How to Check a Lease-On Settlement Statement

When you're leased on, the settlement statement is your paycheck. It's also where money disappears: a percentage taken on the wrong number, a fuel surcharge that never makes it to you, a chargeback nobody explained. Checking it takes ten minutes a week and a copy of your lease.

What your lease has to spell out

Federal leasing rules at 49 CFR 376.12 list what the written lease between a carrier and an equipment owner has to contain. You can only check a settlement against terms that are written down, so these are the parts to find in your lease first:

• Your pay, 376.12(d). The amount you're paid has to be clearly stated in the lease or an attached addendum. It can be a percentage of gross revenue, a rate per mile, a variable rate, or any other method you both agree on.
• Who pays for what, 376.12(e). The lease has to say who covers fuel, fuel taxes, empty miles, permits, tolls, detention and accessorials, base plates and licenses, and loading and unloading.
• When you get paid, 376.12(f). Within 15 days after you turn in the delivery documents needed for the trip.
• Rated freight bills, 376.12(g). If you're paid a percentage of the revenue for a load, the carrier has to give you a copy of the rated freight bill before or at settlement. Shipper and consignee names can be blacked out. Under any pay method, the lease must let you look at the tariff or documents your pay is figured from.
• Chargebacks, 376.12(h). Every item the carrier can pay for and then take out of your settlement has to be listed, along with how each amount is figured. You're entitled to copies of the documents needed to check the charge.
• Buying or renting from the carrier, 376.12(i). You can't be required to buy or rent products, equipment, or services from the carrier to get the lease. If you do rent from them, the lease has to spell out the terms of the deductions.
• Insurance, 376.12(j). If insurance is charged back to you, the lease must state the amount. Cargo or damage deductions need a written explanation and itemization before they're taken.
• Escrow, 376.12(k). The lease must state the escrow amount and what it can be used for. The carrier has to account for every escrow transaction, pay interest at least quarterly, and return the balance within 45 days after the lease ends.

Part 376 has exemptions in subpart C, so read the rule and your lease together. This guide explains the rule. It isn't legal advice.

How to check a settlement, step by step

1. Recompute your pay per load. Take the line haul from the rated freight bill and apply your percentage, or multiply paid miles by your rate. Then add your share of fuel surcharge and accessorials, as your lease states them.
2. Add up every deduction. Fuel, advances, insurance, escrow, plates and permits, ELD, trailer rental. Note any line without a description.
3. Expected net = expected gross − deductions. Compare it with the net on the statement.
4. If gross doesn't match, work backward. Take the statement's gross, subtract the fuel surcharge and accessorials you were paid, and divide by your percentage. The result is the revenue the carrier actually applied your percentage to. Compare it with the freight bill.

Worked example

You're paid 72% of line haul, with 100% of fuel surcharge and accessorials passed through. This week's two loads:

• Load 40117: line haul $3,150, fuel surcharge $540, detention $150
• Load 40152: line haul $1,875, fuel surcharge $310

Line haul totals $5,025. Your 72% is $3,618. Add $850 fuel surcharge and $150 detention, and expected gross pay is $4,618.

Deductions: fuel card $1,285.40, insurance $212, escrow $100, ELD $32, trailer rental $175. That's $1,804.40. Expected net is $4,618 − $1,804.40 = $2,813.60.

The statement shows gross pay of $4,380 and net of $2,575.60. You're $238 short.

Work backward: $4,380 − $850 fuel − $150 detention = $3,380. Divided by 0.72, that's $4,694.44, not the $5,025 line haul. Now try another explanation: 72% of line haul plus fuel surcharge is 0.72 × $5,875 = $4,230, plus $150 detention = $4,380. That's an exact match. The carrier took your percentage on the fuel surcharge instead of passing all of it through, which cost you 28% of $850, or $238.

That's the call to make, with the freight bills in hand. The settlement checker runs these same steps and tests the common wrong-base explanations for you.

Other things worth flagging

• Deductions with no description. “Misc $45” isn't something you can check. Ask what it is and how it was figured.
• The same charge twice. Weekly ELD or trailer fees sometimes post twice in one settlement.
• Escrow with no running balance. Each settlement should show the escrow deposits and withdrawals, or you should get a separate monthly accounting.
• Deductions bigger than pay. A negative settlement usually means a big fuel week or a repair advance. Ask whether it can be spread out.

Keep every settlement, the freight bills, and your fuel receipts. Over a quarter, they also feed your P&L, and they tell you your real cost per mile on this lease.