Individual Vehicle Mileage Reports (IVMR) are standard for FedEx contractors and a nice to have for anyone filing IFTA. IVMRs are detailed reports summarizing the movement of each vehicle in a fleet. The report includes entries for crossing state boundaries, arrival and departures from each origin and destination location, and details on each driver. IVMRs are the basis for calculating accurate International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports. Accurate IVMRs can help you analyze your lanes and quickly ace an IFTA or IRP audit.

Let’s start with an example IVMR:

How to read the IVMR

From row Number 1, on 10/26, this particular vehicle started the day with an odometer reading of 473,059 and traveled 53 miles along Interstate Highway 75 and then entered a location named ‘0405’. The vehicle then departed from 0405 and traveled 70 miles to 0406, then 67 miles back to 0405. After leaving 0405 for the second time, the vehicle traveled 79 miles and entered the state OH, then another 21 miles and entered a location named 0452.

How to Create an IVMR

There are three triggers for creating a new line:

1. Time in the domicile timezone crosses midnight 
2. The vehicle enters an origin or destination location
3. The vehicle crosses a state boundary

Traditionally, the IVMR was recorded by hand by the driver as he completed his trips. Look at Row 10, the driver crossed a state line from Tennessee to Kentucky. As the driver is driving down the road, they had to make a mental note of the exact mileage when they crossed the invisible line demarcating the separate states. Then, 115 miles later, the driver had to make another mental note of the precise mileage when the clock struck midnight, and they had to begin row 12. The driver can not safely fill in the report while driving, so they must remember those mileage numbers until they stop the vehicle.

 Now that Electronic Logging Devices (ELD’s) are required, reports can be created from the GPS and Electronic Control Module data generated by the ELD device. The automated creation of the IVMR is far more accurate.

Using an IVMR

The IVMR is the basis for all other mileage reports, such as quarterly state miles used to file IFTA. Traditionally, administrative staff had to sort through all of the driver’s handwritten IVMRs for the month and calculate the mileage that each driver drove in each state for each month. The administrative burden was time-consuming and resulted in errors that left the company liable to mileage disputes and even audits. Sorting out the miscalculations was also incredibly labor-intensive. With GPS enabled Electronic Logging Devices, you can quickly and accurately calculate the total miles driven in each state for every vehicle in the fleet over the quarter to produce the mileage summary you need to file IFTA.

IVMRs provide information often requested by state agencies during an audit. Most states require five-year data retention on IVMRs to satisfy IFTA and DOT audits. Automated IVMRs enable your company to create specific reports based on the audit criteria and timeframe. So now, instead of digging up old accounts from storage and making photocopies of handwritten reports, you’ll be able to use a digital catalog to pull information from the IVMRs to compile customized reports within minutes. IVMRs are the cornerstone of any trucking company's accountability; recording and using them correctly can protect a company from government agency audits.