Hi guys and gals! Here’s my question, planning on going O/O and have a rather mundane ask; Lets say I do a load from Boston to Cleveland with a load from the board, I deliver on time, and send the broker the signed POD etc along with an invoice, how do they pay typically? E-check? Direct deposit? Check via USPS? Thank you! Quinn
I like a paper cheque in the mail. Some offer direct deposit, many of these if you read carefully in all the stipulations it also has in there something along the lines of, "we may WITHDRAW money from your account if you are overpaid," or if they decide a claim on the load, a whole bunch of reasons. Some people will say to have an extra account and move the money out immediately. To each their own. You can get a T-chek code from some of them if that is your thing. I've never actually used a T-chek. Some of them will offer extras like a fuel card with fuel discounts. This is rare, I think Schneider does it and maybe Landstar, but don't quote me on it. Basicly you do the load and can choose to load the money onto their fuel card they have given you or you can have them pay you by one of the other methods. Another thing I rather do myself, just send me my money. It will be up to you to decide if you can find better fuel price elsewhere or what you want to do. Most brokers have a quick pay option, ranging from 1% to 5% some are even more, they will pay you however you want within a 24 or 48 hour period. That is an expensive way to finance your receivables, that is another discussion. You can also factor your invoices with a 3rd party, who will also charge you a fee ranging usually 2-7% depending if you take non-recourse or not. Then they will hound the broker or customer for payment and you get paid pretty much immediately (could be next business day). In short, you should avoid factoring like the plague, but same thing another topic already discussed at length. Some of them will give you all kinds of excuses for why you haven't been paid in the agreed upon terms. It is up to you how creative you get when you go about trying to collect. In the 12 years I've been booking my own work I have been stiffed exactly once. I've had 2 other separate occasions where I had to get creative, in the end I got my money.
Any direct deposit set-up you make with whomever also gives them access to your bank account, either with a deposit or with a withdrawl. It's in the fine print you sign. FYI
ACH (direct deposit) can be tricky and risky sometimes. A guy complained here a few years ago, that TQL drew directly from his business account a few grand for an unsubstantiated claim. I still do ACH with a few because that's how they are set up with me. No surprises so far. But it is good to have both business savings and business checking, where business checking has just what you need for current operations. Other than that, the checks arrive in mail. Some brokers require invoices, some have apps where the invoices are automatically generated, some just want you to upload the signed BOLs. with a dry van freight, the payments shouldn't take more than 30 days.
