Bookkeeping & Payroll for Transport & Logistics Operators

Most local and distribution drivers, plus associated warehouse and distribution-facility employees, are covered by the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020 (MA000038), which sets minimum rates by grade, overtime, shift loadings, allowances, and leave. Longer-haul interstate driving can instead fall under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020 (MA000039), which has its own pay structure. Some warehousing operations may be covered by a storage-services award depending on the work. Because more than one award can apply across a single business, check the coverage clauses for each role rather than assuming one award covers your whole operation.

For day work under the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020, overtime is generally paid at 150% of the minimum hourly rate for the first two hours and 200% after that, with the applicable day determined by when the majority of the shift falls. Shift loadings apply to afternoon and night work, and weekend and public holiday work carry their own rates. Casual employees are treated slightly differently—rather than the standard casual loading on overtime, they typically receive overtime rates plus an additional percentage per overtime hour. Always confirm the current award rates for the relevant grade before running payroll.

If you're registered for GST and use fuel in eligible business activities—such as running heavy vehicles on public roads or operating equipment—you can generally claim fuel tax credits through your BAS. The rate you can claim depends on the fuel type, the vehicle, and how and where it's used, and the rates are updated periodically (typically in line with indexation). Heavy vehicles on public roads attract a different rate than off-road use because a road user charge applies. Because the rules and rates change, it's worth having credits calculated carefully each period so you claim the correct amount and keep records to support it.

It depends on the nature of the arrangement. A genuine owner-driver running their own business, carrying their own risk, and servicing multiple clients is generally a contractor you pay against invoices. However, an owner-driver who works exclusively for you under your direction may be treated as an employee for some purposes, and certain contractors paid mainly for their labour are still owed superannuation. Payments to contractors in road freight may also need to be reported through taxable payments reporting. Keep ABNs, invoices, and written agreements, and where the relationship is borderline, get advice before settling on contractor treatment.

This is the classic transport squeeze: you pay drivers, fuel, and tolls within days, but freight and distribution customers often pay on 30 to 60-day terms, so cash leaves long before it arrives. The more work you win, the wider that gap can stretch—rapid growth can drain cash even when each job is profitable. The fix is a cash flow forecast that maps outgoings against expected receipts, disciplined invoicing and collections so customers pay on time, and planning new contracts with the funding gap in mind. Profit and cash are different things, and in transport the difference is where operators get caught.

A financed truck or van isn't simply a monthly expense. The vehicle is an asset on your balance sheet, the finance is a liability, and each repayment splits between interest (an expense) and principal (reducing the liability). The asset's cost is spread over its useful life through depreciation, which affects your profit and its written-down value. Treating the whole repayment as an expense overstates costs in early years and hides the value still sitting in your fleet. Proper asset accounting gives you an honest view of both profitability and what your vehicles are actually worth.

You need costing at the job, lane, vehicle, or client level rather than a single business-wide profit figure. By capturing fuel, driver time, tolls, maintenance, and a share of fixed costs against each piece of work, you can see true margin per delivery—and it's common to find that some long-standing clients or routes barely break even once everything is counted. That visibility lets you reprice, renegotiate, or walk away from work that doesn't pay, and lean into the lanes that do. Without it, you're flying blind on the one number that matters most in transport.

For employed drivers and warehouse staff, keep records of hours worked, rates and loadings applied, amounts paid, allowances, leave, and superannuation—generally for seven years for Fair Work purposes. For owner-drivers and subcontractors, keep their ABN, invoices, payment records, the nature of the work, and any written agreement supporting a genuine contracting relationship, plus anything needed for taxable payments reporting. You'll also want fuel records to support fuel tax credit claims and vehicle records for asset and cost tracking. Solid records protect you in a Fair Work or ATO query and make BAS and year-end far less painful.