If you have just started your transport company, then you would probably be wishing for a way, to have ready cash in your hands to pay off your daily and recurring expenses. Well, there is a way for making your freight company grows and it is called ‘Freight Factoring’.

Freight factoring is a financial tool available in the market, wherein you can “sell” your freight credit invoices to a freight factoring company. This factoring company will take the freight invoice off your hands and collect the invoice amount from your customer on the due date. They will pay you the invoice amount in 2 installments. The 1st installment will be wired to your account immediately within 24 to 48 hours and could be around 90% of the Invoice value. The 2nd installment will be wired after your customer makes the payment on the due date minus the factoring company’s ‘factoring fees’. The percentage of the factoring fees is around 1.5 to 5% and will depend on the credit you have given to your customer, the credit worthiness of your customer in the factoring company’s eyes, and the total volume of business you give to your factoring company.

The first advantage you get in factoring is that your cash flow breaks the credit period span and starts flowing immediately, thereby enabling you to pay your fuel bills, your salaries and even help you in expanding your business. You can now take up more hauling business, which would have been difficult earlier, due to finance constraints holding you back. The second advantage is that most freight factoring companies can take care of your payment receivables, i.e. they will collect the payment on the due date from your customer.

This can enable you to be free from the tension of payment recovery and you can divert your staff to another department. Hence, again you save your time and money. The third advantage is that some factoring companies also offer non-recourse factoring i.e. they take complete responsibility of payments from your customers and in case of non-payment, they will not hold you responsible. This will ensure that you sleep well at night, knowing that you will not be running after late or non paying customers.

You could also apply for a loan from your local bank, but that would require you to submit collateral and various documents such as your previous 3 years profit and loss statements and balance sheets. If you are a startup company, then you will not be able to submit the previous 3 years statements and if you were doing really well, then you would not be requiring a loan. Anyway, even if you do get a loan, you would still have to pay interest on it. So, a freight factoring company can get into action within the least number of days and with the least amount of documentation.

So, in short, a freight factoring company is not only a financial tool, but is more like an extension to your company by helping you increase your cash flow and also taking care of your collection side of your business. It also grows along with your business and in future, the more business you give them could result in even less factoring fees to be paid to them. So, it is a win-win situation for you and hence could make your transport company grow along with your freight factoring company.



Thanks to Kris Koonar for contributing this article to our Factoring blog:

Instant Working Capital

If your trucking business caters to clients on a credit basis, then you might feel the need for regular finance to run your business smoothly. A freight factoring company could help you by providing ready finance against your credit invoices.

Freight factoring companies are financing companies that buy your credit invoices from you. These companies then proceed to wire the invoice amount to your bank account within 24 to 48 hours. The Freight factoring companies retain a ‘factoring fee’ from the invoice amount as their service fees. This fee could range from 1.5% to 5% depending on the arrangement that you have with your freight factoring company. This money can be extremely useful for you to pay your fuel and servicing bills, your employees’ salaries and can even fund your expansion plans. Your freight factoring company could also arrange to collect the payment from your clients on the due date. However, it is essential to locate the right freight factoring company for your trucking business, since your reputation too could suffer due to the misdeeds of the factoring company.

You can compile a list of probable freight factoring companies by looking up the Internet or checking various advertisements placed in related to trade magazines. If any of your friends can refer a factoring company, then it could be better. Check and crosscheck the factoring company, before tying up with them. The freight factoring company should have enough experience in working with trucking companies with similar needs as yours. This will eliminate any trial-and-error processes during the setting-up phase. Since, your clients will also need to be informed of your tie-up with the factoring company, you will need to ensure that they are comfortable with the new arrangement. The freight factoring company’s staff should be polite and tactful, while handling your clients. They should not end up irritating your clients in their zeal to recover any outstanding payments.

The ideal freight factoring company should also have enough funds to wire the amount into your account within the decided time limit. They should not delay any payments or provide lame excuses for the delay on a regular basis. They should also not insist on a long-term contract, since this might prevent you from parting ways, in case you are not comfortable with the arrangement. The factoring fees should be reasonable, but this rate should not be the only criteria, while making your choice.

The factoring company should also have the latest data on hand, so that there is no confusion regarding collection of payments. The factoring company should be easily accessible over the phone, fax and email and should communicate promptly in case of any problem. There should be one or two answerable people in your factoring company that are personally involved in handling your account. The company should also have the resources to grow along with your business. The factoring company should also not withhold any additional sum from your invoice, until your client pays up. They should pay you the entire invoice amount minus the factoring fee immediately. Inquire with some of their regular clients to get an accurate feedback about the factoring company’s quality of service.

You should thus conduct a proper research into the credentials of all the prospective freight factoring companies, before deciding on the ideal freight factoring company that suits your business. The right freight factoring company can hence put an end to your cash flow problems and enable you to haul away smoothly.



Thanks to Kris Koonar for contributing this article to our Factoring blog:

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