As a small business, CASH FLOW is everything, especially when you're just starting out. Carriers can get paid for their loads using three different payment methods. First, and the fastest way to get paid, is using a freight factoring company. The second fastest way is to use the broker's Quickpay. The third and last option, the absolute slowest way to get paid, is something called Net 30-Day Payment Terms. This means the broker's accounting department will pay you 30 days after you deliver a load. There are also Net 60, Net 90, and Net 120 day payment terms. That's a long time to wait to get paid when you need your cash flow ASAP to help purchase fuel, pay drivers, insurance, etc.
What is Broker Quickpay? This is the second fastest payment option for carriers, and it involves getting paid through the broker who has given you the load. For example, let's say a freight broker has given you a load for $1,000 going from Atlanta, GA to Birmingham, AL, and you're not signed up with a freight factoring company. You can ask that broker, "Hey, can you guys pay me on this load with Quickpay?" and the broker might reply, "Heck yeah, we can get you paid out with our in-house payment system, our Broker Quickpay. It's 4%." When you deliver the load, you send that broker a picture of the signed Rate Confirmation, the BOL, and the POD. The broker will need your banking information — they'll probably have a form for you to fill out with your account and routing numbers. Then they'll process the load, and you'll get a deposit for $970 into your bank account within 48 hours (2 days after delivery). That's how Broker Quickpay works.
Now, how do you leverage Broker Quickpay to save more money with your factoring company? Let's say you take a load from C.H. Robinson, identical to the last one: $1,000 from Atlanta to Birmingham. But C.H. Robinson's Quickpay costs only 1%. So when you're booking the load, ask the broker, "Please send me your Broker Quickpay form, because I want you guys to pay me on this load with your in-house Quickpay." But you have no intention of using that Quickpay — you just want the form to compare what they're charging for invoice processing. Now you have it in writing: Quickpay 1%, C.H. Robinson. That's the piece of the puzzle you need.
So you're now going to email the Rate Con, BOL, POD, and the C.H. Robinson Quickpay 1% form over to your factoring company and politely ask them, "Hey, I know I've signed up with you for freight factoring at 4%, but C.H. Robinson is charging only 1% if I use their in-house Quickpay. They're a really big broker and I plan on doing a lot of loads with them. Can you, as my freight factor, please match all my loads specifically with C.H. Robinson going forward at 1%?" This is what's called setting up Broker Quickpay Matching with a factoring company.
You need to understand that a broker's primary revenue stream — their business model — is making margin on loads, not invoice processing (factoring). The broker gets a load from Walmart that's $1,100 from Atlanta to Birmingham and sells that load to a carrier at $1,000. So the broker just made $100. C.H. Robinson, T.Q.L., J.B. Hunt, NTG, etc. — this is their business model, making margin while flipping loads. A freight factor's business model is 100% about processing loads and paying carriers ASAP, then waiting 30 days to be paid by the broker so the carrier doesn't have to. That's their business (payment processing for loads). So if you phrase your request to your factoring company the way I laid out above, they want that business, whether it's 1% or 4%. You're not going to know unless you ask. You could be saving about $2,000–$3,000 extra a year if you politely, kindly, and professionally ask your freight factor if they can set up Broker Quickpay Matching.