How to Invoice Freight Brokers

Every trucking invoice should include:

• Your company name, MC#, and contact info
• Invoice number — sequential, unique, never reused
• Invoice date and payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, etc.)
• Broker name and their load/reference number
• Load details: origin, destination, pickup date, delivery date
• Rate — the agreed-upon rate from the rate confirmation
• Accessorials — detention, lumper fees, TONU if applicable
• Total amount due
• Payment instructions — bank info for ACH or factoring company details

Most brokers require these attached to the invoice:

• Signed rate confirmation — proves the agreed rate
• Signed BOL (Bill of Lading) — proves delivery
• POD (Proof of Delivery) — if separate from BOL
• Lumper receipts — if you paid for unloading

Missing documents are the #1 reason payments get delayed. Send everything upfront.

Most brokers accept invoices via email. Some use portals (TriumphPay, RTS Carrier Services, etc.). Send the invoice within 24 hours of delivery — the sooner you invoice, the sooner the payment clock starts.

Always send as PDF, not a photo or Word doc. Include the load number in the subject line so it doesn't get lost in their inbox.

If you haven't been paid by the due date, follow up immediately. A polite email with the invoice attached and the original load number is usually enough. If a broker consistently pays late, that's data you should be tracking.

OTR tracks the average payment speed for every broker you work with. Before you book a load, you can see how fast that broker has paid in the past — so you're never surprised by a 45-day wait.

Every rate confirmation spells out payment terms. If it doesn't, assume the broker's default — almost always Net 30 from the date they receive a complete invoice packet. That means the clock doesn't start on delivery; it starts when your PDF with signed BOL and rate con lands in their inbox. Send the packet within hours of delivery, not days.

• Net 15: Rare. Usually only for direct shippers or carriers with long relationships. No fee.
• Net 30: Industry standard for brokers. You get paid 30 days after they receive the complete invoice.
• Net 45 / Net 60: Common with larger 3PLs (TQL, CHR, XPO when brokered). Plan cash flow around it — if you can't float 60 days, either pass on the load or factor it.
• QuickPay: Broker-side option to get paid in 1–3 days for a fee, usually 2–5% of the invoice. Available from TriumphPay, RTS, TQL, CHR, and most top-100 brokers. Worth it on a $2,500 load with a 45-day term if you need the cash faster than you can factor it.

The real decision isn't "which term is best" — it's "does my cash flow survive this term?" A Net 45 load that pays $3.00/mi and a Net 15 load that pays $2.50/mi are not the same bet if you're 60 days from your next truck payment.

Factoring means selling your invoice to a third-party company for immediate cash. You get ~95–97% of the invoice up front; they collect the full amount from the broker later. Direct pay means you wait the 30–45 days and keep 100%.

• Factoring fee: 1.5–5% of the invoice, depending on the factor, your volume, and the broker's credit. Recourse factoring (you buy the invoice back if the broker doesn't pay) is cheaper; non-recourse is safer but 1–2 points higher.
• Notice of Assignment (NOA): When you factor a load, the factor sends the broker a letter telling them to pay the factor directly — not you. Paying you instead of the factor creates a nasty dispute, so brokers take NOAs seriously.
• Broker credit: Most factors screen brokers before buying your invoice. A broker flagged as "credit hold" by your factor means you either run the load direct-pay or skip it.

The common mistake is factoring every load by default. Factoring a $3,000 invoice at 3% costs $90. Do that on 100 loads a year and you've handed $9,000 to a factor — often more than you'd lose by just running the 30-day float on your top-5 brokers with reliable payment history.

Accessorial charges are where a lot of owner-operators leave money on the table — either by not billing them or by billing them wrong and getting rejected. The rule: accessorials must be on the rate confirmation or pre-approved by the broker in writing. Verbal approval from a dispatcher at 2 AM does not survive the invoice review 30 days later.

• Detention: Billed after a free window (usually 2 hours at the dock, sometimes 1). Typical rate: $50–$75/hour, capped at $300–$500 per stop. You need timestamped check-in and check-out proof — ELD log, signed BOL with times, or a detention receipt from the facility.
• TONU (Truck Ordered, Not Used): The shipper canceled after you were dispatched or arrived. Typical rate: $150–$250 flat, sometimes a percentage of the original rate. Bill it the same day with the original rate con and a note documenting the cancellation.
• Layover: You're held overnight without dispatch. Typical rate: $150–$250/day. Rare that a broker pays it without a pre-written agreement.
• Lumper fees: You pay the warehouse to unload; broker reimburses. Always get a signed lumper receipt with the load number written on it. Without the receipt, the lumper fee doesn't bill.
• Reconsignment / diversion: The load is re-routed mid-trip. Bill for the original miles plus the new miles. Requires written confirmation of the new destination.

The big 5 reasons a broker's AP team pushes your invoice back into the "not paying yet" bucket:

• Missing signed BOL. A BOL without the receiver's signature isn't proof of delivery. Brokers can and will hold payment indefinitely. Fix: snap the signed BOL at every dock and double-check the signature is legible.
• Load number wrong or missing. AP teams match invoices to open loads by the broker's reference number. Wrong number = the invoice sits in a review queue. Always pull the number directly from the rate con.
• Rate doesn't match the rate con. If your invoice shows $2,850 and the rate con shows $2,800, the whole invoice gets rejected — not just the $50 difference. Check it twice before sending.
• Accessorial without documentation. Detention without times, lumper without receipt, TONU without a cancellation email. Invoicing unapproved charges can get the broker-side AP to question the whole packet.
• Wrong remittance address. If you're factoring, the invoice needs the factor's remit-to address, not yours. Missing or outdated NOA is one of the most common reasons payment gets held up.

When an invoice is rejected, fix the issue and re-send the same invoice number with a clean subject line ("REVISED — Invoice #1234 — Load #78910"). Do NOT create a new invoice number; it confuses the AP team and resets their payment clock.

How fast can I send an invoice after delivery?

The moment you have a signed BOL. Most brokers accept invoices within 1–2 hours of delivery, and the payment clock starts when they receive a complete packet. Waiting until end-of-week to batch-send invoices costs you 2–5 days on every load.

What's the difference between factoring and QuickPay?

Factoring is a third-party finance company (e.g. Triumph, RTS, Apex, TBS) buying your invoice at a 1.5–5% discount. QuickPay is the broker paying you directly within 1–3 days for a 2–5% fee. QuickPay is simpler and keeps the broker relationship intact; factoring works across all your brokers at once.

Do I need a special invoice template for trucking?

No — but a generic Word template won't include load number, pickup/delivery dates, rate con reference, or accessorials, which are the fields brokers match against. Trucking-specific templates (or software that generates them automatically) reduce AP rejection rates significantly.

Can I bill detention if the rate con doesn't mention it?

Not reliably. Brokers rarely pay detention without a written agreement upfront — either on the rate con, in a follow-up email, or in their standard terms. Before the load, ask the broker in writing: "What are your detention terms?" and save the reply.

How long should I wait before following up on an unpaid invoice?

One day after the payment term expires (day 31 for Net 30). Send a polite email with the original invoice, load number, and BOL attached. If you hear nothing by day 35, call the broker's AP department directly — their number is usually in the rate con footer or on their website.