Freight factoring: get paid for this week's loads before your next reset
You deliver on Tuesday. The broker pays in 30 to 45 days, sometimes longer. Meanwhile fuel, insurance and the truck payment come due every week. Freight factoring closes that gap: you sell the invoice to a factoring company, it pays you most of the amount within about a day, and it collects from the broker. We refer carriers to our factoring partner, RTS, for a real quote.
- ~1 DAYtypical funding
- 1-5%typical fee range
- 30-45days brokers take
RANGES: FREIGHTWAVES, FEB 2026
FACTORING QUOTE · STEP 1 OF 3
Monthly invoices
Trucks
WAIT FOR BROKER
$2,500
IN ~30-45 DAYS
FACTOR AT 3%
$2,425
IN ~1 DAY
EXAMPLE. 3% IS ILLUSTRATIVE; YOUR RATE COMES FROM THE QUOTE.
We refer carriers to a factoring partner, RTS, and may be paid for referrals. Disclosure
How trucking factoring works in three steps
Factoring isn't complicated, and it isn't a loan. It's the sale of an invoice you've already earned. Here's the whole cycle for one load.
- 1Deliver and get the signed paperwork
- 2Submit the invoice to your factor
- 3Get funded, the factor collects
01Once the load delivers, you have the rate confirmation, the signed bill of lading or proof of delivery, and your invoice. Snap clear photos before you leave the receiver.
02Upload the documents through the factor's app or portal. The factor checks that the paperwork matches and that the broker's credit is good.
03The factor pays you the invoice amount minus its fee, usually within a day. When the broker pays, the payment goes to the factor, not to you, and the deal is closed.
The documents every factor asks for
Rate confirmation
BOL / POD
Invoice
Notice of assignment
DELIVERY DAY ON THE LOG
Here is the delivery day on a log. The load delivers mid-afternoon, and the paperwork goes in while you're still on duty at the receiver, as part of the job. Then you go off duty for your 10-hour break. With RTS, funding comes within 24 hours of an uploaded invoice, so the money from today's load can land before tomorrow's pickup, not five weeks from now.
What slows funding down
Blurry or cut-off photos
Missing receiver signature
Amounts that don't match
A broker with weak credit
A month of loads on a funding calendar
Eight EXAMPLE loads over four weeks. Switch between waiting for brokers and factoring each invoice, and move the fee slider. Watch the cash-on-hand column: the loads and the costs never change, only the day the money shows up.
FUNDING CALENDAR · ONE MONTH · EXAMPLE
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | CASH ON HAND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK 1 | DELIVER DAL-ATL INV $2,350 | FUNDED $2,279 | DELIVER ATL-CLT INV $1,980 | FUNDED $1,921 | $5,300 | |||
| WK 2 | DELIVER CLT-CHI INV $2,600 | FUNDED $2,522 | DELIVER CHI-MEM INV $2,150 | FUNDED $2,085 | $7,007 | |||
| WK 3 | DELIVER MEM-DEN INV $2,450 | FUNDED $2,376 | DELIVER DEN-OKC INV $1,800 | FUNDED $1,746 | $8,229 | |||
| WK 4 | DELIVER OKC-PHX INV $2,700 | FUNDED $2,619 | DELIVER PHX-DAL INV $2,050 | FUNDED $1,988 | $9,936 |
CASH ON HAND, END OF EACH WEEK
Same loads, same $2,900 a week in fuel, insurance and payments, starting with $4,000 in the bank. The only change is when the money arrives.
- INVOICED
- $18,080
- RECEIVED THIS MONTH
- $17,536
- FACTORING FEES
- $544
- CASH, END OF MONTH
- $9,936
EXAMPLE numbers. Assumes the factor funds the full invoice minus its fee the day after delivery; some factors hold a reserve until the broker pays.
That's the real reason most small carriers factor. It isn't that factoring is cheap; it's that running out of cash in week two, with five weeks of earned money still on its way, is far more expensive. A missed truck payment, a fuel card declined at the pump or a load turned down because you can't fund the trip costs more than a few percent.
See my factoring rateWhat freight factoring costs
Factoring has two numbers, and they're often confused. The advance rate is how much of the invoice you get up front. The factoring fee is what the factor charges for the service. According to FreightWaves, a normal advance in trucking is about 70% to 95% of the invoice, with some programs advertising up to 100%, and most carriers pay fees of about 1.5% to 4%, within a broader range of 1% to 5% per invoice.
Where you land in that range depends on your monthly volume, the credit of the brokers you haul for, whether the agreement is recourse or non-recourse, and how the contract is set up. Watch for the costs that don't show up in the headline rate: fees for same-day transfers, monthly minimums, charges per invoice, or a reserve held back until the broker pays. Ask for every fee in writing and add them up on a sample month before you sign.
A simple way to compare offers is the cost on one real invoice. Take a $2,500 load. At a 3% fee, factoring costs $75 and you get $2,425 within a day. If the factor also holds a 5% reserve, $125 of that comes later, when the broker pays. Do that math for each quote and the cheapest one is usually obvious.
ONE $2,500 INVOICEEXAMPLE
- ADVANCE, DAY 1$2,300
- RESERVE, WHEN BROKER PAYS$125
- FEE (3%)$75
Our factoring partner: RTS
We refer factoring requests to RTS. On its own pages, RTS says it funds within 24 hours of an uploaded invoice, offers non-recourse factoring, has no hidden fees, places no limit on how much funding it provides, and has more than 30 years of freight factoring experience, with an app for submitting invoices. Your rate and terms come from RTS, not from us, and depend on your business. We may be paid for the referral; that never changes your rate.
How brokers see it when you factor
Brokers deal with factored carriers every day. A large share of small carriers factor, and most brokers have a process for it. The only change on their side is where the payment goes.
That change happens through the notice of assignment, or NOA. It's a short letter from your factor to the broker that says, in effect, pay this carrier's invoices to us from now on. The broker updates its payee records, and from then on payments for your loads go to the factor. You don't send an NOA for every load, just once for each broker you haul for.
Two things matter here. First, once an NOA is in place, a broker that pays you directly instead of the factor may still owe the factor, which creates a mess for everyone, so keep payments flowing the way the NOA says. Second, if you ever switch factors, the old factor sends the broker a release letter and the new factor sends a new NOA. That's routine, but it needs to be done in the right order.
Some brokers offer their own quick-pay program instead: pay in a few days for a fee. That can work for a few loads, but it only covers that one broker. Factoring covers every broker on one schedule.
Recourse or non-recourse: who carries the risk
With recourse factoring, if a broker doesn't pay, the invoice comes back to you and you repay the advance. With non-recourse factoring, the factor carries the credit risk if a broker can't pay because of insolvency, though disputes about the load itself, such as damage or a short delivery, usually stay with you. Non-recourse often costs a little more. Read the definition in the contract, since the protection is only as broad as the wording.
What to check in a factoring agreement before you sign
Most factoring problems start with a contract the carrier skimmed. These are the lines worth reading twice.
Term and notice
Termination fee
Every fee, in writing
Reserve and its release
Recourse terms
All invoices or some
A good factor will answer every one of these plainly and put the answers in writing. If you get vague answers about fees or the exit, keep looking.
Factoring at each stage of a trucking business
- STAGE 1
New authority
Your first months are when cash is tightest: insurance down payments, a new truck note, and no history with brokers. Factoring works from your first load because factors look mostly at broker credit, and a factor's broker credit checks help you avoid slow payers while you're learning who to trust.
- STAGE 2
Owner-operator
With one truck, one late payment can stall the whole week. Steady funding a day after each delivery lets you plan fuel, maintenance and home time instead of waiting on a broker's accounts payable department.
- STAGE 3
Small fleet
Several trucks mean several fuel bills and payroll for drivers. Factoring keeps cash moving at the pace the trucks earn it, and higher monthly volume usually means a better rate to negotiate.
When factoring doesn't make sense
If you already have enough cash to cover a month or more of costs, and your brokers pay on time, factoring may cost you more than it's worth. The same goes if you haul mostly for one or two shippers who pay in a week or two. Factoring is a cash-flow tool. Use it when the gap between delivering and getting paid is what's holding your business back, and drop it when it isn't. Many carriers factor through their first year, build a cash cushion, and then factor only slow-paying brokers or stop altogether. That's a healthy path, so choose an agreement that lets you leave without a large exit fee.
We refer carriers to a factoring partner, RTS, and may be paid for referrals. It does not change your rate. RTS sets its own rates and terms.
Factoring plus dispatch: paperwork without the chasing
If you dispatch with us, our dispatchers send the rate con, BOL and POD to your factor as soon as the load delivers, so invoices are funded without you chasing documents from the cab. Dispatch and factoring are separate services: you don't need one to use the other, and our dispatch fee stays the same either way. Every load still reaches you as a rate confirmation first, and you can say no.
We refer carriers to a factoring partner, RTS, and may be paid for referrals. It does not change your rate. RTS sets its own rates and terms. Disclosure
Stop waiting five weeks for money you've already earned
Three short steps. Your request goes to RTS, and you hear back with a real rate.
Get my factoring quote