Trucking collections: how to get brokers and shippers to pay your freight bills

A freight bill passes through many hands: dispatch, the driver, your office, and the customer's payables team, who check it against their own records before it joins a payment run. Each handoff is a place it can stop.

The common blockers:

• No proof of delivery, or a bad copy. The bill of lading (BOL) came back unsigned, the receiver's signature is missing, or the scan is too blurry to read. Most brokers will not pay without a clean, signed POD.
• The invoice does not match the rate confirmation. A different load number, a different rate, or charges the rate confirmation does not mention. Payables will hold it until someone explains the difference.
• Unapproved accessorials. Detention, layover, lumper fees, a truck order not used (TONU) or an extra stop that was agreed by phone but never added to the rate confirmation in writing.
• Missing receipts. A lumper charge with no lumper receipt, or a scale ticket that never made it into the packet.
• Wrong contact or channel. The invoice went to the dispatcher who booked the load, not to the carrier payables email or portal the broker actually uses.
• The customer cannot or will not pay. It happens, which is why the credit check before the first load matters.

Your accounts receivable aging report will usually show which it is. Many small past due loads from one broker point to a paperwork problem. One large balance getting older with no reply points to a cash problem.

Most chasing can be avoided at booking.

Check new customers. Before the first load for a broker or shipper you have not worked with, look at their credit and payment history with the credit or load board tools you already use, and ask carriers you trust. A load that pays well is not worth much if it never pays.

Read the rate confirmation before you accept it. It is the document payables will hold your invoice against. Make sure it shows:

• The load number and any customer reference that must appear on your invoice.
• The linehaul rate and fuel surcharge, if separate.
• Detention, layover, TONU and lumper terms, including how much free time applies and how detention must be recorded.
• Payment terms, and any quick pay option and what it costs.
• Where to send invoices and what documents they require.

If an extra charge is agreed after booking, ask for a revised rate confirmation or at least an email confirming it, before the driver leaves the stop. An approval by phone is a common start to an accessorial dispute.

Quick pay works like an early payment discount: you take less money to get it sooner, so work out what it costs you as an annual rate before you say yes.

Every day between delivery and invoicing is a day added to your wait. Send the invoice the day the load delivers, or the next morning, with everything payables will ask for.

A complete billing packet for one load:

• The invoice, with the load number exactly as it appears on the rate confirmation, your invoice number, the pickup and delivery dates, and the total.
• The rate confirmation, signed if the broker requires it.
• The signed BOL or POD, a clear, full-page scan, not a phone photo of a corner of it.
• Accessorial support: lumper receipts, scale tickets, and detention times showing arrival, check-in and departure.
• Payment details and a named contact for billing questions.

Send it through the channel the customer asked for, including their carrier portal if they use one. Keep one invoice per load, so one problem load does not hold up the rest.

Brokers and shippers usually pay in scheduled payment runs. A sensible schedule follows that rhythm:

For general wording at each stage, see our past due invoice email templates. The templates below cover the replies that come up in trucking.

When an accessorial charge is questioned

Subject: Detention on load [Load number], invoice [Invoice number]

Hi [First name],

Invoice [Invoice number] includes [Accessorial amount] for
[Detention / lumper / layover] on load [Load number].

[Name] approved this by email on [Date], and the [arrival and
departure times / lumper receipt] are attached.

If you can approve the linehaul now, we are happy for that to be
paid while the [accessorial] is confirmed.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Splitting the payment gets the undisputed part paid while the rest is settled. If the customer disagrees with the charge itself, treat it as an invoice dispute and agree what was approved before you chase further.

When the broker says the shipper has not paid them

Subject: Payment for load [Load number], invoice [Invoice number]

Hi [First name],

I understand you are waiting on payment from your customer.
Our rate confirmation for load [Load number] was with [Broker
name], on [Payment terms] from delivery, and was not dependent
on your customer paying you.

The invoice [Invoice number] for [Amount] was due on [Due date].
Could you confirm the date you will pay it?

Thanks,
[Your name]

Check your rate confirmation and any broker-carrier agreement before you send this. If your agreement does tie your payment to theirs, you need different wording and possibly advice.

A short pay is when the customer pays less than the invoice. In trucking it usually means a deduction they did not explain: a cargo claim, a late delivery fine, a fee for a missing document, or an accessorial they decided not to approve.

Do not let it sit. Ask for the reason in writing, check it against the rate confirmation, then either accept it, correct it with the right document, or dispute it with your evidence. If the remittance does not say what was deducted, ask for the remittance advice before anything else.

Subject: Short payment on invoice [Invoice number], load [Load number]

Hi [First name],

We received [Amount paid] against invoice [Invoice number] for
[Invoice amount], leaving [Difference] unpaid.

Could you tell me what the deduction was for, and send any
supporting documents? Once I can see the reason, I will either
correct our records or send you what you need to release the balance.

Thanks,
[Your name]

If you sell your freight invoices to a factoring company, the factor usually collects them, and your customer has been told to pay the factor, not you. Do not chase a factored invoice yourself unless your agreement says to, or you can confuse the customer and delay payment. Your job is still a complete billing packet: a factor cannot collect on a load with no signed POD either.

Decide your rule before you need it. For example: no new loads for a broker once an invoice is 30 days past due without an agreed payment date. Apply it the same way to every customer, and tell them before it applies, not when they try to book the next load.

If a customer has a genuine cash problem and wants to clear the balance over time, a written payment plan agreement gets you a schedule rather than a vague promise.

If chasing has failed, the usual next steps are a final written notice, a collection agency, or a lawyer. Carriers in the US may also have options that depend on federal transportation rules and on the broker's own arrangements. Those rules are specific and can be time-sensitive, so check them with a transportation lawyer early, not after the invoice is a year old. This is general information, not legal advice.