Driver advance and trip settlement: a simple method that avoids disputes

The driver leaves with cash for diesel, tolls and food. He comes back with some slips and a figure in his head. If the owner’s figure differs, there is an argument. The cure is to settle each trip on its own, in writing, soon after it ends.

Record four things

1. Advance given. Cash, UPI transfers and fuel-card or FASTag top-ups handed to the driver for this trip.
2. Expenses the driver paid. Diesel, cash tolls, loading labour, small repairs, challans — each with a slip where one exists.
3. Expenses the owner paid directly. FASTag deducted from the owner’s account, diesel on the owner’s credit at a pump. These are trip costs but not part of the driver’s account.
4. What the driver earns for the trip. Bhatta or trip allowance, if it is paid out of the advance.

The settlement sum

Driver balance = advance given − expenses the driver paid (including his bhatta, if he keeps it from the advance).

• If the balance is positive, the driver returns that much or it is carried to his next trip.
• If it is negative, the driver spent more than he was given and the owner pays him the difference.

Example: advance ₹45,000. The driver paid ₹34,500 for diesel and kept ₹4,200 bhatta: ₹38,700. Balance ₹6,300 to be returned. Tolls of ₹6,500 went through the owner’s FASTag, so they are a cost of the trip but do not enter the driver’s account.

Habits that keep it clean

• Settle within a day or two of the truck returning, while slips and memory are fresh.
• Keep trip expenses and the driver’s monthly salary in separate accounts.
• Pay diesel and tolls digitally where you can, so there is a record that does not depend on a slip.
• Note odometer readings at start and end. Kilometres against litres is the simplest check on diesel.
• Give the driver a copy of the settlement. A shared figure ends the discussion.

The trip ledger in CargoForge marks each expense as paid by the driver or by the owner and works out the driver balance for you. The method above is the same whether you use it, a spreadsheet or a notebook. See also how to work out trip profit.