens When You Void a Settlement

When a settlement is voided:

  • All recurring deduction tracking is rolled back. The "Last Applied" date on each recurring deduction template is recalculated based on the most recent non-voided settlement that still uses it.
  • One-time deductions that were deactivated by this settlement are reactivated.
  • The carrier's carry-over balance is recalculated from the latest non-voided settlement.

This means voiding a settlement does not cause you to lose track of deduction schedules. The next settlement will correctly pick up where things left off.

Carry-over Deductions

If deductions on a settlement exceed the service pay, the carrier's net pay cannot go below zero. The excess amount is stored as a carry-over balance on the carrier's record and automatically added as a Carry-over deduction on the carrier's next settlement.

You can see a carrier's current carry-over balance on their Recurring Deductions tab. It appears above the deduction list when the balance is greater than zero.

Tips & Common Questions

Q: I set up a monthly recurring deduction but it did not appear on the new settlement. Why? The system checks whether a full month has passed since the deduction was last applied. If the last settlement was less than a month ago, the deduction will be skipped until the next period. Check the Last Applied date on the deduction template (visible on the carrier's Recurring Deductions tab or in the Deductions menu).

Q: Can I edit a recurring deduction that has already been applied to settlements? Yes, but the change only affects future settlements. Deduction lines that were already created on past settlements are independent copies -- changing the template does not retroactively change past settlement amounts.

Q: What is the difference between deduction tags and settlement types? Deduction tags categorize individual deductions (e.g., "Fuel Advance", "Insurance"). Settlement types categorize entire settlements (e.g., "Weekly", "Final"). They are separate lists managed in different places under Settings.

Q: A carrier has a deduction set up on both the carrier level and the truck level. Will it be applied twice? Yes, both will apply. Carrier-level deductions and truck-level deductions are independent. If you only want a deduction on a specific truck, set it at the truck level. If you want it on all loads for the carrier regardless of truck, set it at the carrier level. Do not set it in both places unless you intend to deduct both.

Q: How do I give a carrier a bonus or credit on a settlement? Enter the amount as a negative number. For a recurring bonus, set up a recurring deduction template with a negative amount. Negative amounts appear in green on the settlement and reduce the total deductions, which increases the carrier's net pay.

  • Settlement Process -- The full settlement lifecycle from creation to payment
  • Carrier Setup -- Setting up carriers, payment details, and recurring deductions