Open deck freight
Flatbed factoring
Steel, lumber, and machinery, funded the same day when it's in by 11 AM CST. Tarp pay and accessorials included on the same invoice, with no contract and no minimum.
Plenty of flatbed carriers factor the broker freight and invoice their direct shippers themselves. That split is normal here: choose the customers you factor, send as few or as many as you want, and there is no minimum either way.
The cash cycle
Why flatbed freight waits.
Flatbed invoices are more complicated than van invoices, and that complication is where the money leaks. A flatbed load rarely bills at the line haul alone: there is tarp pay, there are extra stops, there is securement time, there is often a permit or an escort on the heavier freight. Every one of those is a separate line that has to be documented, billed, and then chased if the customer's accounting department decides it needs a conversation.
Carriers lose real money there, not by being cheated but by being busy. The accessorial that was worth a hundred dollars is not worth an afternoon of phone calls three weeks later, so it quietly goes uncollected. Multiply that across a year and it is a meaningful share of the margin on open deck work.
Handing the invoicing over changes that arithmetic, because chasing it is our job rather than an evening task after you have already driven eleven hours. You send the rate confirmation, the signed bill of lading, and whatever documents the accessorials, and the whole invoice funds the same day when it's in by 11 AM CST, accessorials included.
What rides in it
- Steel coil, plate, and structural steel
- Lumber and building materials
- Pipe, tubing, and casing
- Industrial and construction machinery
- Prefabricated panels, trusses, and modular components
Who pays the invoice
Steel service centers, lumber yards, machinery dealers, manufacturers, construction suppliers, and open deck brokers.
This is what actually gets underwritten. Approval depends on your customer’s credit, not on your operating history.
Paperwork
What to send with the load.
Send all the paperwork related to the load. What that includes depends on the customer; these are the most common. Upload it all to the Smart Freight Portal.
Rate confirmation
The agreement with the broker or shipper, showing the load and the agreed rate.
Scale tickets
The weights, on any load that is weighed or paid by weight.
Bill of lading
Signed at delivery. It is the proof the load moved.
Not sure what a customer needs? Call and ask before you haul it.
How it works
Haul it, send it, get paid.
- 01Monday, 9:40 AM
Haul the load
Book it wherever you book freight. You choose which customers you factor, customer by customer. Nothing obligates you to send us all of them.
- 02Monday, 10:15 AM
Send the paperwork
Upload all the paperwork for the load to the Smart Freight Portal: usually the rate confirmation, scale tickets and bill of lading.
- 03Monday afternoon
Get paid the same day
Loads submitted by 11 AM CST, Monday through Friday, are paid the same day. Loads submitted after 11 AM are paid the next business day. The money lands in your bank by ACH.
Questions
Flatbed factoring, answered.
Can I factor tarp pay and accessorials, or only the line haul?
The whole invoice, accessorials included, as long as the rate confirmation supports them and you send the documentation. We invoice the customer for the full amount and follow the payment, which is usually how an under-billed accessorial actually gets collected.
I do not haul bulk. Can I still factor with Smart Freight Funding?
Yes. Bulk is where Smart Freight Funding made its name and it is still the credit we know best, but we factor every trailer type and any freight. Flatbed carriers get the same process, the same terms, and the same funding schedule as a hopper bottom.
Get your flatbed invoices paid the same day.
The application takes a few minutes and commits you to nothing. No contract, no minimum, no monthly commitment.