Trucking runs on thin margins and long payment cycles: fuel and driver pay go out daily, while brokers and shippers pay in 30–45 days. Managing that spread well is the difference between a fleet that grows and one that is perpetually one breakdown away from crisis.
Factoring — selling invoices for immediate payment minus a fee — is common in trucking and can make sense for young fleets with no other access to credit. But at 2–4% per invoice, factoring every load is expensive money. As your operation matures, a line of credit against the same receivables usually costs meaningfully less, and you keep the customer relationship and the full invoice value.
Equipment financing spreads a tractor or trailer purchase over up to 60 months with the vehicle as collateral. The discipline that matters: match the term to the revenue life of the asset, and keep truck payments out of the working capital you need for fuel and payroll.
Separate your three money problems — daily operating cash, the receivables gap, and equipment purchases — and finance each with the tool built for it. Fleets get into trouble when one pool of cash is asked to do all three jobs.
