How to organize a mileage log for delivery work

This is a recordkeeping workflow for US self-employed delivery drivers. It does not decide which miles qualify for your tax return. Employees, reimbursed drivers and drivers outside the US may need a different approach.

Start with one record of the vehicle’s journeys

For each journey or clearly documented work segment, preserve the date, locations, distance and purpose. Add enough context to match the segment to your work records: the delivery service, a shift reference or another identifier that makes sense later.

Avoid storing customer access codes, contact details or other information you do not need in your mileage notes. A short work reference can link to supporting records kept separately.

The IRS vehicle recordkeeping guidance explains the evidence needed for business use. A payout total or order count is not a substitute for a record of the vehicle journeys supporting your claim.

Separate the route from the tax decision

A trip can be connected to your working day without automatically being deductible. Keep facts about driving to the first work location, returning home, waiting between jobs and taking personal detours, then apply the relevant rules.

Ordinary commuting is generally personal travel. Rules concerning a qualifying home office or temporary work location depend on the circumstances. Having a delivery app online does not, by itself, establish the treatment of a journey. Refer to the IRS transportation guidance and resolve uncertain cases with a qualified adviser.

Reconcile a multi-app shift without duplicating miles

Here is a fictional shift excerpt. The labels describe records to investigate, not a deductible-mileage ruling.

The physical total is 18.3 miles. If the same 2.6-mile journey appears in two imported files, it remains one journey. Keep the original files, compare timestamps and locations, and resolve the duplicate before calculating a business total.

Likewise, do not automatically add a platform’s mileage figure to your tracker’s total. First establish what each figure represents and whether they overlap. Different statements may describe different periods or types of activity; check the provider’s current definition instead of assuming they are equivalent.

Review gaps while you still remember the shift

At the end of a shift, check the first and last journeys and the places where you switched services. Those are useful review points because the work context can be less obvious from a map alone.

If the tracker missed a journey, preserve the delivery record and any reliable evidence of the route or distance. Mark a reconstructed entry as such. Do not increase the mileage to reach a target deduction or assume that every gap represents business travel.

Keep vehicle-wide annual mileage evidence too. A collection of individual delivery trips may not explain all use of the car.

Keep exports beside the supporting records

Organize reviewed mileage exports and platform statements by period. Save the originals before editing a spreadsheet, and retain the explanation for corrections. Your accountant can then follow the path from a reported total to the underlying records.

You can start with the free mileage-log template. For an iPhone workflow, FlatMile includes free automatic and manual logging. A subscription or eligible trial unlocks captured-drive details, business/personal classification, and PDF and CSV exports. Automatic capture still needs your review; it does not determine tax eligibility.

Related guides

• Commuting Miles vs. Business Miles: What Counts?
• iPhone mileage tracker missing trips? What to check first
• How to prepare a mileage report for your accountant
• Rideshare mileage: reconcile platform statements without doubling miles
• Mobile pet-care mileage: appointments, key handoffs and actual routes
• Canadian self-employed vehicle records: one logbook for each vehicle

Browse all mileage guides and resources.