A simple workflow to recover tolls from your guests

October 6, 2026 · 2 min read · The FleetWise team · Tollsoperationsaccounting

Tolls are one of the quiet leaks in a rental fleet. A few dollars at a time, they add up, and without a routine many hosts simply absorb them. Here is a workflow that works for most fleets.

Toll rules and how each platform handles them change over time. Check the current policy of your platform and your state's toll agencies.

1. Collect the statements

Each toll agency issues its own statement or lets you download a file from its portal. Pick a regular day (for example, the first of the month) and download everything for your plates and any transponders.

2. Match each toll to a trip

A toll belongs to the guest who had the car at that moment. Compare the date and time of each toll with each trip's start and end. Three outcomes are common:

• Inside a trip window: it belongs to that guest.
• Between trips: it is your own operating cost (repositioning, cleaning runs).
• Unclear: timing is close to the boundary or the plate was not on the car. Review these by hand.

Time zones matter. Compare toll times in the local time of the trip, not a mix of zones.

3. Decide who pays and how to claim it

Depending on how the toll was charged and which platform the trip came through, you may claim it through the platform's process or bill the guest directly on a direct booking. Keep the evidence together: the statement line, the trip dates and the plate.

4. Record it correctly

Treat toll money you expect to recover as a receivable, not as a final expense. When the guest or the platform pays, clear it. Anything you do not recover becomes a real cost of operating the car. This keeps your profit per car honest.

5. Review the leftovers every month

Look at the tolls that never matched a trip. They point to timing issues, wrong plates or vehicles that were moved without a trip, and they tell you where to tighten your process.

Automating the routine

FleetWise imports toll statements, matches each toll to the trip window, flags the unclear ones for review and posts the right ledger entries, so a monthly chore becomes a short review.