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Trucking & Transportation Companies: How to Calculate Your Payroll Costs (2026)
A trucking company payroll cost calculation has three inputs: headcount, the trucking company pay codes that have to be built (per-diem pay for drivers and owner-operator vs W-2 classification), and the wage base. BEG: $45 per employee per month inside the payroll software you already use, live in 3 to 5 days.
Managed payroll by headcount for a trucking company
10 employees: $450 a month, $5,400 a year; 25 employees: $1,125 a month, $13,500 a year; 50 employees: $2,250 a month, $27,000 a year; 100 employees: $4,500 a month, $54,000 a year. Every row is $45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum, so the per-employee cost is the same at 10 as at 100. Nothing in the trucking company setup, per-diem pay for drivers, owner-operator vs W-2 classification, DOT compliance and mileage reimbursement, is billed as an add-on.
The employer-side tax that rides on every trucking company wage
At the May 2025 national median for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, $58,640 a year or about $28 an hour, the employer share of Social Security and Medicare is $4,486 per employee per year and FUTA is $42 after the state credit, before state unemployment at the assigned rate. Those costs are the same whoever runs payroll; the calculator question is only who does the work and who carries the error.
The in-house line in the calculation
BLS OEWS May 2025: payroll and timekeeping clerks, national median $58,260, mean $59,630. Add roughly 30 percent for benefits and employer taxes, about $75,738, before the software that person runs, and set it against the headcount rows above. Managed payroll stays under that loaded figure until about 140 employees.
Read the full guide to instant managed payroll pricing, and the rest of the trucking company payroll library.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does managed payroll cost a trucking company with 25 employees?
$1,125 a month at $45 per employee, all-inclusive.
What is the employer payroll tax on one of the heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers?
$4,486 a year in Social Security and Medicare at the $58,640 BLS OEWS May 2025 national median, plus $42 FUTA and state unemployment.
Is the trucking company pay code setup an extra charge?
No. Per-diem pay for drivers, owner-operator vs W-2 classification and DOT compliance are configured at implementation inside the per-employee rate.
What does managed payroll cost for a trucking company?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Per-diem pay for drivers, owner-operator vs W-2 classification and DOT compliance are configured at setup, not billed as add-ons.
Related Resources
Anthony leads payroll solutions at Business Executive Group, a national managed payroll firm serving businesses across industries including Trucking & Transportation Companies. BEG manages payroll at $45 PEPM, all-inclusive, with deep expertise in compliance, multi-state filing, and industry-specific payroll requirements. Get instant pricing at beghr.com.
Authoritative source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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