Factoring for trucking fleets that now have drivers to pay every Friday
One truck, you could wait on a broker. Three trucks with hired drivers, you can't: payroll is due every week, and brokers pay in a month or more. Factoring for trucking fleets turns each delivered load into money in a day, so the trucks pay their own drivers. It also gets cheaper as your volume grows, if you ask.
How much does your fleet invoice a month?
We refer carriers to a factoring partner and may be paid for referrals. Disclosure
How monthly volume can move your rate
Factors price on risk and volume. More invoices from more creditworthy brokers mean more business for them and a lower rate for you. Drag the slider to see how an EXAMPLE ladder works: the steps and rates are illustrations inside the published 2026 range of 1.5% to 4%, not anyone's price list.
Real factors rarely publish their steps. RTS Financial's rate calculator, for example, asks for monthly volume and truck count, then sets the rate through underwriting. Bring your last three months of invoices to any rate conversation; that's your strongest argument.
This stepExample
- Rate
- 3.0%
- Fees this month
- $1,800
- Saved vs the bottom step
- $300
- Under $30k/mo1-2 trucks3.5%
- $30k-$75k/mo2-4 trucks3.0%
- $75k-$150k/mo4-8 trucks2.5%
- $150k+/mo8+ trucks2.0%
Source: AtoB, Freight Factoring guide (updated May 8, 2026) · checked Oct 2026
Source: RTS freight factoring page and FAQ · checked Oct 2026
What changes in the agreement when you add trucks
Your agreement was probably written for one truck. Each new truck adds invoices, brokers and risk, so revisit it at two trucks and again around five. Don't wait for the factor to bring it up.
If you lease owner-operators onto your authority, their loads are invoiced under your MC, so they run through your factoring account too. Decide in writing how their settlements work when you factor: whether they're paid when you're advanced or when the broker pays, and who carries the fee. Surprises there cost you good drivers.
- Rate. Ask for a review once your volume has grown for two or three months in a row.
- Funding limit. Factors cap how much they'll hold from one broker. More trucks hauling for the same broker can hit that cap.
- Users and access. Add a login for your office person, and decide whether drivers upload directly or send paperwork to the office first.
- Fuel cards. One card per truck, each with its own limit, so one driver can't drain the fleet's fuel line.
- Recourse and reserves. With more invoices open, a slow broker ties up more reserve money. Ask how reserves are released at fleet volume.
Fuel cards for a fleet, not just a driver
For a fleet, the fuel card's controls matter as much as the discount. Look for cards issued per truck or per driver, daily and per-fill limits, purchase limits that block anything but diesel and DEF, and reports by truck so you can spot a fuel economy problem early.
Some factors also offer fuel advances: part of a load's pay on the card at pickup, taken back from that load's invoice. For a fleet, that means a driver can fuel a long run without the office wiring money at 5 a.m. Ask what each advance costs.
Discounts usually apply only at stations in the card's network. Map those stations against the lanes your trucks actually run before you judge a card by its advertised savings.
Fuel programs published by the factors we checked
- RTS Financial: Fuel card with discounts at RTS Plus network stations
- Apex Capital: Free fuel discount program; average 49¢/gal saved (Apex, Q1-Q3 2026 in-network data)
- Bobtail: Separate fuel card: up to $3.00/gal, 59¢/gal average (Bobtail's figures)
- OTR Solutions: Fuel credit and discounts for all carriers
From each company's own site, checked 2026-10. Compare on your lanes. Full comparison.
Who uploads, when, and who checks
With one truck, the owner's phone holds every BOL. With five, paperwork is the most common reason a fleet's cash comes in late. A routine that works for many small fleets:
01
At the dock
Driver gets the BOL signed, checks the notes, photographs every page before pulling out.
02
Within the hour
Driver uploads the BOL and any lumper or detention receipts in the factor's app, or texts them to the office.
03
Same day
One office person checks each packet against the rate con: names, load numbers, amounts, signatures.
04
Daily cutoff
Clean packets go to the factor before its cutoff, so advances land on a predictable schedule.
Make the paperwork part of how drivers are evaluated. A driver whose BOLs come back unreadable every week is costing the fleet days of cash, the same as a driver who's always late to pickups.
A payroll week, with and without factoring
Three trucks, three hired drivers, payroll every Friday for loads delivered through Wednesday. Without factoring, this Friday's payroll is paid from loads brokers won't pay for until next month. You need about five weeks of payroll and fuel in the bank before the first broker check arrives, and more for each truck you add.
With factoring, Wednesday's deliveries are advanced by Thursday, and Friday's payroll comes out of this week's loads. The reserve and the fee settle later. Growth then needs a truck and a driver, not also five weeks of cash.
One risk to plan for: under recourse, an invoice that's never paid comes back to you, often deducted from future advances. A single bad broker can then hit the same week as payroll. Keep at least one week of payroll in reserve even while you factor, and check new brokers before your drivers haul for them.
Three-truck weekExample
- Mon-Wed deliveries
- $16,500
- Advanced Thu (90%)
- $14,850
- Fri payroll, 3 drivers
- -$4,200
- Fuel for the week
- -$7,900
- Left for truck notes, insurance
- $2,750
EXAMPLE figures. Reserves (10%, minus fees) arrive as brokers pay.
Fleet factoring questions
Get a rate for your fleet's volume
We refer carriers to a factoring partner and may be paid for referrals. Disclosure
We refer carriers to RTS Financial and may be paid for referrals. Not financial advice. Disclosure
Keep every truck loaded, too.
Fleet dispatch at 4% of gross for 2 or more trucks (limited time). Each load still goes to you to confirm. Small fleet dispatch.
Can I factor for several MCs?
Usually, but each MC is its own business to a factor. Each needs its own agreement or an account set up under a parent company, its own notices of assignment and its own lien filing. Ask whether the factor will combine the volume across your MCs for pricing; that's where a multi-MC owner gains the most.
How does factoring help payroll?
It lines up when you get paid with when you pay drivers. Without factoring, you pay a driver Friday for a load the broker pays in five weeks, so every new truck needs weeks of payroll in the bank first. With factoring, the advance lands a day after delivery, and payroll comes out of money you already have.
How do fleets manage many invoices?
With a routine. Drivers upload paperwork in the factor's app at each delivery, one person in the office checks every packet before it's submitted, and invoices go in at the same time each day so advances land on a schedule. A weekly report of open invoices by broker catches slow payers early.
Can I factor only some trucks?
Often, if the agreement allows choosing invoices. Some contracts require you to factor all receivables, so check before you sign. Factoring only some trucks makes sense when part of the fleet runs dedicated freight for a fast-paying shipper and the rest runs spot freight for brokers on 30 to 45-day terms.