Vehicle Fuel Log Template for NEMT Vans: Every Fill-Up, Matched to the Fuel Card

A fuel card swipe is quick, and nobody looks at it again until the statement arrives. This log puts every fill-up for one van on one page each month, with the odometer reading that turns gallons into miles per gallon. At month end you check it against the card statement, so a fill that went into the wrong vehicle, or never went into a van at all, shows up while the driver still remembers the day. The miles themselves, for taxes and trip records, go on the NEMT mileage log; this page tracks the fuel.

How to use this template

1. Start one page per van each month. Fill in Part 1 on the first day of the month, including the tank size and the odometer reading.
2. Fill to the automatic shutoff every time. Miles per gallon is only right when each full fill replaces exactly what the van burned since the last one. If a driver has to stop early, write N in the full tank column.
3. Write the line at the pump. The driver writes the date, their initials, the odometer, gallons, price per gallon, total, station and city, and how they paid, before pulling away. If the card asks for an odometer reading, it is the same number.
4. Keep every receipt. Staple receipts to the back of the page in date order, or photograph them the same day. IRS Publication 463 requires a receipt for any fill of $75 or more.
5. Work out miles per gallon at each full fill. Subtract the odometer at the last full fill from this one, then divide by the gallons bought since then, partial fills included.
6. Match the card statement at month end. Complete Part 3 line by line, and ask about every charge with no log line the same week.
7. Carry the totals to Part 4. At year end, Part 4 gives your tax preparer each van’s fuel cost, and gives you the numbers for the monthly fuel review.

The template

Part 1: Van details (one per van, per month)

Field	Write the entry here
Month and year
Fleet number and plate
Year, make, and model
Fuel the van takes (regular, diesel, other)
Tank size in gallons (from the owner’s manual)
EPA combined rating for the base model, or “not rated”
Fuel card assigned to this van (last 4 digits)
Odometer on the first day of the month
Odometer at the last full fill before this month
Odometer on the last day of the month

Part 2: Fill-ups

Date	Driver initials	Odometer	Gallons	Price per gallon	Total paid	Station and city	Paid with (card last 4, or cash)	Full tank (Y or N)	Miles per gallon
Month total

Miles per gallon at a full fill: this odometer minus the odometer at the last full fill, divided by the gallons bought since the last full fill = ______.

Part 3: Month-end match to the card statement

Check	From this log	From the card statement	Difference
Number of fills
Gallons
Dollars

Question	Answer
Charges on the statement with no line on this log (date and amount)
Log lines paid another way (cash or another card), with receipt kept
Any fill larger than the tank
Any grade other than the fuel this van takes
Any item on the card that is not fuel
Any fill on a day the van did not run (check the trip logs)
Miles per gallon this month compared with this van’s usual
What was done about each problem
Checked by, and date

Part 4: Year summary (one per van)

Month	Miles driven	Gallons	Fuel cost	Miles per gallon	Fuel cost per mile
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Year total

Business use for the year, from the mileage log: business miles ÷ total miles × 100 = ______ percent.

Fuel deduction under actual costs: year fuel cost × business use percent = $______.

Example: two weeks, filled in

These are example numbers for Van 3, a wheelchair minivan that takes regular, filled at prices between $4.399 and $4.479 a gallon. Its last full fill before October was at 48,210 miles.

Date	Odometer	Gallons	Total paid	Miles per gallon
Oct. 2	48,512	15.10	$66.42	302 ÷ 15.10 = 20.0
Oct. 6	48,801	14.25	$63.54	289 ÷ 14.25 = 20.3
Oct. 9	49,121	17.05	$76.37	320 ÷ 17.05 = 18.8
Oct. 12	49,262	6.00	$26.39	Partial fill, none
Oct. 14	49,540	14.70	$64.96	419 ÷ 20.70 = 20.2

• The October 9 fill needs its receipt. At $76.37 it is over $75, so the IRS wants documentary evidence, not just the log line.
• The partial fill waits. October 12 gets no miles per gallon. Its 6.00 gallons join the 14.70 bought on October 14, for 20.70 gallons over the 419 miles since the October 9 full fill.
• Two-week totals. The van drove 1,330 miles on 67.10 gallons, or 19.8 miles per gallon, for $297.68 of fuel. That is about 22.4 cents a mile. The fuel cost calculator turns that into a monthly budget.
• The statement shows one extra charge. On October 11, the van’s card bought 9.4 gallons of premium for $51.41 at a station on no route that day. Van 3 takes regular, its miles per gallon stayed steady, and the October 12 and 14 gallons account for every mile, so that fuel did not go into this van. Ask the driver that week.

The IRS rules this log meets

IRS Publication 463 (2025 edition, updated April 30, 2026) sets the record rules for vehicle expenses, and it counts a van as a car. Publication 946 (2025) adds that a vehicle used to carry people for pay is still listed property, so these rules cover a van that carries riders.

• Five or more vans at the same time means actual costs. If you own or lease five or more vehicles used for business at the same time, you cannot use the standard mileage rate for any of them, and you deduct actual expenses instead. Publication 463’s own example is a business with a car and four vans used at the same time: actual expenses for all five. Vehicles you alternate between do not count as used at the same time.
• Under the standard rate, fuel is already counted. With the standard mileage rate, you cannot also deduct that year’s gasoline, including gasoline taxes. The log is then a cost record, not a deduction record. The mileage deduction calculator compares the two methods.
• Actual costs include gas, split by business use. Gas is on Publication 463’s list of actual car expenses. If a van has any personal use, you divide its costs by miles, which is why Part 4 takes the business share from the mileage log. The Schedule C instructions (2025) put the business portion of gasoline on line 9.
• A log with receipts is an adequate record. The IRS accepts an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, or trip sheets, kept with documentary evidence. A log kept weekly counts as timely, a record kept on a computer counts, and you cannot deduct amounts you approximate or estimate.
• Receipts for every fill of $75 or more. Publication 463 requires documentary evidence, such as a receipt, for any expense of $75 or more other than lodging, following 26 CFR 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii). A receipt is adequate if it shows the amount, date, place, and what was bought, which a pump receipt does. With U.S. regular averaging $4.465 a gallon in the week of September 28, 2026 (EIA), a fill over about 16.8 gallons crosses $75.
• The statement proves payment, not the purchase. Publication 583 (updated April 30, 2026) accepts a credit card statement showing the amount charged, the payee’s name, and the transaction date as proof of payment. It also says proof of payment alone does not establish the deduction, so keep the sales slips.
• The log need not repeat the receipt. Publication 463 says you do not have to write in your record what a receipt already shows, as long as the two fit together in order. That is why receipts go on the back of the page in date order.
• Scans count if they stay readable. Publication 583 lets you keep records by electronic imaging if the system can index, store, preserve, retrieve, and reproduce them legibly, under Revenue Procedure 97-22.

How long to keep it all, and how it fits with the rest of your tax records, is in NEMT business taxes and NEMT record retention.

Fuel taxes: IFTA and federal credits

IFTA. The International Fuel Tax Agreement covers qualified motor vehicles that run in more than one member state or province. New York’s tax department (page updated August 19, 2026) defines one as a vehicle for passengers or property with two axles and a gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds, three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination over 26,000 pounds. The weight rating is on the certification label at the driver’s door edge or door frame (49 CFR 567.4). A two-axle van rated 26,000 pounds or less files no IFTA returns, so this log is for your own costs and taxes, not a fuel tax report.

Federal fuel tax credits. Publication 510 (December 2025) lists the federal tax at 18.4 cents a gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon of diesel. Its credit for intercity and local buses goes only to buses open to the general public that run scheduled regular routes, or nonscheduled buses seating at least 20 adults besides the driver, and it says vans used for van-pooling or taxi service do not qualify. Its separate credit for a qualified local bus needs service open to the general public, 20 adult seats, scheduled routes, and a state or local government contract or subsidy. A van carrying booked Medicaid riders fits neither, so the federal tax stays part of your fuel cost.

What the EPA rating can and cannot tell you

Part 1 asks for the base model’s EPA combined rating. The fuel cost calculator lists the 2026 minivan ratings. Full-size vans such as the Ford Transit and Chevrolet Express carry no 2026 EPA rating, so your log is the only number for them. Either way, a rating comes from the manufacturer’s test vehicle, not a converted van on NEMT routes.

• The test load is light. EPA tests assume only 300 pounds of passengers and cargo. FuelEconomy.gov says extra weight, more idling than the city test includes, and the air conditioner on max (5% to 25%) all lower miles per gallon, and gasoline with 10% ethanol lowers it 3% to 4%.
• New engines need time. A new vehicle does not reach its best fuel economy until the engine breaks in, which can take 3,000 to 5,000 miles, so a new van’s first months on this log can read low.

FuelEconomy.gov calls EPA ratings a useful tool for comparing vehicles, though they may not predict the mileage you get. Use the base model’s rating to compare vans before you buy (see minivan vs full-size wheelchair van). Use three months of this log to budget. A van that falls well below its own usual number, while its twin holds steady, belongs in the vehicle maintenance log for a check.