Capital that keeps the wheels turning.

How do trucking companies get cash before the broker pays?

They factor the invoice. Factoring means you sell the freight bill to a funding company at a small discount and get paid right away. A typical advance is 90 to 95 cents on the dollar, wired the same day or the next. The factor then waits the 30 to 45 days for the broker to pay. You cover fuel and driver pay this week instead of next month. Rates run a few percent of invoice value, and the cost is usually less than what a missed load costs you.

Why factoring fits trucking

Factors like trucking paper more than almost any other kind. The bills go out to commercial brokers with real credit. Payment terms are the same across the industry. And a load can be verified against the load board in minutes. Less guesswork means lower rates, so factoring is cheaper in trucking than in most other industries. Factoring is what we lead with for fleets and owner-operators alike.

What we see funded

• Daily AR factoring for owner-operators and small fleets — every load financed as it’s delivered, fuel and pay covered without a wait.
• Equipment financing for tractors, trailers, reefers. Specialty lenders who understand commercial trucks read these deals very differently from generalist lenders — we route accordingly.
• Working capital lines for fuel cost spikes, maintenance, and dispatch software.
• Bridge capital for sudden expenses — a major repair, an unexpected DOT compliance cost, an opportunity to take a higher-paying contract that requires upfront expense.

What a trucking deal usually looks like

A three-truck outfit hauling dry van bills about $55K a month. Fuel and payroll go out every week. The brokers pay in 38 days on average. We set up a factoring line with a 92% advance. On a $6,200 load, the driver’s pay and the fuel card are covered the day the paperwork clears. The setup takes three to five business days, most of it spent verifying the broker list.

Buying iron is a different deal. A used sleeper at $85K, financed over 60 months, with 10% down and one year of authority behind you. Expect a decision in two to four days and funding at the dealer within a week.

What lenders look at

It depends on which product you’re after.

For factoring, the factor checks your customers, not you. They pull broker credit, confirm MC numbers, and look at how those brokers have paid in the past. Your own credit barely comes up. A brand-new authority can factor on day one if the brokers are solid.

For equipment financing, the lender checks you. Most want at least a year of authority. New-authority deals still get placed, just with more money down. They also want CDL history and the numbers on the truck itself — what it earns per mile against what it costs to run.

Equipment underwriting works much the same way in construction, where lenders read an excavator the way they read a tractor: as collateral that holds value and pays for itself.

What we recommend

Running loads and waiting on money? Factor first. Buying a truck or a trailer? Equipment financing through a trucking specialist. Steady deposits and a need for cash that isn’t tied to any one invoice? A line of credit. Tell us the situation and we’ll match the structure.