Intermodal transportation is an essential aspect of global logistics. However, it’s also a complex system that requires effective coordination to ensure that freight reaches its final destination safely and on time.
If you’re a manager of a trucking business that specializes in intermodal delivery, you know how complicated it can be to navigate this system and overcome the unique challenges it presents. Not only does it require you to work with different entities to coordinate your deliveries, but it also requires your drivers to deliver more loads in general.
As a result, one of the biggest challenges for intermodal trucking companies is managing a high volume of invoices. How do you keep track of several invoices at once while ensuring you receive timely payment for each one of them?
The answer is by factoring your invoices with an experienced industry leader like RTS! Read on to learn how our intermodal factoring solutions can help your business.
Do I Need a Factoring Company for Intermodal Trucking?
Every trucking business has different needs, but factoring can be a huge asset for helping intermodal fleets maintain the cash flow needed to run their business and plan for future growth.
Getting paid on open invoices is one of the most common pain points across the entire trucking industry, whether you operate an intermodal or multimodal fleet. Many shippers and brokers are notorious for waiting to make payments on their outstanding invoices. Some wait until the very last minute, while others are either consistently late or just don’t pay at all.
This type of approach isn’t just frustrating, it’s potentially damaging to your bottom line. This is especially true if you manage an intermodal trucking company. Because many intermodal fleets specialize in delivering a higher volume of short-haul loads, it means that, naturally, you’ll have more invoices to manage.
These loads may be relatively low cost compared to invoices for long-haul deliveries, but they add up. And it’s hard to maintain consistent access to vital cash flow to run your business if you’re consistently waiting 30, 60 or even 90 days for payment. It also becomes even harder to collect when you’re dealing with a high volume of invoices from several different customers.
How Do Intermodal Factoring Solutions Help?
Working with a reputable factoring company can ensure that intermodal fleets have consistent access to cash flow for their day-to-day operations.
For one, rather than waiting weeks or months to get paid on open invoices, factoring allows you to receive payment on open freight invoices within 24 hours. Additionally, because factoring is not the same thing as a loan, your business won’t have to take on any new debt to access these funds.
This is critical for ensuring that your business can always have quick access to cash flow for expenses such as:
- Payroll for drivers, dispatchers, sales personnel and more
- Vehicle maintenance and repair
- Insurance premiums
- Taxes and tolls
- Purchases for new and used equipment
- Emergency services and repairs
- And much more
For intermodal carriers, factoring can be especially helpful. It can greatly improve the efficiency of your fleet by helping you manage a high volume of invoices as well as the collection process for those invoices.
How Does Factoring Work?
Another great thing about factoring is that it’s a fairly simple process that doesn’t require you to change how you move freight or interact with customers. Your customer will still have acceptable payment terms, but you’ll get paid much faster for the work you’ve already done. Below is a quick step-by-step guide for what an intermodal trucking company can expect:
- Once you complete your delivery and receive your invoice, upload that invoice electronically and submit it to your factoring company to receive payment. Some factoring companies, like RTS, allow you to batch your invoices, which makes the process even simpler.
- Your factoring company will then purchase that invoice and provide you with a cash advance, usually 80 to 90 percent of the invoice total, within 24 hours.
- The invoice gets sent to your customer, who then provides the factoring company with payment worth the full balance of the invoice.
- The factoring company then pays you the rest of your invoice amount, minus a small fee, to complete the transaction.
Our teams at RTS are equipped to the manage high volumes of short haul loads in the intermodal industry. And working with us means quick and easy funding, excellent customer service, comprehensive reporting and convenient back-office support.
Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our services and discover how our intermodal factoring solutions can help your business!