Reconcile jurisdictional miles, vehicle identity, trip continuity, fuel documents, edits, and gaps under the fleet’s IFTA procedures.
What this means for your fleet
Run a monthly exception report that flags border crossings, missing position intervals, personal conveyance, yard moves, vehicle swaps, unit changes, and unexplained differences between trip and tax systems.
Monthly IFTA reconciliation example
A truck’s ELD export shows 8,240 total miles while the tax worksheet totals 8,115 jurisdictional miles. The reviewer does not force the totals to match. They identify a device replacement, 82 miles recorded before the new unit mapping became effective, 31 miles in a GPS gap supported by dispatch and odometer records, and a 12-mile unit-conversion error. The corrected worksheet retains each adjustment and source instead of altering the ELD history.
Use the timestamps and vehicle locations actually included in the ELD export. Before using a Factor report for IFTA, confirm its jurisdiction breakdown, field definitions, treatment of edits, and whether it is included in your plan.
What to check
| Check | How to verify |
|---|---|
| 1. Confirm vehicle and unit identity | Keep unit number, VIN, plate, device and reporting-account assignments across ELD and tax systems, effective dates, conflicts, and correction. |
| 2. Review jurisdiction boundaries | Trace one trip across timestamps and state lines; retain raw events, border method, gap, special-driving status, source files, and reviewer. |
| 3. Reconcile gaps and edits | Keep the jurisdiction-mile ledger, raw location intervals, missing/duplicate events, edits, unit conversion, variance calculation, reviewer, and resolution. |
| 4. Associate fuel documents | Retain each fuel record with vehicle, date/time, location, jurisdiction, quantity, source ID, duplicate check, exception, and reconciliation. |
| 5. Retain the calculation trail | Save source files and hashes, calculation version, rules, exclusions, corrections, reviewer, approval, exception list, and final output hash. |
Common failure modes
- Using odometer totals without jurisdiction detail.
- Silently filling GPS gaps.
- Mixing miles and kilometers.
Limits and exceptions
Use this guide to plan your checks; it does not determine whether a legal exception applies, certify a record, or guarantee compliance, safety, savings, or audit results. Preserve original ELD records and edit history. Use the current rules to determine applicability and the manual for your installed device for operating instructions.
Sources and review date
Reviewed August 10, 2026. Check the latest rules and product information before changing your procedures or signing a contract.
- Official IFTA audit and recordkeeping best-practices guide — International Fuel Tax Association, Inc.
- Editing, annotation, certification, and original-record preservation — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
- Factor ELD products, plans, and support — Factor ELD.
Compare records from the same trip
Bring records for the same trip from your ELD, dispatch system, and vehicle records, plus the safety or tax report you want to compare. Ask Factor ELD to show how the data can be reviewed. Your fleet remains responsible for compliance decisions.