Standard Mileage Deduction for Trucking-like job

[jpbp2k]

I work as an independent contractor delivering campers to dealerships (similar to a trucking or hot-shot type of business). I contract my services out to another company that provides loads to be taken all over the US. My "tax base" is my home and I have a personally owned truck that I use solely for work (no personal miles). Though I do not have a CDL, I am subject to DOT hours-of-service regulations. I have DOT logs for every mile I drive in my vehicle.

Am I permitted to deduct 'round trip' mileage (miles from the storage yard I pick the units up from to my drop-off point and from my drop-off point back home or back to the yard) on my taxes since all the miles I put on my vehicle are all work-related and not a 'commute'?

[jwbEA2012]

In most cases, commuting is travel between your home and a work location. 

That being said, if the work vehicle is going to a pick up location, your actual place of business is the home you leave from so commuting is not happening. The following three bullets comments should clarify your situation.

The following is found in the instructions for your 2023, 1040 Schedule -C

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sc

Travel that meets any of the following conditions isn't commuting; it is considered deductible business travel.

• You have at least one regular work location away from your home and the travel is to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, regardless of the distance. Generally, a temporary work location is one where your employment is expected to last 1 year or less. See Pub. 463 for more details.

• The travel is to a temporary work location outside the metropolitan area where you live and normally work.

• Your home is your principal place of business under section 280A(c)(1)(A) (for purposes of deducting expenses for business use of your home) and the travel is to another work location in the same trade or business, regardless of whether that location is regular or temporary and regardless of distance.

I hope this helps to clarify the mountain of IRS rules that change constantly.