Everyone starts somewhere, and many of today’s biggest trucking companies started out the same way. They had a vision and a truck or two and grew from there. Did you know that freight factoring is a proven way to help your new trucking company grow?
In the U.S., around 95.7% of trucking companies have no more than 10 trucks. And 99.7% of the trucking companies out there have fewer than 100 trucks. You don’t need a giant fleet to build a business.
One of the largest trucking firms in the nation, J.B. Hunt Transport was founded by Johnnie Bryan Hunt and his wife, Johnelle, who started the business with just five trucks and seven trailers in the 1960s and grew it into a billion-dollar company.
How can freight factoring help your company grow? It all comes down to the range of services that are available from freight factoring companies like Saint John Capital.
Automatic Invoice Generation Saves Time and Manpower
When you partner with a freight invoice factor, you have an app that makes it easy to upload a bill of lading when you pick up or drop off a load. If you submit a bill of lading when you pick up a load, you get a 50% advance from Saint John Capital. If you wait until you safely deliver it, you get 100%, minus factoring fees.
At this point, our system automatically generates an invoice that you can upload to your accounting software. You no longer need to have an office worker in the office creating and sending out invoices. It’s up to Saint John Capital to chase down payments. If your shipper or broker doesn’t pay an invoice on time, it’s not your problem.
You won’t need a large team in your office, so you pay less in wages and benefits. The staff you do hire can focus on finding loads, assigning routes to drivers, and marketing your transportation services.
A Low-Interest Line of Credit Allows You to Grow Your Fleet Responsibly
You start with one truck and trailer. As money starts coming in, you’re ready to add a second truck and trailer. You could take out a loan with the dealer, but the interest rates in a line of credit can be favorable.
The other benefit to a line of credit is that you don’t have to use it all. You can negotiate a lower price on your truck and trailer by essentially offering an upfront cash payment. This leaves you with some funds untouched in your line of credit. Make payments as you planned, but enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that if there’s an emergency, you are covered.
Find Load Apps Help You Find More Work
You have a second truck now, but you don’t have a second client, yet. That’s the key. Saint John Capital has a find load app with millions of possible hauls. Browse by rate, location, etc., and find more work for your drivers.
Find loads searches also help eliminate the possibility of having an empty trailer on the way back from a delivery. Suppose you have a driver heading to New York from Chicago, but only half of the trailer is full. Use the find load app to search for another load to fill the trailer.
Once your driver is in New York, you can search for loads going from New York to Chicago. Your driver now has several loads completed in one trip, so you make more money and can increase your driver’s wages. Everyone is happy, and your business keeps slowly growing.
Boost Customer Satisfaction With Track Loads Software
Your driver left hours ago and should be there, but your client calls and asks where the truck is. With track loads software, you can pinpoint the driver’s location in real time. Once you know, you can use software like Wyze to see if there are traffic accidents, construction, or weather that’s slowing your driver down.
Your driver may not be able to answer the cell phone while driving, but you’ll always have an answer to give your client. You can update ETAs with ease thanks to a track loads app.
The other benefit is that you know where your drivers are and can see if one of them is free for a job that just popped up. Assign the load right from the app.
Take Advantage of Credit Checks
You might think that taking work from someone new is risky. With the free business credit checks that are possible with Saint John Capital, you can do your research and choose companies with stellar credit ratings. It alleviates the risk that you’d usually face when working with someone new.
Get Fuel Discounts, Too
Saving money is a great way to have additional revenue to put towards growing your trucking company. This is where the Saint John Visa is helpful. It’s a fuel discount card. Use it to fuel up your trucks and save money on diesel or gas prices. You’ll start building revenue and growing your trucking company faster than you’d ever imagined possible.
The business Visa can be used at any store, restaurant, or truck stop that takes Visa. Use it to fuel up trucks at the pump or enable your drivers to pay for emergency repairs while on the road. Your drivers don’t have to carry cash anymore, and they don’t need a personal credit score to get a Visa with your company.
Money Comes In Steadily With No Surprises
When you partner with a freight factoring company like Saint John Capital, you have a steady flow of money coming in. Gone are the days of faxing, emailing, or even mailing an invoice to your broker or shipper, waiting for a check to arrive, and then waiting another week or so for the bank to clear the check and release the funds to you.
We offer non-recourse arrangements, and this is important when growing your new trucking business. If your broker or shipper fails to pay us, we’re not going to come after you for repayment of the money we advanced. Some companies use recourse agreements where you have to pay up if your client disappears. You shouldn’t have to deal with that stress.
With freight factoring, use our app to upload a bill of lading when you pick up or drop off the freight. We’ll process it and pay you the amount owed, minus our freight factoring fee that’s as low as 1%. You’ll have the money within a day or two in most cases. But, there’s a way to get the money you’re owed the same day.
Same-day payments are offered if you submit the bill of lading before noon EST. As long as you have a Saint John Visa, we can deposit the amount you’re owed the same day. Complete the sign-up form and apply for a Saint John Visa for your trucking company.
