Patriot Trucker Pay Calculator builds a paycheck estimate from the information you enter. Set up your pay method first, then add trips or work days to the current delivery window.
If you are deciding whether PTPC fits your work, start with the overview of the truck driver pay and settlement app.
App labels can evolve. Use the current version on your device and verify all estimates against your carrier documents.
1. Review Settings
Start with the guided setup wizard. It walks you through your pay settings and saves the details you use repeatedly, so you do not have to re-enter the same information for every trip.
Review your saved configuration in Settings and update it when your pay arrangement changes. Depending on the configuration, PTPC can work with per-mile, per-load percentage, daily, or hourly entries. Review loaded and empty-mile rates, fuel-surcharge method, stop-pay defaults, and the delivery-window schedule.
Do not copy rates from an example. Use the rates and rules in your own compensation documents.
2. Open the Home tab
The Home tab shows the Current Pay Period, its delivery window, pay date, and the number of trips or work days currently included. A trip delivered in a different window may appear under the next pay period.
3. Expand a trip
Open a trip card and enter the Trip Number and delivery date. For mileage configurations, enter Loaded Miles and Empty Miles. For per-load configurations, enter the requested gross-load amount. Daily and hourly configurations show the fields appropriate to those modes.
Watch: How to Add a Trip in PTPC
4. Add applicable pay details
Enter the fuel surcharge using the method selected in Settings. Expand Extra Pay to record detention, tarping, paid stops, or a custom pay item. Owner-operator configurations can also record fuel stops and applicable costs. Enter only items relevant to your arrangement.
5. Review the running estimate
Set up and maintain paycheck deductions in the Deductions section on the Home tab. Add the deductions that apply to the current estimate and review their amounts or calculation details there.
The Home screen updates the current-period totals from the trip and deduction information. Check for missing dates, incorrect mileage categories, misplaced decimal points, duplicate additions, and deductions that do not apply to the current estimate.
6. Save the estimate
Choose Save Paycheck Estimate when the entries are ready. PTPC confirms that the estimate was saved and makes it available on the Paycheck History tab.
7. Compare with the settlement
In Paycheck History, open the saved period and enter actual settlement values where available. Compare trips, additions, deductions, fuel details, gross pay, and net pay. A difference is a prompt to investigate—not proof of an error.
8. Generate a pay-question email
PTPC can generate a pay-question email from your settlement details so you can ask about a discrepancy without starting from scratch. First check that your estimate and actual settlement information are accurate. Review the generated email and use your carrier’s approved communication channel when sending your question.
Generating the email is not the same as automatically sending it to payroll. Include only the details needed to explain the difference. See how to describe settlement differences precisely for an example.
Good recordkeeping habits
- Enter trip details close to the time the work is completed.
- Use consistent trip numbers and dates.
- Keep carrier documents outside the app as required by your own recordkeeping process.
- Never use fictional tutorial values as your real pay settings.
Video transcript
The following transcript was lightly edited from the supplied captions for clarity and to correct obvious transcription errors.
Set Up Patriot Trucker Pay Calculator
Let’s do a brief tutorial on how to set up the Patriot Trucker Pay Calculator.
First, you need to sign in. If you don’t have an account, you can create one. You can use Google or Apple. I chose my account and signed in.
Next, go to Settings and set it up to match your situation. If you’re a company driver, you can select that. I’m going to set this up for the driver I currently support. He’s an owner-operator and gets paid per mile.
The default rates are $1.10 per loaded mile, $1.10 per empty mile, and $30 per stop. He also receives a per-mile fuel surcharge, so I entered a default that changes every week.
For the mileage-based deduction multiplier, he pays a set number of cents for every mile he drives. I determined that he drives about 1% more miles than the company’s paid mileage.
He is paid once a week. His drive week starts Tuesday and ends Monday. His payday is Friday, and he gets paid that same week after the drive week ends.
Next, set up your deductions in the Deductions section. In this example, the mileage-based deduction rate is eight cents. You can add a truck payment, down payment, advances, fixed costs, and other deductions that apply to you. We also estimate tolls. If your settlement includes something else, add a custom deduction. Try to make the names match your settlement; you can rename them as needed.