How To Safely Track Mileage for Work

If you’re planning to take a mileage deduction, tracking mileage for work must become a part of your routine. It’s easy to fall into the trap of jotting something down while in traffic or quickly tapping out your mileage on your cell phone before you forget. It seems harmless enough, right? However, commercials, radio ads, billboards on the freeway and real life experience remind us that distracted driving can lead to life-altering events.

Despite the growing awareness about distracted driving, the most recent statistics available from the National Safety Council show there hasn’t been much improvement. In fact, accidents as a result of talking or texting while driving have steadily increased, now accounting for 26% of the nation’s car accidents.

Distracted Driving Facts:

• 1 out of every 4 accidents happens as a result of cell phone use
• Calling or texting while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes per year
• 330,000 injuries occurred due to texting while driving
• Taking your eyes from the road for just 5 seconds while traveling at 55 mph takes you the length of a football field.

The National Safety Council also notes that hands-free devices and methods can still inhibit driving ability since cognition is still required to use them in the car. Findings show technology like voice-to-text offers no considerable safety advantage.

We’re all aware of some of the facts above and yet, we’re all too human. As such, research shows we can only keep around four items in our working memory at any given time. With directions, children’s pick-up schedules, mental to-do lists, and remembering the name of the song and artist you just heard on the radio, your memory might quickly forget something like tracking mileage for work.

The key is to find a way to travel and track safely. Fortunately, there is a way.

Tracking Mileage For Work Safely

A mileage tracking app like MileIQ is the one-two punch for addressing safety and data accuracy concerns. Here are some ways an app can help you with tracking mileage for work while also helping you concentrate on safely driving.

It’s Completely Automatic

The beauty of a mileage tracking app is it uses automatic drive detection to capture every mile you drive, from the very start of your drive. There’s no manual data entry, and no need to rely on voice recording or other methods that could take your eyes and mind off the road.

It’s Your Bookkeeper

Your mileage tracking app not only accurately tracks drives, it also creates a comprehensive mileage log for you to refer to when you’re not behind the wheel. The best mileage tracking apps will also integrate with the most popular expense reporting systems like Concur and Freshbooks. This provides peace of mind and gives you one less thing to worry about when driving.

It’s a Time Capsule

Apps like MileIQ store your entire drive history and puts it in the cloud so you can access detailed drive mileage logs and drive values effortlessly. You can then use that information to immediately create customized reports for yourself, for your employer, or for auditors or the IRS if need be. Nothing for you to remember; it’s all there automatically.

If you’re one of the 55 million U.S. workers that can claim mileage deductions, this is one way to ensure that you’re accurate tracking your mileage while keeping your hands at 10 and 2. And it’s available to you right now.

If you have any tips for safely tracking mileage for work, please let us know in the comments.