Now that were in November, you can file your IRS form 2290 that was usually due in August.  The filing deadline is November 30 so don’t forget!

Mike

Some people think they can outsmart the IRS by forming new companies.  I think that just makes the IRS mad. http://fleetowner.com/management/news/trucking-owner-unpaid-taxes-0923

Make sure that your payroll taxes are built into your budget.  Don’t use that money and the employees withholding money as short-term financing.  That gets you into situations like the one in the article.  I don’t know that the subject of the article did this but it’s not impossible.  One advantage of outsourcing your payroll is that you can’t spend the money due to the IRS.  Some companies don’t like that becuase they want the use of the money until the taxes are paid but that can put you in a bind if another expense comes up.  Be safe!

I was helping a client with getting his IFTA reports completed and it got me wondering which states have increased their diesel fuel tax rates the most in the last five years.  As I put it together I was pleaseantly suprised that 30 of the continental 48 states had no change in their fuel tax rates at all.  On the other hand, Kentucky and Connecticut increased their rates by over 50%.  It’s a good thing that Connecticut is small!

See the chart below for the comparison of 3rd quarter 2005 and 3rd quarter 2010.  I did not included Canada but they were all up over 20%. 

Complimentary Webinar for Trucking Executives: The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act and its Impact on the Transportation Industry

Legislation is pending that could change the transportation industry forever.  The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (HR5107) has been introduced to Congress and would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.  The bill would require owner-operators and independent contractors to be treated as employees, and this could have significant costs to trucking organizations.  Guest speaker and trucking payroll expert Mike Ritzema will explain this act and how to prepare for the new regulation.  Topics include:

- New documentation requirements
- Tax ramifications
- Treatment of independent contractors
- Worker’s comp & benefits impact

To register please click the link https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/949805592

The Health Care Reform Bills have created new reporting requirements and new opportunities for trucking companies. Payroll personnel will need to comply with updated regulations, and be prepared to take advantage of changing credits and deductions. Transportation industry payroll expert Mike Ritzema explain the new procedures and available tax credits. Mike has more than a decade of experience focusing exclusively on payroll for the trucking industry, and has generously offered to participate in this complimentary web seminar. Topics include:

- Healthcare Reform Bills 4872 and 3590
- Updated reporting requirements & procedures
- New opportunities and advantages of reform bills
- Savings methodologies through payroll mechanisms

Register here

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/269576240

Do you archive your payroll raw data?  Here’s one reason why you should.  If the right data is collected you can learn more about your business and make better decisions.

For example, what mileage information do you collect?  Some companies pay all miles and some pay loaded miles and there are many other ways to do it.  If you can collect the hub miles whether you pay them or not, you can compare the hub miles to your billed miles and get a better idea of which runs have your deadhead miles.

Many trucking companies look at total deadhead miles but looking at them by run or by round trip will provide you with the extra information to make a better, more informed decision about that lane’s profitability.

There are many other non-payroll related reasons to mine this data.  I’ll share some more in a future post.

Mike Ritzema

Superior Trucking Payroll Service

www.truckingpayroll.com

Many of you will receive your quarterly tax forms from your payroll service this week.  You’ll get your IRS Form 941, state umemployment forms and local tax forms if that applies to you.  If your payroll service doesn’t insist on making pay your taxes to them months early, they may have instructions on who to pay and where to mail them.  For most of you, there will be something else in there too…an invoice from your payroll service.

You might grumble but you’ll pay it anyway figuring that this is standard operating procedure in the industry.  It is standard but it doesn’t have to be.  You’ve already paid them to compute these now you have to pay them again?  It’s wrong.  Demand that your payroll service include all your quarterly reports for free!  W-2′s included!  They’ll charge you as much as $6.00 per W-2.  When they quoted their price to you how many W-2′s did they estimate you’d print?  I’ll guess it was as many as your number of employees.  How many 100 employee companies have zero percent turnover?  They knew the answer to and tried to trick you with a deceptively low number.  You can be treated better than that.  Call Superior Trucking Payroll Service and find out how.  (866) 296-5911.

Thanks for reading

Hi everybody,

On July 22 at 1:00 PM Eastern, I’ll be presenting our next free trucking payroll webinar.  It will be about the new requirements that affect payroll, specifically trucking payroll, from all the new laws dealing with health care reform.  Don’t worry, we won’t get into the politics of it all.  It will be about 20-30 minutes you can click here to register.

Thanks

Mike

Superior Trucking Payroll Service

www.truckingpayroll.com

I need a new PC.  My desktop is from 2006 and while it still performs well, Windows-XP may not be supported soon so I’ll need to make the leap to Windows 7 and I’d rather do it in the summer than around W-2 time.

When I purchase the new PC, I’ll get it from my local Office Depot.  Why there?  Why not at any of the other fine stores that sell them or even more webisites that sell computers and maybe for $20 less?  Well, I’ll tell you.  The staff at my local OD has a couple guys that are really good at figuring out what problem I am trying to solve and then helping find the best solution.  I don’t find this kind of help every day.  For example, I went in there about a month ago to find a way to get remote desktop for my PC.  Isntead of telling me that I had to get a new computer or some really expensive setup, he showed me an external hard drive that can be accessed anywhere as long as it is connected to the internet.  Now, I can get my files anywhere.  Problem solved.  This isn’t the first time they’ve helped me either.

Because of the service I’ve received over the years, not only do I go there but I’ve sent many other people there also.  I want my friends and clients to receive the same great service that I do.

What’s the point of my commercial for OD?  Superior service and problem solving is out there if you just go look for it.  It’s not hard to find either.

Mike

This morning, I was looking around at reviews of some of the national payroll service providers that are online.  I wasn’t suprised to find some good and some bad.  What did suprise me was the common theme that said the national company failed to listen to them and failed to do what they said they would.  I kept on asking myself, “How can they get away with that?”.

Well, one reason they can get away with that and they do get away with such poor service because many payroll service buyers do not know what they should expect from their payroll service.  See the link at the end of the post to learn what to expect from your payroll service.  They also don’t know that they can have a better option.

Another reason that the big players in the industry get to act this way is the enormity of their size.  Let’s look at an example.  Let’s say you have 125 employees at your company.  The revenue that you provide does not change anyone’s life at a multi-million dollar enterprise.  And so, they will not go out of their way for you because you’re just not that important to them.  With a specialty shop like us, the revenue from your comapny could be the difference between raises for the employees or not so we are clearly going to do whatever it takes to keep you happy.  Every client is huge to us.

Now I expect that some of you will come back with the idea that we don’t have the the expertise because we have less people here.  That’s not true!  Ok, it  is true that we have less people than the biggest players but the trucking expertise is here.  We know trucking.  You’ll never have to explain per diem to us or trip expenses or why so many employees get advances.  We already know it because we come from the same industry.  In fact, we may be able to pass on some ideas to you that we’ve learned over the years.  Will your national provider do that?  Probably not, they’re too busy not listening to you.

The next objection is usually price.  Well, that one is false too.  We take pride in pricing our services as a one price for everything model.  We won’t nickel and dime you to death.  Many of you that use national payroll providers will be getting your 2nd quarter IRS Form 941′s soon.  You’ll also get an invoice for generating it.  You’ll get another one for the W-2′s in January.  Remeber way back when they gave you a quote.  Take a look at it if you still have it.  Look at the numebr of employees for each pay period.  Now look at the number of W-2′s they projected for you.  It’s the same number right?  Did any companies over 50 people have zero turnover last year?  Exactly.  They purposefully did that estimate to make the price look lower.  At Superior Trucking Payroll Service we believe that practice is dishonest.  We don’t charge our clients for tax forms.  Once you pay for the payroll, the reports come along free.  If you ask for a proposal from us, you’ll see the annualized cost is probably less that what you’re paying.

There are many other things that you should expect from your payroll service.  We’ve developed a “Client’s Bill of Rights” and you can find it here.  If your current provider can’t live up to these simple things, maybe it’s time to give us a call.

Thanks for reading

Mike Ritzema

Superior Trucking Payroll Service

(866) 296-5911

mritzema@truckingpayroll.com