If your trucking company is having a difficult time with the billing process and getting unpaid invoices resolved in a timely manner, you’re not alone. We understand the fear of having to wait 30-90 days before an invoice is paid can have your trucking company worried about its future.
This is an issue most trucking companies will face at some point, but there are a ton of ways you can prevent this from happening to your trucking company.
Below, we’re going to talk about some of the more significant ways you can get your invoices paid faster so your cash flow can remain healthy — including reconsidering the billing process, introducing late fees, offering different payment options, and utilizing freight factoring.
Reconsider Your Billing Process
As the world becomes more digital and electronic, your trucking company needs to follow suit and make it easier for clients to pay their invoices. When you can simplify the billing process for the customer, it will often incentivize them to pay as soon as they can.
One of the best ways to do this is by automating the process whenever possible. Technology today offers a wide range of solutions and should be implemented throughout your company — including team management systems that help organize client and employee information.
Introduce Late Fees When Necessary
No one likes to receive a late fee and your clients are no different. If you’re sick of seeing invoices go unpaid past the 90-day mark, late fees are necessary because they act as an alarm clock for your client. In the event they’ve forgotten, they won’t forget anymore once they see that late fee.
It’s important not to be harsh with the late fee and always make sure it’s included in the contract with your client, but understand that it’s a powerful tool that your trucking company can take advantage of when getting invoices paid faster.
Offer Different Payment Options
When you’re dealing with customers in different industries and different backgrounds, you’re going to get customers that handle their finances differently. With that being said, you will likely come across clients that like to pay in a wide variety of ways and your trucking company should be prepared to accept those options.
PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, ACH processing, credit and debit cards, checks, and bitcoin are some of the more popular ways clients like to pay. The more options you offer, the easier you make for the client to pay — and they’ll appreciate that.
Utilize Freight Factoring
Finally, we have one of the most useful weapons your trucking company will have when growing and developing your business — freight factoring. Not only will a factor send you an advance on any unpaid invoices you have, but they’ll handle the billing process so you can get back to what’s most important — trucking.
Freight factors also offer fuel cards and discounts on truck maintenance or repair, which could lead to massive savings each month. With the way the economy is at any given point in time, your business will always benefit from some savings wherever they come from.
To get started with freight factoring, head over to our top-rated companies and fill out an application. The process is extremely fast and easy!
References
Rampton, John. “6 Hacks for Getting Clients to Pay You Faster.” Entrepreneur, 28 Nov. 2017, www.entrepreneur.com/article/305096.
Corp, Apex Capital. “Apex Freight Factoring: The Fastest Way to Get Paid.” Apex Capital | Freight Factoring for Trucking Companies, 26 June 2020, www.apexcapitalcorp.com/factoring/.