Driver Pay Stubs & Settlement

What is Driver Pay Stubs & Settlement?

Driver Pay Stubs & Settlement in TMS.ai automates the process of calculating driver compensation and generating professional pay statements. The system tracks every trip a driver completes, automatically creates pay items based on your compensation structure (per mile, percentage of revenue, flat rate per load), and groups those items into comprehensive pay stubs. Drivers receive a clear breakdown showing gross pay for each trip, total earnings for the pay period, and how their compensation was calculated.

This eliminates the manual spreadsheet work of tracking driver earnings across multiple loads and reduces errors in pay calculations. Drivers get transparency into exactly how much they earned and why, while your back office saves hours of administrative work each pay period.

How Driver Pay Stubs & Settlement works:

1. Record driver pay on completed trips by navigating to the manifest or order and entering the driver's compensation. The system supports multiple payment types: per-mile rates, percentage of freight revenue, flat rate per load, or a combination of methods based on your pay structure.
2. Automatic pay item creation happens when you save the driver compensation on a manifest. TMS.ai creates a new record in the Driver Pay Items board, capturing the driver, manifest details, trip information, and calculated gross pay.
3. Filter and review pay items in the Driver Pay Items board before generating pay stubs. Use filters to display pay items for a specific driver, date range, or manifest status (typically filtering for "Manifest Status = Completed" to ensure you're only paying for finished trips).
4. Edit pay items if needed before creating the pay stub. Click into any pay item to adjust the amount, add bonuses or deductions, or correct any calculation errors. These edits are tracked in the system for audit purposes.
5. Create the pay stub by selecting all pay items for a driver in a specific pay period and clicking "Create Pay Stub." The system groups all selected manifests and trips into a single pay stub document, removing those items from the Driver Pay Items board.
6. View and distribute pay stubs in the Driver Pay Stub board. Each pay stub appears as a PDF document showing the driver's name, pay period, itemized list of trips with compensation for each, and total gross pay. Use the email function to send the pay stub directly to the driver.
7. Export to payroll processing by using the pay stub information as the gross pay input for your payroll system. The pay stub shows gross pay only (before taxes and deductions), so you still run it through your payroll processor to calculate withholdings and generate net pay.
8. Handle corrections by deleting a pay stub if needed. When you delete a pay stub, all the driver pay line items that were included reappear in the Driver Pay Items board, allowing you to make adjustments and create a new corrected pay stub.

What it means for you:

Driver pay stubs transform driver settlements from a manual, error-prone process into an automated workflow. Your back office stops spending hours in spreadsheets tracking which trips each driver completed and manually calculating compensation. Drivers receive professional pay statements that clearly explain their earnings, reducing phone calls questioning pay amounts.

The gross pay focus means you don't need to replicate your entire payroll calculation inside TMS.ai. The platform handles the freight-specific part (tracking loads, calculating trip pay, generating statements) while your existing payroll service handles the payroll-specific part (taxes, deductions, net pay). This division keeps your processes clean and compliant. The audit trail from pay items to pay stubs to payroll export gives you complete visibility and defensibility if questions arise about driver compensation. The result is faster settlements, happier drivers who understand their pay, and significant time savings for your accounting team.