Freight Bill Factoring - the Easy Way to Finance your Transportation Company

Is your trucking company or freight brokerage stuck in neutral? One of the biggest challenges that you will face as a transportation company owner is dealing with clients that don’t offer quick pays, and instead, pay freight bills in 30 to 60 days. This can be very challenging for new and growing companies since you have expenses that need to be paid now, such as suppliers, repairs, rent and drivers.

One alternative is to try to negotiate quick payments from your clients. However you may soon find that your pleas will meet deaf ears – clients pay in 30 days because they have to. That is how they manage their own cash flow. Another alternative is to go to a bank for business financing. However, getting a business loan can be challenging. Banks will not offer business loans to companies that don’t have, at a minimum, 2 years of profitable operations and a solid balance sheet.

There is an alternative, however. And often, it is better than a conventional business loan. It’s the ultimate quick pay tool and it does not require that your customer pay any sooner than they do now. This solution is called freight factoring.

Factoring financing provides you with an advance of 90% (sometimes even more) on your freight bills, as soon as the load is delivered. This gives you the necessary working capital to pay business expenses – drivers, rent, fuel and repairs. The remaining 10%, less a small fee, is advanced once the freight bill is actually paid by your customer.

Factoring freight bills offers a number of advantages over conventional business loans. It is easy to get and can be set up quickly, usually in a matter of days. But unlike a line of credit which usually has limits, invoice factoring has none. It is tied directly to your sales and your growth. In other words, your financing line is directly based on your ability to grow your trucking company or freight brokerage.

Few banks offer factoring financing so you’ll have to go to a factoring company if you want to get this type of financing. Fortunately, it’s becoming quite popular and there are a number of factoring companies that offer competitive products.

And how much does factoring cost? It’s surprisingly competitive. Monthly rates vary and will be based on the credit quality of your customers and the amount of financing you need. Generally, rates go from 1.5% per month for a high volume account to 3.5% for a smaller account. So, if you have a transportation company that is on the grow, be sure to consider transportation factoring financing.