Factoring referral · RTS Financial

Freight factoring: get paid this week for the loads you hauled this week

You delivered the load. The broker will pay in 30 days, maybe longer. Meanwhile fuel, insurance, the truck payment and the lumper you paid at the dock don't wait. Freight factoring closes that gap: you sell the invoice, get most of it now and the rest when the broker pays. We refer carriers to RTS Financial, which advances more than 90 percent of an invoice within 24 hours.

Works for every truck we cover: a reefer with a lumper receipt, a flatbed with tarp pay on the rate con, a 26 ft box truck with six stops on one invoice.

See my factoring rate How it works

How much cash is stuck with brokers?

Loads per week

Average invoice

Invoiced each week

$8,800

On 30-day broker terms, about $37,700 is out at any time, waiting to be paid. EXAMPLE estimate.

See my factoring rate

We refer carriers to RTS Financial and may be paid for referrals. Disclosure

How brokers see it

What your broker actually sees when you factor

A lot of carriers worry that factoring looks bad to brokers. It doesn't. Brokers deal with factored carriers every day, and the process is routine on their side.

When you sign with a factoring company, it sends each of your brokers a notice of assignment, or NOA. The letter says your invoices now belong to the factor and that payment goes to the factor's address or account, not to you. Brokers follow it carefully, because paying the wrong party can mean paying twice.

Nothing else changes for the broker. You book the load the same way, the rate con lists your company as the carrier, and you deliver as usual. The only difference is where the check goes. Many brokers also check whether a factor has already approved them, which can speed up setup with a new broker.

The factor also looks at your brokers. Before it buys an invoice, it checks the broker's payment history and credit. That's useful to you: if a factor won't buy invoices from a broker, that's a warning sign about how that broker pays.

One thing to know: once the NOA is out, a broker who pays you directly by mistake hasn't paid the factor. You'll need to forward that payment. Keep it simple by telling every new broker up front who your factor is.

See my factoring rate

Cash cushion

How long does your cash last waiting on brokers?

Enter your own numbers: the cash you have now, what the truck costs you each week, what you gross, and how long your brokers take to pay. The meter shows how many weeks your cash lasts before the first check arrives, with and without factoring.

Cash cushion meter

EXAMPLE

Cash on hand

Weekly costs

Weekly gross

Factoring fee

Broker pays in

Without factoring: cash lasts1.7 wks

With factoring: cash lasts10+ wks

The black line marks week 6, when the first broker check arrives on 30-day terms.

Without factoring: You run $15,000 short before the first check arrives.
With factoring: Fee about $210 a week. Paid within days, each week covers itself.

EXAMPLE estimate with your own inputs and an example fee. Real factoring rates are quoted after underwriting.

The gap is widest when you're starting out or growing. Every new load adds costs this week and income a month from now. A carrier with steady cash and fast-paying customers may not need factoring at all. A carrier running on a thin cushion can stall even while hauling good loads, simply because the money arrives too late.

Reefer carriers feel it twice: diesel for the truck and diesel for the unit, plus lumper fees paid at the dock before the broker reimburses them. Flatbed and step deck carriers carry tarps, straps and permits. Box truck carriers often run many small invoices a week, and each one waits on its own clock.

By truck

Trucking factoring for every truck we cover

The cash gap looks a little different on each kind of truck. Here's where it bites.

Reefers

Truck fuel, unit fuel and lumper fees at grocery warehouses, all paid before the broker pays. Lumper receipts usually go in with the invoice for reimbursement.

Flatbeds and step decks

Tarps, straps, chains and oversize permits. Tarp pay and extra stops belong on the invoice, so make sure they're on the rate con first.

26 ft box trucks

Many smaller invoices, often multi-stop, each waiting on its own payment clock. One factor tracking them all saves hours each week.

Dry vans and power only

High load counts and many brokers. Factoring keeps one payment schedule across all of them.

Hotshots

Short, fast loads and quick turns. Waiting a month on a dozen small invoices is how a hotshot runs out of fuel money.

New authorities

Brokers can be slow to trust a new MC, and you have no cushion yet. Approval leans on your brokers' credit, which helps.

Reefer carriers have their own page: reefer factoring.

EXAMPLE invoice

One invoice, start to finish

EXAMPLE with an illustrative fee, not a quote. A flatbed load pays $2,400 on the rate con, plus $100 tarp pay.

Day 0You deliver and upload the rate con, BOL, signed POD and a $2,500 invoice.
Day 1The factor advances 90%, or $2,250, to your account.
Day 30The broker pays the factor $2,500 in full.
Day 31The factor releases the remaining $250 minus an example 3% fee of $75. You receive $175.

Total received: $2,425 on a $2,500 invoice, with most of it a month earlier than the broker would have paid. Whether that $75 is worth it depends on what the month of waiting would cost you, which is exactly what the meter above helps you see.

Factoring vs quick pay

Factoring or broker quick pay: a plain comparison

Many brokers offer quick pay: they pay you faster in exchange for a fee taken off the invoice. It can be a good option for a few loads. Here's how it compares.

	Factoring	Broker quick pay
Who pays you	The factoring company	The broker
Works with	All the brokers your factor approves	Only brokers that offer it
Fee	Set in your factoring contract	Set by each broker, varies
Credit checks on brokers	Usually included	Not included
Collections	The factor chases slow payers	You chase slow payers
Contract	Yes, read the terms	Usually per load, no contract

Quick pay suits a carrier who mostly runs with a few brokers that offer it at a fair fee. Factoring suits a carrier working with many brokers, who wants one process, one payment schedule and someone else making collection calls. Some carriers use both. Ask each broker what their quick pay fee is and compare it to your factoring quote per load.

Before you sign

What to watch for in any factoring contract

Most factoring problems come from contract terms nobody read. Whoever you sign with, check these before you put your name on it.

Contract length and renewal

How long is the term, and does it renew on its own? What notice do you have to give to leave, and by when?

Minimums

Do you have to factor a minimum amount each month? What happens in a slow month when you don't?

Termination fees

Is there a fee to leave early? How are open invoices handled when you switch?

Added fees

Same-day funding fees, fuel advance fees, invoice processing fees, ACH or wire fees. Ask for every fee in writing.

Recourse terms

If a broker never pays, who carries the loss, and after how many days? Non-recourse often covers only broker insolvency.

All invoices or some

Must you factor every invoice from every broker, or can you choose loads?

A good factor answers these questions plainly. If you get vague answers, or the fee changes every time you ask, keep looking. More detail on comparing offers is on factoring rates and non-recourse factoring.

How it works

How freight factoring works with our referral, in 3 steps

1
Request a quote
Fill in the short factoring quote form. We pass your details to RTS Financial, who reviews your authority and your brokers.
2
Sign and send the NOA
If you're approved and happy with the terms, you sign with RTS Financial directly. They send notices of assignment to your brokers.
3
Submit invoices, get paid
After each delivery, upload your paperwork. You're advanced most of the invoice, and the balance minus the fee comes when the broker pays.

Documents a factor needs for each load

The signed rate confirmation from the broker
The bill of lading, signed at pickup
Proof of delivery, signed by the receiver
Your invoice to the broker
Lumper receipts or other reimbursable expenses, if any

Full walkthrough: how factoring works.

What RTS Financial publishes

RTS buys the invoice and advances more than 90 percent of the total within 24 hours.
Once the broker pays the invoice, RTS sends the remaining balance minus a small fee.
Approval is based on the credit of your customers, not your balance sheet, and varies with full underwriting and required contracts.
40+ years providing financial services, and fuel discounts at 4,000+ truck stops nationwide.

Source: RTS Financial, freight factoring page and FAQs, October 2026

Your actual rate and terms are set by RTS Financial after review. We don't set or guarantee them.

Getting approved

What a freight factoring company asks for

Approval is usually quicker than a bank loan, because the factor is mostly judging whether your brokers pay. Approval is based on the credit of your customers, not your balance sheet, and varies with full underwriting and required contracts. Have these ready:

Active operating authority (MC and USDOT numbers)
A certificate of insurance listing your cargo and liability coverage
A W-9 and basic company details
A list of the brokers you haul for
Bank details for deposits
Any existing factoring contract, so it can be released properly

Source: RTS Financial, freight factoring page, October 2026

Factoring guides

Every factoring question, answered on its own page

Dispatch too

Factoring gets you paid. Dispatch gets you the next load.

Factoring fixes cash flow, not empty weeks. If you also want someone finding and negotiating loads, our dispatch desk works for every truck from 26 ft box trucks to step decks. Every load still comes to you for a yes or no, and the broker sends the rate con straight to you, ready to go to your factor after delivery. The fee is 5% of gross for one truck with authority older than 6 months. See dispatch services.

The two fit together on paperwork, too. Factors pay on clean documents, and most delays come from a missing signature or a rate con that doesn't match the invoice. On our desk, we make sure detention, stop-offs and lumper terms are written on the rate con before your yes, remind you to get a signed delivery receipt and keep lumper receipts, and send the paperwork your factor needs if you ask us to. Faster clean paperwork means faster money.

Freight factoring: straight answers

Q01Is factoring a loan?

No. In freight factoring you sell an unpaid invoice to the factoring company, and it collects from the broker. There's no loan to repay, and approval leans mostly on your brokers' credit rather than yours. Read the contract carefully, though, because on recourse terms you may have to buy back an invoice the broker never pays.

Q02Can I switch factoring companies?

Usually, yes, but follow the contract. You'll typically need to give notice, settle any open invoices or have the new factor buy them out, and get a release letter so brokers know to pay the new company. Check the term, notice period and any early termination fee before you sign, so switching later is possible without a penalty.

Q03How much does trucking factoring cost?

It depends on the factor, your volume, your brokers' credit, recourse or non-recourse terms and how fast brokers pay. The fee is usually a percentage of each invoice. Ask every company for the full cost: the rate, any added fees for same-day funding, fuel advances or minimums, and what happens if a broker pays late.

Q04What is a notice of assignment?

A notice of assignment, or NOA, is a letter the factoring company sends your brokers. It tells them you've assigned your invoices to the factor and that payment must go to the factor, not to you. Brokers follow it because paying the wrong party can mean paying twice. It doesn't change your load or your rate.

Q05What is a factoring reserve?

A reserve is the part of the invoice the factor holds back until the broker pays. If you're advanced most of the invoice up front, the rest, minus the fee, is the reserve, and it's released once the broker pays in full. Some factors pay with no reserve. Ask how and when reserves are released.

Q06Can I factor only some loads?

Some factoring companies let you choose which invoices to factor, while others require every invoice from a broker, or all your invoices, to go through them. This is called spot factoring versus full-turn or contract factoring. Ask before you sign, especially if a few of your customers already pay quickly.

Q07Can I use a dispatcher and factoring together?

Yes, and many carriers do. The dispatcher finds and negotiates loads, and you send the signed rate con and proof of delivery to your factor for payment. Your factor pays you as usual, and our dispatch fee is billed to you separately on a weekly statement, as a percentage of gross on the loads you haul.

We refer carriers to RTS Financial and may be paid for referrals. We are not a factoring company and don't set factoring rates or terms. See our disclosure.

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