Gift cards vs cash incentives for truck drivers: the research, the card rules and a decision matrix

Cash is the most flexible incentive, and it is what most people pick when given the choice. Gift cards are less flexible, but workplace studies have found them as motivating or more. In one study, employees who chose gift cards were about 25% more likely to finish a wellness challenge. For truck drivers, the practical tests are where the card works on the road and when it expires.

Gift cards vs cash at a glance

What the research says about gift cards vs cash

Three studies, none of them about truck drivers, frame the question. We cover the wider cash-versus-rewards evidence in cash safety bonus vs rewards.

• The choice people make is not always the one that works. In six-week workplace wellness challenges reported by BYU (published in Management Accounting Research), about 60% chose cash, 30% a gift card and 10% a tangible item of equal value. Gift-card choosers were about 25% more likely to complete the challenge, holding other factors constant. The authors' explanation: a gift card sits between the fun of a gift and the flexibility of cash.
• Gift cards kept losing retailers trying. In two back-to-back sales contests at a rug wholesaler (Kelly, Presslee and Webb, The Accounting Review, 2017), reward type made no significant difference in round one. In round two, retailers competing for gift cards significantly outperformed retailers competing for cash, driven by round-one losers.
• People prefer money but respond to gifts. In a field experiment in the American Economic Review (Kube, Maréchal and Puppe, 2012), nonmonetary gifts had a much stronger effect on performance than money of equal value. Workers offered the choice preferred money. Money worked better when the employer put more effort into how it was given.

FMCSA's Safety Management Cycle for the Unsafe Driving BASIC (January 2013) lists gift certificates alongside bonuses and verbal recognition as ways to reward safe driving. FMCSA's guidance is a recommendation, not a requirement, and does not endorse any vendor.

The four kinds of gift cards in the federal rule

Federal rules sort gift cards by where they work and why they were issued. Under Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.20 (final and in effect as of October 2026):

That last row matters for incentives. It changes which expiration and fee rules apply.

Gift card expiration and fees: the rules as of October 2026

For gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards, 12 CFR 1005.20 says:

• Expiration: the underlying funds can't expire sooner than five years after the card was issued or last loaded, and the expiration date must be disclosed on the card.
• Dormancy or inactivity fees: only after a year with no activity, only if the fee is disclosed on the card, and no more than one fee a month.

Award and promotional cards are excluded from those protections. The rule excludes a "loyalty, award, or promotional gift card" from those definitions. Instead, such a card must state on its front that it is issued for loyalty, award or promotional purposes, and show the expiration date of the funds. Fees and a toll-free number must also be disclosed. So a gift card a driver receives through an incentive program can carry a shorter expiration than one bought at a store. Read the front of the card, and ask your card supplier what the expiration is before you buy.

State laws can add their own gift card rules. We did not review them for this article.

Will the card work on the road?

A gift card is only worth something if the driver can use it where they stop.

• Truck stop gift cards. Pilot's terms say its gift card balances do not expire and carry no service or inactivity fees. Cards bought in the U.S. work only at participating Pilot locations in the U.S. We did not review Love's or TA gift card terms.
• Truck stop points are a separate thing. The big chains' loyalty points can't be used to buy gift cards. That exclusion appears in Pilot's terms, on Love's Rewards, and in TA's rules. Our truck stop rewards comparison covers those programs.
• Digital delivery. Over-the-road drivers may not see the terminal for weeks. Some vendor programs send cards to a phone or email. Azuga, for example, says it sends reward gift cards to the driver's mobile app or by email and confirms redemption.

Non-cash incentives for drivers beyond gift cards

Gift cards are one non-cash option. The others fleets use:

• Merchandise and gear a driver uses on the job.
• Recognition awards, such as years-of-safe-driving pins or certificates, with no money value.
• Truck stop points bought by the fleet, where a chain allows it (Pilot's terms mention "Purchased Points" from employers).
• Time and schedule, such as preferred home time, where operations allow.

Which one fits depends on what your drivers value, which is a question to ask them. For the role of praise and awards, see recognition vs rewards. For a sourced list of vendor programs, see our guide to fleet rewards programs.

Decision matrix: cash, open-loop card, chain card or merchandise

Should you let drivers choose between a gift card and cash?

You can, and drivers will like having the choice. Just don't treat the choice as proof of what motivates. In the BYU study, six in ten people picked cash, yet the gift-card group was the one more likely to finish. In the Kube experiment, workers who preferred money still responded more to the gift. A fair approach: offer the choice, then look at what changes, such as inspection results or reported hazards, over the next few months rather than at what drivers picked.

Gift card mistakes to avoid with drivers

• A card for a merchant that isn't on their lanes. An over-the-road driver may never pass that store.
• A physical card mailed to the terminal. If the driver is out for weeks, the reward arrives long after the reason for it.
• Not reading the face of an award card. Award and promotional cards can expire sooner than retail cards under 12 CFR 1005.20.
• The same card for everyone on the same day. That is a gift, not an incentive. Both have a place, but they do different jobs.
• No record of who got what. Keep a simple log of the driver, the reason, the card and the date, so you can answer questions later.

How to give a gift card so it counts

The Kube study found that the effort an employer put into presenting money changed how workers responded. The same applies to cards.

1. Say what it is for. Name the driver and the specific behavior, such as a clean inspection.
2. Give it while the run is fresh. The driver should be able to connect the reward to what they did.
3. Make sure it works where they are. A card for a store that isn't on their lanes is a card that sits in the cab.
4. Check the expiration before you hand it over. Award cards can expire sooner than retail cards.
5. Don't let it become routine pay. A card on the same date every month, for everyone, starts to look like wages.

For keeping drivers beyond incentives, see driver retention without raising pay.

Off Duty Not Driving Rewards is a rewards program for trucking fleets. Contact our team to learn more.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm requirements against the current regulation text and with your compliance counsel.