When you haul direct, you are the billing office. You send the invoice with the signed delivery papers, the shipper pays you on agreed terms — often around 30 days — and you keep clean records of every load. Do the paperwork right and payment stays boring, which is what you want.
Agree on payment before the first load rolls
Money talks go best before anyone loads a trailer. On your first deal with a shipper, ask plain questions and get the answers in writing.
- What is the full rate for this load, and does it include fuel?
- What extra pay applies for waiting time, extra stops, or a layover, and how is it counted?
- When does the pay clock start — the day you deliver, or the day your invoice arrives?
- How do they pay — check by mail, or direct deposit to your bank?
- Who is your contact if a payment is missing or short?
None of this is rude to ask. Good shippers answer these questions every day. A shipper who will not put the rate and terms in writing before you roll is a warning sign, no matter how sweet the load sounds.
Save that written rate confirmation for every load. If a dispute comes up weeks later, that one sheet settles most arguments in minutes.
Payment terms, in plain words
You will see phrases like Net 30. That simply means the shipper pays the full invoice within 30 days of the agreed start date. Net 15 means 15 days. Net 45 means 45 days. Net just means the full amount is due, with no discount folded in.
Thirty days is common in direct freight, and it is the biggest change for drivers used to faster broker pay or quick-pay programs. A load you deliver on the first of the month may not hit your bank until the start of the next month.
Plan your cash around that truth. Keep a cushion for fuel, insurance, and the truck payment that does not depend on one invoice landing on one exact day. Drivers who get hurt direct are usually not hurt by bad rates. They are hurt by good rates that pay slower than their bills come due.
Ask about terms for every new shipper, even small ones. Small shippers sometimes pay faster, in a week or two, and some large ones pay slower. Never assume. Ask.
The paperwork package for every load
Most shippers pay from a small packet, and a missing page can hold your money for weeks while nobody tells you why.
For each load, your packet usually needs:
- Your invoice, with your carrier name, invoice number, load details, and the agreed rate
- The signed proof of delivery — the delivery receipt signed by the receiver
- The bill of lading for the load
- The written rate confirmation for that load
- Any extra receipts tied to agreed extra pay, like a lumper receipt
Send the packet the same day you deliver, while the load is fresh. Take clear photos or scans. Blurry, crooked pages get bounced back, and the pay clock often does not restart until a clean copy lands.
Number your invoices in order and never reuse a number. When you call about a late payment, "invoice 1047 for the March 12 load to Nashville" gets you an answer. "That load last month" gets you a shrug.
Factoring, as an option with a real cost
Factoring means a third party buys your invoice and pays you fast — often in a day or two — then collects the full amount from the shipper later. In exchange, they keep a small cut of the load's pay.
For a driver whose bills cannot wait 30 days, that speed can keep the truck rolling. It can be a useful bridge while you build savings.
But it is never free money. The cut comes off every load you factor, and over a year those cuts add up to real money — often enough to matter for tires, repairs, or a month of insurance. Some factoring deals also lock you in, require you to factor all your loads, or hold back part of your pay as a reserve.
Read any factoring deal line by line before you sign. Ask what the full cut is, what happens if a shipper pays late or not at all, and how you end the deal. If the answers are fuzzy, walk away and find a clearer one.
Keeping records so you always know where you stand
You do not need fancy software. You need one steady habit.
Keep a simple list — notebook, spreadsheet, whatever you will actually use — with one line per load: the shipper, the date, the lane, the rate, the invoice number, the date you sent it, and the date you got paid. Glance at it once a week. Any invoice that passes its due date gets a polite call that same week.
That call stays short and kind: "Checking on invoice 1047, sent April 2, for the load to Nashville. Can you tell me when it is set to pay?" Kind and early beats angry and late, every time. Most late payments are lost paperwork, not bad intent, and your call is how the lost page gets found.
Save your packets by shipper and by month, and keep them for your taxes.
The short version
Agree on the rate and the pay clock in writing before you roll. Send a complete, clean invoice packet the day you deliver. If you use factoring, count its true cost first — and keep a weekly list so no late payment ever surprises you.