Training Tuesday with Andy Jones, How Freight Factoring Powers Owner-Ops & Small Fleets

Cash flow can make or break a carrier, especially when you deliver today and get paid 30 to 60 days later. We sit down with Andy Jones, Director of Partnerships at Single Point Capital, to unpack a practical, step-by-step playbook for staying solvent, cutting fuel spend, and navigating contracts without the gotchas that sink new authorities and small fleets.

First, we demystify factoring: how to turn a rate confirmation, bill of lading, and POD into funds within 24 hours, why notices of assignment matter, and what slows down funding. Andy lays out the real difference between recourse and non-recourse and explains why “true non-recourse” is more marketing than reality. You’ll learn how to avoid chargebacks, handle short pays, and use a broker credit check like a shield against fraud, double brokering, and failing payers.

We also talk strategy. Tiered rates tied to monthly volume that reward growth. Contracts that don’t trap you with hidden fees or surprise termination windows. The UCC minefield—and how an application alone can lock you out of better options. Then we move to fuel, where a live-pricing discount network across TA and thousands of regional stops can save 45 to 48 cents per gallon on average. We focus on the only number that matters: the final price at the pump, and how route-based tools help drivers pick the right station and keep more per mile.

Rounding it out, Andy explains how Single Point’s logistics arm prioritizes factoring clients for heavy haul and specialized freight, a lifeline for new authorities facing broker age limits. We cover onboarding with no personal credit checks for factoring, dedicated account reps who actually answer the phone, and optional insurance with down payment assistance for those who need a hand. It’s a candid, tool-filled conversation built for owner-operators, small fleets, and anyone planning to go independent.

If this helped you think differently about cash flow, fuel, and risk, follow the show, share it with a driver who needs it, and leave a review so more carriers can find it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:44

You're not alone. Come share your story with me.

Meet Andy Jones And Single Point

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Hi, welcome back to Trucking with Tammy, the podcast where we celebrate and empower drivers in the trucking industry. From the brand new drivers hitting the road for the first time to owner operators building their empires, small fleet owners scaling up and everyone in between. So today's extra special because we're actually going to be diving into one of the biggest challenges and opportunities in trucking, your cash flow. So whether you're an owner operator, a small fleet or a driver dreaming of getting your own authority and going independent because everybody wants to control their schedule, right? Factoring can be a game changer who can keep your wheels churning without this address. So I'm thrilled to welcome our guest, Andy Jones. Andy is the director of partnerships at Single Point Capital. Andy and his team specialize in freight factoring solutions that are designed specifically for trucking pros like you. Owner operators, small to medium fleets, and even freight brokers. So Andy, thank you so much for joining us today. I am so excited to hear how Single Point is helping drivers, especially women that are stepping into ownership, helping everybody stay independent and grow their business and thrive out here on the road.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Thank you. It's an honor to be able to talk to you.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Right. It's been a while getting you on the show. So I'm really happy uh to be here. Getting information out on factoring, I think is going to be a huge benefit for drivers.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Hopefully so. Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

So why don't you tell the trucking world a little bit about who you are, um, where you come from, and how you got here.

Andy’s Path From Oil To Factoring

SPEAKER_04 2:41

Yeah, for sure. So uh growing up, my entire family was from uh South Louisiana. So I was born in Lafayette down there. Uh around four or five years old, we moved to Huntsville, Texas, which is really where I should say I'm from. So it's about an hour north of Houston. So kind of one-two skip a few uh by chance. I have an older brother, him and I picked up tennis uh somehow. Huntsville is not even remotely a tennis town, but that led both of us uh to our college tennis careers. He went up to West Point in New York. I went to Western Illinois, uh, over close your way. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so that was a uh a weather shock for me to say the least. But you know, it was funny. Um, you know, my full plan was graduate college. I I even catered my degree to it, uh, to kind of facilities management and continue on teaching tennis at that point at country club, which I did for three years in Dallas. By chance, uh, I networked with a um a gentleman in his family. They're they're pretty prominent in the oil and gas community in Texas. And he, you know, through a conversation one day, kind of let me know, hey Andy, like you I think you might be a really good landman, you know, if you were to put the time to study. And and so a lot of conversations led to me studying. And uh a year or two later, I ended out uh in his office in Midland, Texas. So I was in oil and gas for probably 10 years, uh, even leading up uh kind of right to COVID, and complete random on LinkedIn, I was at a bit of a uh a crossroad in the career uh the company had sold. So I was about to start looking for my next oil and gas role. But through LinkedIn, I got contacted by a factoring company. I at that time I had very little knowledge of the industry, what factoring was, and frankly, I didn't take it very serious at first. Um, but COVID hit, and you know, I went through a couple interviews, and uh a couple months later they flew me up, uh, this certain company to meet their executive staff. I was really impressed by them. Um, I think it was mutual, and you know, they explained, hey, there's a big oil and gas um kind of network, obviously, in the transportation. There's a need for factoring within that. Uh, we'd love to start you there, then just kind of expand you know your knowledge and client base from there. So we did that and I stayed with them for years. They they treated me so well. Uh, more recently, up until about I believe it was May of 24, I left there. Um, and that they were a large, large company. And through a few reasons, and we can talk about those. I I kind of had the urge to go to a smaller, mid-sized factoring company. A lot, a lot of that was what I was looking for was more of a sound operational company. So more, I would say customer focused and customer intensive. Uh, answer the phone fast, take care of problems fast, give the carrier whatever they need, you know. Uh, so not just kind of a huge, I guess you could call it like a cattle drive of tens of thousands of carriers, you know, or your clients, you know. I think it's a bit more healthy, uh, at least from my perspective, to find someone, you know, with somewhere between maybe 500 and 2,000. So, you know, they have time for you, I would say. So that's how I ended up at Single Point. They reached out probably January of 24. And by that um time in May, uh, my wife and I moved from Dallas to Houston. Uh, so I've been with Single Point ever since.

What Landmen Really Do

SPEAKER_03 6:16

Nice. So I'm gonna go back a little bit because you you threw in that landman comment, and everybody knows with Billy Bob Thornton and Landman on TV right now, um, which obviously it's Hollywood, but how does being a landman in real life compare to being a landman in that movie?

SPEAKER_04 6:37

So there's a lot of similarities, to be honest. Uh, specifically, there's a certain landman is a very vague term, first of all. Um, a landman can be just an individual that goes researches courthouse records, and that's all they do, just a research title and who owns all the minerals, because they can be very, very severed between parties and even between depths under the land, you know, under the surface. So it's really complicated uh that job and it's tough. Uh a landman can also be, and this is what I ended up as more of a um acquisition and divestiture landman. So buying, selling, trading, you know, packages of acreage to oil and gas operators who will you know drill on them, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Um and then there's more of a real estate, it's almost like a real estate kind of um a broker.

SPEAKER_04 7:26

Nothing, nothing short of it. Uh I was doing it for an operator, but you know, even trading land with a different operator can be really valuable to you both, you know, especially with horizontal drilling, uh, you know, longer laterals that you're drilling a few miles if you don't at least, you know, the land north and south, you're kind of limited to the number of wells you can drill.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

But anyway, um especially when the oil and gas is over on their side.

SPEAKER_04 7:49

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Right. So there's also uh more common these days, probably in particular, that show is what's called a surface land man. And this can be kind of your run and gun, kind of even dangerous role where you're actually going out talking to the people who own the surface on the land that you're about to drill. And a lot of times they may not be the owners owners of the minerals under it, right? So maybe they want you there, and maybe they don't. And if they don't, they probably really don't. What if there's crops on their land or you know, things like that? Uh so it can get really hairy and messy, and you know, there's a lot of stories about trucks getting shot at, you know, entering a gate, and you name it. So uh, but you know, I did it out in West Texas, it's an oil and gas community. We didn't have too much of that. Uh, it's it's the role is very welcoming out there, I would say.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Yeah, it in trucking, there's I actually just talked to a woman here about a week or so ago that had gone through Midland for the first time, and it is still the Wild West in some areas out there. Um, and you know, one of the jokes with women drivers is when you go to that area, there's about a thousand men for every female, so it is a little overwhelming. Um, and and so she was like, How do I deal with this? You know, being the only girl here, but um, it is a whole different ballpark down there. So that is interesting that you have that in your your history. For sure.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

I I will give some credit, uh, just really quick. It probably of all the cities I've lived in, Midland might have been the best community I've been a part of, uh, for sure. Everybody sticks together, takes care of each other, watches out after each other, kind of holds each other accountable, even professionally. So it was really wonderful for my professional development to be out there for a few years.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

That is awesome to hear that Midland is a good. I I've never had a bad experience down there myself. So yeah, so besides being a landman, tell us something fun about yourself, you know. Andy, what besides being the professional?

SPEAKER_04 9:51

You know, right now it's it's fun, but it's hard. Uh, we have a 14-month-old at home. Uh, it's our first child. Um, we just got him oh godness, over hand, foot, and mouth a few weeks ago. We just got over another the 50th sinus infection from daycare. So we're just deep down in the weeds, but we're enjoying every minute of it. It's it's fun no matter how hard it is. And we have a second on the way here in two months, so we're about to double that up. You're diving in, really go for it.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Yeah, my my first and second were six years apart, so I have not, I mean, it's a lot to have them that close together. So I guess if you're gonna jump into parenting headfirst is a great way to do it.

SPEAKER_04 10:34

Yeah, I'm I'm 40, so it's it's time to move on.

Community, Family, And Life Balance

Factoring 101 And Cash Flow Gaps

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Oh, yeah, you you waited. So now let's talk about the the factoring. Can you explain to the to the drivers what exactly freight factoring is and why it's important to have as a as an owner operator?

SPEAKER_04 10:52

Absolutely. So if you know, I'm sure there's tons and tons of people out there thinking about starting, you know, their own uh freight company, they're running their own MC. One of the quickest struggles you'll see uh that they'll probably have is cash flow on day one, right? So they'll talk to a broker, book a load, uh fuel up on diesel, insurance is paid at that point, run that lane, burn the diesel, you know, get their uh products delivered, and then immediately you're looking for your next load, right? Uh, and you may go halfway across the country on this next load and burn more diesel that you're paying for. So, you know, what a lot of people don't know uh from the start is these brokers that you're dealing with, um, they're your best friends for the most part. Uh that's where you find your business, uh, maybe 90% of it. Um, but you don't get paid, I would say, usually until about 30 or 40 days after you make that delivery. So from here we can imagine well, how do I stay operational unless I have tens of thousands of dollars already uh for 30 or 40 days just burning through capital, right? Um so that's where factoring companies come into play uh immediately. So I would suggest um finding a factoring company before your MC even goes active, might as well just have that step done. Um, if it's a good factoring company, you can use them when you need them. You don't have to factor every load for every customer. You know, use it when you need it, uh, is what I would always recommend. If if someone requires you to factor every customer, I'm made back away. But the the big advantage is once you make that delivery, uh you typically upload just your two forms, the BOL, the proof of delivery, and the rate confirmation that you get before the uh load is actually picked up. Um, give it to us once you make that delivery, and then we pay you on that load less a very small fee uh within 24 hours of us receiving those documents. So immediately you have your cash for that load straight to your business bank account, uh, ready to deploy for any other capital needs that you need to stay on the road. You know, maybe maybe you know you own that MC, but you're not driving yourself and you want to pay your driver really, really quick to keep them happy, keep them you know, uh employed within your business uh instead of going somewhere else, uh, even for a little more money. So uh factoring can solve a number of issues.

Fighting Fraud With Broker Credit Checks

SPEAKER_03 13:23

It can so there's a lot of fraud in the industry. And when I owned my small fleet, I had three trucks and I factored. Um, some of the brokers, you know, offer their own um quick pay features for you know with with a percentage cost. Um but the other ones, I mean, they can take 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days to pay, and with factoring, you're able to get that much quicker. But with the amount of fraud in the industry, I had to um make sure that the broker was accepted prior. Do you have that same process where the you have to make sure that the broker is someone that you will do factoring with?

SPEAKER_04 14:01

Uh, you absolutely do. We call it a broker credit check system. Uh, it's available on our factoring portal that any client would have access to. And to be very honest, I would I would call it a free insurance policy almost more than anything. Because maybe it seems like a pain to look up a broker to see if they're approved with your factoring company. But again, if it's a good factoring company, they have a very good credit team who's keeping their eyes and ears out all day, every day for bad actors, bad brokers, right? So the reason we we really want the carriers to do that and almost basically require it is what if we've already identified that that broker is fraud fraudulent, correct? So you're not gonna get paid on that load, but you may not even know it. But if they're denied in our credit check system, we might have just helped you avoid running 2,000 miles for a load that you're never gonna get paid on, you know, right, right. So that's why that's in place. The the other reason would be, you know, brokerages, their businesses just like anybody else, and sometimes they go downhill and out of business. So we're we keep constant track of their days to pay. You know, if it goes from within, let's call it three months, just hypothetically, um 30 to 90 days that they're paying carriers. That that's a real red flag of oh my goodness, you know, are things going downhill over there? Are they gonna go belly up with all these open invoices that they owe to carriers and factoring companies and never be able to pay out, you know? So that that's why the credit check systems there. It it's it's honestly for the carrier's own benefit.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Yeah, I've had to file against a bond before for a broker. So um I think that's one thing that a lot of carriers and people, when they first come out here, they don't understand the pitfalls with dealing with brokers. And there's so many overnight brokers that pop up and come on the scene and double brokering and being able to do that credit check, you know, you may think, oh my gosh, this is a great paying load, and I don't want to lose this load because look at this money. But there's a reason that that money is out there, and it's because nobody else will deal with them. Um, and you know, if you can't get your money, it doesn't matter how good the load is.

SPEAKER_04 16:12

That's exactly right. And what I tell all my clients uh very, very often is even if you're about to run a load that you know you're not going to need us to factor for you, which is great. Uh, we encourage that anytime the carrier is able, still run them through the credit check system because again, if they're denied, it's for a very good reason. It's never, never random.

Getting Set Up: UCCs And Onboarding

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Right. So if somebody wanted to get set up with single point, um how what does the process look like for for new people that are getting their MC or somebody who's already out there that wants to switch over?

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Yeah, we we keep it very simple. So there's a one-page application. Uh the great part about the application process, one is it's always free. You're never gonna pay us uh a dime for any of this. Uh, even if you do get approved, you're not paying us anything up front or anything to set up your account or maintain it. It's just when you factor the factoring fee, you know. Uh otherwise, we're also not checking any credit, whether that's business or personal, because again, we're more focused on the broker's credit because that's who's paying us back from all the money that we're fronting to our clients, right? So that that's where our focus is is really at. So, you know, even if your personal credit is just, you know, not where you would want it to be, um, we're not looking at that. We're looking at you know, background history, making sure there's no UCC filings on you or your you know new MC, which there sure shouldn't be if you're an UMC. Um, and if you're clearing those two hurdles, uh you'll you'll get approved and your account will be ready next day.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

Right. So for people who don't know, a UCC filing, normally when you take out um certain types of loans, uh the loans then um have a lien on any of your income coming in. So then a factoring company wouldn't be able to factor because the the UCC filing company gets it first. So that would prohibit you from collecting, correct?

SPEAKER_04 18:14

That's exactly right. So factoring companies, they must be in first UCC position. So if there's already an existing UCC on that uh prospective client, um, it would either need to be subordinated, you know, put from first position down to second to make room for the factoring company to take over first, or just simply terminated. You know, a lot of the UCCs, you know, let's say there was a loan and that individual did pay it off. A lot of times the loan companies kind of neglect uh that UCC and leave it hanging, uh, but it really should have been terminated already. So we can also help with that, you know, reach out to whatever company that is, put in the request for the carrier and take care of all that.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

Yeah. I imagine with freight rates being the way they've been, I've heard a lot of incidents where, you know, um companies, small fleets, drivers are taking advantage of some of these high interest loans and getting into predicaments. Um, so it's good that they understand how that works with factoring, especially if you know they're wanting to switch factoring for that reason to know that they are limited when that file is out there.

Reserves, Repairs, And Risk Reality

SPEAKER_04 19:21

That's exactly right. If if someone's out there looking to start their business and they're looking for uh I would say a business loan, uh I would make triple sure that you're not signing up your business loan probably with uh uh MCA loan because the the interest rates can be incredibly high. Uh, of course, that UCC filing is going to be hanging on you until you pay that off, which could be years. So then, you know, now at this point you don't even have access to factoring companies. You you've kind of already wiped that option off the table in theory, you know. So I I would really probably stay away from those. Um, if you can. You know, find your operating cost startup uh somewhere else, you know, because it it is hard, right? You know it better than I do. Uh running your own MC at one point, how much money it probably does take to get up and running between the truck or trucks, all the insurance, all the filings you're making, hundreds of dollars here and there, and things you never even think about. Um, so yeah, I mean, some people may just you know do what they have to do, but if you can avoid the MCA loan route, I probably would.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

So I'm you know, I'm just gonna put this out here because a lot of people they don't realize um how much money you need. Um, I had three trucks, and my philosophy, I was always told when I came out here it was uh good business practice to have back 20,000 per truck. You know, that that's a good dollar amount. So, you know, that's about give or take what I kept. And I want to tell you, in a six-month time, I had so many repairs that it wiped out my reserves with just in just months. I mean, we had some huge, big repair bills, and people don't understand. I, you know, I've replaced starters and cars, right? A couple hundred bucks, labor. It cost me$7,000 to replace a starter and rails in a semi. And you know, I always like to say trucking is big numbers in, but it's also really big numbers out, and you have to do your homework to understand just um exactly how much everything costs because it's it's crazy, it's not like a passenger vehicle at all.

SPEAKER_04 21:31

Yeah, that no, that that's exactly right. And you know, especially a couple of years ago, we saw a huge influx of maybe more than ever new entities hitting the market, new trucking companies. Um, and I would say that's a big reason we also saw the the same kind of huge uptick in companies not making it past the six-month mark. I think a lot of those people weren't patient maybe on the front end uh to get their company started and on the road and didn't have the kind of savings behind them for exactly what you said. Because even if your unit is brand new, something can still go wrong on day two, right? And if you don't have that$4,000 or$7,000 ready and available to take care of that, keep you on the road, then it you know it was a short run, you know. So I, you know, in terms of getting on the road, I financially I would stay patient until you do have that backing behind you uh to keep you comfortable for the rainy days. Cause again, you know better than I do, they're coming, I'm sure.

Cash Advances: Pros, Cons, Traps

SPEAKER_03 22:32

They they are, and and you know, when you have a unit down and it goes in the shop, you have more than just the shop costs. You have if you have a driver in that truck, you have the driver's salary for being breakdown pay, you have their hotel, you have the loss of revenue, and you still have insurance, truck payments, and everything else that you have to cover. So um, a lot of people don't think of the whole big picture with it, um, which is important. Now, um, I do know with factoring when we talked, um, there is cash advances. I am 100% against taking cash advances on fuel cards or factoring, but it is because it's a catch, you know. I mean, it you just get in a vicious cycle. But you guys do offer that ability.

SPEAKER_04 23:22

We do, yes. Uh, just to keep the option available for the carrier, what the cash advances typically look like is once the carrier has their rate con for the load that they're about to run, if they want, and I believe there's let's maybe a$20 or$30 fee, uh, will advance half of that rate confirmation, the the the amount that they're gonna get paid on that load to them before they pay uh pick up the load, right? So even before they pick it up, even before they pick it up, as long as the rate confirmation is valid. You know, maybe we'll call the broker and just confirm really quick and take five minutes to do that. But you know, some people need that, uh, that are running on very, very, you know, thin margins uh for you know their next take a diesel to pick up that load, you know. Uh I would call that hard times at that point. But I I am with you as well. It's certainly one of those things. If you don't have to do that, then don't do it.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

No, because once you it's it's you you're already robbing Peter to pay Paul at that point. Um, yes. So and it's hard to get back ahead. So in factoring, there's a few things that people need to know about factoring. One of them is that there are two main types, recourse and non-recourse. Would you mind explaining the difference between the two?

SPEAKER_04 24:39

Yeah, and you're kind of hitting a a really huge topic, I would call it in the factoring industry as well. Uh, because there's there's a lot of constant debate over it. So in theory, uh, what non-recourse is um is if a broker doesn't pay your factoring company back, we're kind of implying that you're not liable for that same amount of money to pay your factoring company back and make them whole, right? That'd be non-recourse factoring. So if you have a recourse contract on the other hand, if the broker or shipper doesn't pay your factoring company back, then you do have to make the factoring company whole, right? Uh, in some form or fashion. If unfortunately that does happen some. Um it does. But if you have a good factoring company, they they will not ask you to pay that same amount to them tomorrow. They're gonna help you make a plan. They don't want you to hurt you financially. Yes, it's a bad situation and everyone wishes it wouldn't have uh happen. But hey, you know, let's spread out that let's call it a thousand dollars, you know, on your next 10 invoices that you factor, and you know, it'll help lighten the blow there, you know. But more specifically, you know, we're very, I mean, basically nothing short of lenders, right? On the factoring side. So really the the real question is, and there's this kind of been this term to pop up, true non-recourse, right? And that's what we were just talking about a second ago, uh, on you know, implied non-recourse. But the question would be what lender have you ever heard of that, you know, if they lend you ten thousand dollars for X, Y, or Z, but you don't pay it back, the lender will just go, Oh, well, bummer, you know, moving on, you know, we'll we'll try it again with somebody next time and maybe we'll make our money back at that point. So again, with factoring basically butting right up against lending, that my personal full belief is there is truly nothing in our industry uh in terms of true non-recourse, right? Uh, if there is, they have to put certain like very strict limitations on who you're actually running with, like only 10 or 20 day debtors, you know, things like that, uh, they're gonna be hurtful for your business too, because now you don't have a lot of choices for clients. So to kind of finish this topic, what I I would say recourse or non-recourse actually does cover the only thing, uh, and if I'm a carrier, I'd still prefer to have it, is if the broker goes bankrupt while that invoice is still open and not paid out to the factoring company yet.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

So you would be covered in that uh situation.

Apps, Paperwork, And Fast Funding

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Right. So I've seen a lot of misinformation um when it comes to this topic. So I think it's really important when people are uh starting out and they don't understand what non-recourse is because I think it's explained uh very differently and incorrectly. Um, and they get themselves in situations and then they think that they aren't responsible. And a lot of the situations that I've heard um are one, they factor it and then for some reason the broker sends them a check. So then they've been double paid. Um, and you know, that means the factoring company has to be paid back. Two, there might be a discrepancy between the initial contract with the broker and what actually was paid out, whether they were deducted late fees, what whatever the situation is, if there was a claim. So, you know, the the initial contract might have there might be deductions that the broker takes out, sometimes unknowingly to the driver. Um, so in that case, those are also chargebacks, correct?

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Of course, yeah. Yeah, that there always will be. What I I would recommend to with all this kind of new knowledge in mind, what I would recommend to the carrier as you're shopping for a factoring company is make that one of the first questions you ask. You know, are you a recourse or non-recourse contract? Because it in my eyes, doing this for the last quite a few years, if a sales rep tells you, hey, we're a true non-recourse company, I might decide just to go ahead and run away. Uh, because I don't know if I could trust that, to be honest. Right. It's just not how it works. It's it's truly, truly not. So that's a good litmus test to ask a factoring rep, uh a factoring sales rep, uh uh to see maybe if they're you know being very truthful with you or not. Because just like you you mentioned, there's bad actors on the brokerage side, there's bad actors on the carrier side sometimes, you know, and there's also bad actors on the factoring side sometimes. You need to be able to sniff all of them out uh in every realm.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Yeah, yeah, that's very, very important. Um, so you're you have an app, right? So um you've made it easy for drivers, uh, especially if they have um carriers, they have their own drivers, they can just um take a picture of the bill of lading and bill of lading. I can't even talk. Bill of lading and upload it through the app for payments, uh, and typically 24 hours. What situations will make the payment to the carrier take longer than the 24 general hours?

Avoiding Fraud And Mismatched Documents

SPEAKER_04 30:04

Yeah, it's a that's that's a great question. One would be not a good picture, right? We we need to know what invoice we're about to uh front the money for. So, you know, if it's a really blurry picture or if it's just a half of a page and you know there's a lot of text and there's three pages behind that, but all we have is a half a page. Well, we we can't fund that invoice, you know, if if we can't read the entire thing. So, you know, if it says page one of four up top and we only have page one and two, then we can't fund yet. You know, we need to see page three and four. Um the other would be, and this is typical when you first start factoring, uh, and this is kind of good to set these like kind of, I guess, expectations. One very important document that you know about well, Tammy, is the notice of assignment, right? So factoring companies have to give your customers, and you can do it yourself too, just to expedite things, uh, a one-page document called the notice of assignment. And that's the really important document that's telling that customer, hey, when you are good and ready to pay, even if it's in 60 days, pay the factoring company back. You know, here's our information to do so. Don't double pay the carrier like you were explaining earlier. So when factoring companies turn that in uh to the uh carrier's broker, let's say, uh, one thing we do need is just a one-time and one-time only verification that they they received it, they have it filed, uh, they know where the payments are going to go from now on. Uh, and then once we get that, then great. You know, there's some very large brokers out there um that are just you know operationally a bit backed up. They may not give us that verification for six hours, and they may not give it to us for 24 hours, right? So we just hit that 24 hour mark already. Uh, so so that's certainly one thing that can delay it too. Um other than that, I I would say just whether it's accidental mistakes, you know, on those paperworks, we we've seen an extra zero added or deleted that we've called and and kind of sniffed out.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Um, you know, things like an extra zero is a big deal. So it's a huge deal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:21

Yeah. Um and then while we're on the paperwork topic as well, uh a little off topic, uh, one huge, just very I think valuable piece of advice that sounds so simple, but it would really save a lot of carriers a lot of fraud and headaches is always check the email address domain on your rate confirmation. If you ever see a at outlook.com or at gmail.com, any of that, I would really, really, really review everything that's happening and make sure it's not fraud. Hopefully through a broker credit check system, because I believe any reputable broker will have their own, you know, at tql.com, you know.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Uh I mean, I got ad trucking with Tammy, so you know, I don't expect any broker I would be dealing with to be better than I am running a podcast.

SPEAKER_04 33:12

So yeah, but it it happens all the time, kind of in the realm of fraud where you'll you'll see those email domains and you know within two seconds this is not a load that you're gonna run and get paid on, unfortunately. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

So what about a scenario where the shipper, the the addresses don't match from the rate confirmation to the bill of lading? How is that handled? Because that happens, and I want drivers to understand that this is a scenario that they should be prepared for.

SPEAKER_04 33:43

Absolutely, because how how many times have you had a driver on the road, whether they're halfway there or even two miles away, but then the delivery address changes kind of on a dime sometimes, you know? So, yes, that's part of our verification, but the solution's very easy. Um, same thing. All we need to do is just make a quick check call to that broker. Like, hey, you know, we we have the rate confirmation to so and so address, but we noticed on the BOL it's not matching. Is everything okay on your end? You know, and they'll they'll they'll give us the thumbs up very quickly normally, and then we we just continue to move forward toward funding. So you don't need like an updated rate confirmation with the correct addresses or anything, generally they'll send it to us like during that call, usually live. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Uh certainly are there any other scenarios that carriers should be aware of that may deline delay minus the ones we've already discussed?

Dedicated Support vs Call Center Chaos

SPEAKER_04 34:41

You know, that there's not many. Uh just as long as you know, one very, very important thing uh that that does kind of relate to this is have a pre-conversation if you have one, and I really hope you have one with with your factoring account rep, you know, as as you're introduced to them. So we take the approach of uh a dedicated account rep. So it's a one-on-one relationship. You're gonna get to know them very well. Uh, you know, some other companies do the team approach where, hey, you're gonna call this number and one of nine people may answer, and then yeah, I'm not a fan of that. I know. Uh, and then uh of course, you know, some companies unfortunately just have a 1-800 number and that's it, uh, and really no great support. Uh and that'd be the worst case. But even with the team approach, you know, what you'll find is hey, I'm I'm in the middle of this like really complex issue, you know, with this broker, maybe. Um, and it would be really valuable if I could get who I spoke to 10 minutes ago, but now they're all booked up and on the phone for the next hour, and I've got to re-talk about this entire situation over from scratch, you know, to this new sales rep. So we we take the one-on-one approach, and I would really recommend just having a conversation with them up front before you book your first load. Hey, can we walk through this really quick? You know, what do you uh expect out of me for you know very, very expedited funding to help you guys out? Um, you know, you know, what hurdles, you know, or kind of what roadblocks, you know, have you seen people hit that I can maybe avoid when it comes to you know all this paperwork and the communication with the brokers? Because it is as simple as it seems, it can be really complex sometimes, right? Um, but if you have a good working relationship with your account rep, even if you do hit these little roadblocks or you know, bumps in the road, you're gonna get over them very, very quickly because you and him or her are already on the same page from day one. Um and the other part, sorry, that that I would add is that that that account rep is kind of your champion, right? They're they are your biggest fan, they want you to hurry up and get paid as fast as possible, you know, and that's kind of how they're graded as well, you know, on their job a lot of times, but um they have your best interest in mind, uh, for sure. So just lean on them as much as you need to.

Logistics Arm And Heavy Haul Focus

SPEAKER_03 37:04

And that's gonna lead me to my next question. So you guys don't just do factoring and you know, dealing with brokers, you also have a logistics side as well, um, and a fuel card side. Now, how is your logistics side set up? Are you able to provide that information today?

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, single point capital, that that's our factoring arm. Single point logistics is our brokerage. Uh, we're all in the same office, uh, we all work together a lot. Uh, the unique thing about the brokerage, uh, I guess from starters, uh, they they're really experts on heavy hauls. Uh that's primarily the largest percentage of loads that they're brokering out as you know, heavy machinery or oversized loads, things like that. They certainly do a good number of dry van loads, you know, hot shots. Uh, you know, so there's plenty of diversity there, but the the focus and the biggest part of the book of business over there is is certainly the heavy haul part. What we've done though, which I think is unique, is as those loads are becoming available, we always put them in front of our factoring clients first, you know, because that's who we want to take care of, if we can, at least give them the option, you know, uh and see when they're available. We know what equipment they have and this and that. So we'll put it uh in front of them before we even put it on any public load board uh period. So, you know, if X amount of time goes by and that load's not booked, then we'll go ahead and bring it public and it usually will get booked within a couple hours from there. But um, you know, we we want our factoring clients staying busy and profitable, obviously. So there's a really good synergy there to help them out.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

Which leads to my next question. What about new authorities? Are you able to help new authorities out?

New Authorities And Early Loads

SPEAKER_04 38:55

Yeah, we we do usually we like to wait just uh instead of a 90-day period, a lot of times you I'd call it between 30 and 60 days of the MC going active. Um if they're a uh a factoring client of ours, uh they're probably more liable to maybe get that load booked on day one of their authority, you know, uh, because at that point we know them, we've vetted them out already, you know, days ago and everything's already approved. So there's a lot less risk in our eyes there than dealing with a carrier that we just got introduced to on the phone five seconds ago, you know, that's 3,000 miles away and hasn't ran a load yet, you know. So uh there's definitely some flexibility there for sure.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

I think people who are just coming out and getting their authority do not understand the logistics side of it for new authority and how a lot of brokers do not want to or will not work with you 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, one year, up to two years. I mean, the the really good brokers um they want experience under your belt. So having An option for new carriers is very important when you're out looking and especially considering a factoring company that has that extra uh little benefit for you.

Fuel Card Network And Real Savings

SPEAKER_04 40:13

For sure. Yeah. So that uh our load boards on our portal, uh, the same factoring portal that we talked about before, along with that broker credit check system. So uh obviously, you know, we want nothing more than our clients to get paid and get paid quick and be as profitable as possible. So we're constantly trying to think of new tools, you know, and that brokerage was a huge one to add to our let's call it little arsenal to you know help profitability, help everybody stay busy. And you know, you mentioned the fuel cards. Uh, we partnered with a third-party company to provide those just to help our carriers cut costs as well, right?

SPEAKER_03 40:48

Because we we talked about money coming in, right? And it's really important on how you handle that cash flow coming in, but your money going out is just as important. And one of our largest expenses is our fuel. So how does your fuel so it's a it's an actual discount program, correct?

SPEAKER_04 41:07

It is correct. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

Okay, and how does it work? And what's you know, the average savings? I know you we talked about it on the phone, but you know, if you could kind of share that, because I was really impressed with what you have going on.

SPEAKER_04 41:22

For sure. So the the kind of I would say most important features of the fuel card are first the premier station on there that let's say kind of runs the show across the map is uh TA, right? So uh all the TAs you'll have access and discounts to, and then there's probably about six to seven thousand, uh I would call more regional stations uh behind those. Um, the TAs, uh, you know, those are going to be really good for your longer stops and you know, even showers and things like that. These regional stations will be your quicker stops, but a lot of times they have a higher discount. So on average, between the uh the program as a whole, uh you're looking at typically somewhere between 45 and 48 cents per gallon. Uh, you know, so if you're running your, you know, let's say full-size drive and five days a week, even, you know, um, you should be saving quite a few hundred, if not uh, you know, thousand twelve hundred dollars a month uh just from that amount of fuel savings uh alone. And you know, what what else can you imagine you can do with twelve hundred to fifteen hundred extra dollars a month if you're you know an owner of a one truck company? There's a lot of things you can do, and if nothing else, put it behind in that savings that you were talking about earlier.

SPEAKER_03 42:39

Yeah. So is this a um contracted rate, or does this rate re is it something that uh is is contract like uh let me make sure I reward this correctly. The rates off are contracted for a time period, or is this a fluctuating rate depending on what prices are?

SPEAKER_04 42:58

That exactly right. So it's it's basically, I'd say the simplest way to explain it is it's based off of live supply and demand almost, you know. Uh, if a fuel stop has a big shipment of fuel coming in in two days, but you know, they still have 30% capacity, they're probably gonna really, really cheapen their fuel for their you know, uh diesel discount clients uh to hurry up and try to you know get rid of that fuel before they fill up their huge tank underground again, right? So it's all live, and there's a tool on the app uh that's so beneficial to the carrier where they can type in their lane they're about to run for the day, let's say Houston, Oklahoma City. It'll show them uh on their route all the fuel stations uh on that lane that you know have discounts uh within the network and what the actual discounts and final price is that day. So that really helps the driver be more calculated on, hey, you know, I was gonna stop here, let's say in Huntsville, Texas, um, you know, at 30 cents off per gallon, but I did see if I drive 20 more miles up to Madisonville, Texas, they're 55 cents off per gallon today. So I'm gonna go ahead and make that extra few miles and and save, you know, probably$100 or more.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Do you so I'm gonna ask this because you know I'm a numbers girl. You wouldn't happen to add in um or or put what the fuel tax is for that state too, so you actually know the fuel tax and the costs after that state's fuel tax.

SPEAKER_04 44:32

I I don't believe it does. Uh I don't believe it does.

SPEAKER_03 44:34

That would be a great benefit, especially for that would be amazing. That um uh some states also have a lot lower motor tax fuel. Um and so you might be paying actually more per gallon in fuel uh than another state who has a higher motor fuel tax.

Bottom Line Beats Big Discounts

SPEAKER_04 44:57

So exactly right. I would say one other piece of advice too when it comes to fuel discounts is I I think a lot of people, you know, they'll log into their app, uh whether it's ours or anyone else's, and they'll see, okay, 55 cents off per gallon here, 30 cents off there. Well, I know where I'm gonna go, right? But what matters more obviously is the bottom line. Uh you can make the mistake of that 55 cents off puts you at a bottom line of three dollars. But actually that that station that had 30 cents off, now they're only 265. So you kind of made a little mistake there. So bottom line, yeah, kind of exactly like you're saying, it is all that really matters.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

That it does. So um with your fuel discount program, what I know you said is your 40 some cents is is the average. For for just to for transparency, what is the lowest generally that you can expect? Do you have like a certain amount, or a you know, the lowest you'll see is going to be 10% off or 12%, or will you maybe sometimes see less than that off?

SPEAKER_04 46:05

You've and this is not a selling point, this is just a data point, I would say. I I've seen it. And that's what I want. Yeah, yes. Go, I've seen it go all the way up to a dollar 75. I think one time even$1.95 off per gallon. Now, what caused that situation? I'm not sure, but obviously that's not a discount that the carrier would expect to be hanging out there for days at a time, right? It's a little unrational, and there's some maybe anomaly situation in there, but again, it's all relative to supply and demand. So it's something in that realm. So, no, you're you're not gonna expect that. And anybody who's gonna market, you know, two dollars off uh of diesel is probably full of it, I think, right? So, yeah, that the average that that you should be expecting when you do your monthly accounting, 45 to 48 is a good little soft spot there that's uh very doable.

Tiered Rates And Scaling With Growth

SPEAKER_03 46:59

That's good. Okay. Um, because sometimes you know, uh you see less amount, or I you know, and this was my own personal experience. I when I first came out, um, before I I got the fuel car that I was the happiest with, I I checked out a couple different programs and it'd say 10, 12, but then you'd get out there and most of them were four. You know, so you really weren't saving that much. Um, and especially when you're competing with systems like Mud Flap um that came out and you know negotiated with all the little independents, but you're able to offer, you know, uh a much better discounted rate, it seems.

SPEAKER_04 47:40

Yeah, and and on that note, it it's it has to do uh if you're at the carrier with asking the right questions, right? Because if you see that, hey, you know,$1.65 off per gallon, come use our fuel card, you know, they're kind of maybe trying to trick you into actually thinking you're gonna get a dollar sixty five off of every gallon that you buy within their network, right? Maybe across the nation. And unfortunately, factoring can be the same way. You know, you get a flyer or an email that says, hey, you know, you have a one truck box truck startup company, and you get an email that says, hey, come factor with us for two percent. Anybody really in in the real factoring world knows that you know a startup one truck company probably isn't getting a two percent rate. So you're you're getting hooked in there, I would bet, right? And what unfortunately comes after that is all these hidden fees, you know, and even invoices, they'll they'll call it like an invoicing fee and all this that you didn't see in your contract, but it is there, unfortunately. And now when you do your end of the month accounting that we keep talking about, you could expect your actual factoring rate to be between four and five percent. Uh, and you're really bummed out of that point. So there's a lot of questions to ask uh up front to your factoring sales rep to make sure that you know what you're getting, um, nothing's gonna change. Um you know, and I have a lot of these questions written down too, if you want to go uh through some of them.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

We're we're going to. I have a couple more before we get to those. So, does your um factoring services scale with business growth? So do you have like a higher percentage for smaller, and then as you grow the percentage reduces then?

The Ultimate Factoring Buyer’s Checklist

SPEAKER_04 49:25

That's exactly right. So there's two scenarios that usually happen. Uh and it's relative to flat rates or you know, I guess like kind of growth rates, you can call them growth tiers. So you can have a flat rate contract, and you know, somewhere between three and four percent maybe isn't the craziest starting point, you know, for a carrier to have their factoring rate at, depending on your trailer type and some other factors. Um, but what I would recommend if I'm the carrier is negotiating in growth tiers right off the bat. So it's usually always volume based. And by volume, we need we mean dollars factored per month, right? That's always the biggest metrics of factoring companies to figure out which rate is the most appropriate. So, you know, I I would build in there, hey, you know, if I have zero to fifteen thousand dollars factored a month, yeah, Andy, I'll take your offer, but I want a tier at 15 to 30 to be, you know, 0.15% less than that, then you know, 30 to 50, another discount after that, just to encourage growth, right? And it's really mutually beneficial because it helps the carrier as they grow. It also rewards them as they grow. Uh, and then from my standpoint, you know, on the factoring side, it helps me not have to renegotiate contracted rates, you know, every single term as we're as we're reaching those uh points in the year, right? So it's a lot less clerical work on me, and there's value in that, you know. So I would always, if I could, push toward a tiered rate for the most part. But you know, that being said, um, same thing we're we're talking about earlier. If you have a good factoring company, you can maybe call them mid midterm. Hey Andy, look what I've been doing. Like I grew, I'm really happy about it. You know, can you throw me a bone? Yes, of course we can.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Hey Andy, I'm adding a third truck, and so this means um my factoring is going to go up, and I need a better rate.

SPEAKER_04 51:22

Yep, that's exactly right. Because uh also at some point, you know, if we don't give it to them, someone else will and we don't want to lose them. So right, right. It's a very competitive market, so healthy competition for sure. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Okay, so you know at Trucking with Tammy, we're all about educating drivers and making sure that they know what they need to look for and ask. And as you said, you have a list of questions that carriers need to ask factoring companies when they're looking for the right factoring company for them. So have at it. For sure.

SPEAKER_04 51:55

So, step one, what I would say is you're gonna get a lot of calls uh from you know, when your dot goes public, uh, you're gonna get calls from certain factoring companies, from insurance agents, from dispatchers, from people acting like they're brokerages, trying to scam you into taking their lanes that they don't have. Um, so your phone's gonna blow up. But when when you do hit the time where you have time to focus on, okay, what factoring company am I gonna use? I would use two methods. One, if you have a network, always use it. Um, always, always lean on your network for you know the good and the bad, bad feedback of whatever company you're thinking about, uh, even an insurance agency or whatever else it could be. There's nothing more important than your network and building up that network that you trust. Uh, second, I would say go ahead and use Google Reviews and any other review site that you can to your advantage. Uh, most of the time they're pretty accurate. Um, and you can kind of avoid a lot of bad situations uh just by taking the time to you know research an hour or two worth of reviews. I would say right now there's maybe four to five hundred freight factoring companies out there. So you're probably not going to be able to research them all, but uh the ones you can do. So once you start making your own calls uh to the factoring companies, um, grill them and don't feel bad about grilling the sales route. You know, it to me, we're fortunate to have the carrier as our client, it's not the other way around. So demand their time. If they don't have the time for you to answer your questions, then you you're hitting the red flag already, right?

SPEAKER_03 53:32

Yeah, if they don't have the time for you to get your business, they're not gonna have the time for you to keep your business. So that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_04 53:40

Yep. And you really need their attention, you know, while you're live out on the road. So if you can't get it from a sales rep, you're not gonna get it from an account rep. Uh so anyway, uh, first question is there a contract? Um, as weird as this sounds, if the answer is no, I would perk up my eyebrows a little bit, right? Uh, because you're probably being lied to. We talked just a few minutes ago of hey, we're all bordering on or actually are lenders, right? What you know, what lender doesn't use a contract, you know.

SPEAKER_03 54:12

So so legally, and I'm gonna interrupt you for a minute. So legally without a contract, then they're not able to legally get a notice of assignment, are they?

SPEAKER_04 54:22

That's exactly right. Yeah, and they they shouldn't be filing a UCC filing on on you either. Um, so that that's step one. Uh step two, what is the contract term length? You know, there's one year is usually kind of the the gold standard uh of the factoring contract term length. Uh sometime maybe a factoring company that is trying to negotiate with you, hey, you want this lower rate than we're actually offering? All right, signing two-year contract. I would I would be hesitant to do that unless you you know people there and they've already vouched for that factoring company. So you know you are probably a little bit safe, you know, operationally. Um otherwise, you know, you have some factoring companies that'll offer month to month and you know, maybe a three-month term. Those are typically the ones that you're gonna get stuck with a higher rate on, you know, because they're assuming they're gonna have your business for a less amount of time in theory, right? So you might get stuck with a higher rate on those. So I I would reasonably look for, you know, maybe a six-month or a one-year contract. Uh is probably what you're wanting to target. Uh, and once you figure that out, uh, the next question is okay, what is my termination notice? Uh and this is a very important question, right? Because a lot of people will sign up with a factoring company and get stuck uh beyond the year that they thought they were because there's a termination notice period for us all. Uh ours is uh 60 days, you know, prior to your contract ending, that one year, we just need a 60-day notice of, hey, you know, I'm gonna go somewhere else, or hey, thank you guys so much, but I just don't need factoring anymore. Um, but uh that's not spoken about a lot, unfortunately, in the industry up front. So, you know, Tammy, you start your fact uh trucking company and you're factoring with XYZ company, you're in a year contract, uh, the month before your year is up. Hey guys, like thank you so much, but I'm gonna make a move. Uh sorry, Tammy, you didn't give us a 90-day notice. You know, you're here for another year, you know. So uh hugely important question there, right? Has that ever happened to you or no?

SPEAKER_03 56:25

Yeah, no, I had the the factory company I had, I stayed with the entire time that my business was open. They did me good. I mean, I didn't have any problems with them. So but I also demand I I buy maintenance, I will tell you. Like I I do business, my my car salesman will tell you the same thing. When I do business with anybody, I let them know what my expectations are up front. And if if you can't meet that, I don't I won't do business with you. I mean, I'm pretty blunt about that. I don't mess around when it comes with with to business. So um for sure. If you're not returning my calls, you're not answering me, um, then if I have an emergency or I'm stuck at a broker or I'm you're not gonna be there to to help me when I need it, then I don't want to do business with you. I think uh accountability and dependability are huge things, um especially in trucking.

Hidden Fees, UCC Traps, And Fine Print

SPEAKER_04 57:17

Yeah, for sure. So the the next questions are or the obvious one. What is my rate? But behind that, what are your extra fees? You know, a lot of companies will have all these, and some of them just a ton of them that can cripple you uh extra fees behind it, you know, look like getting charged five dollars for every invoice that you upload to the system. Like, no, you know, uh really that. Oh, yeah, it's everywhere. And that that's usually for your companies that are advertising that one and a half, two percent rate for a brand new one truck carrier, they're gonna get that money somewhere else. Some you know, so it's out there. Um, we covered what happens if a uh if a broker doesn't pay back. So I think kind of at this point we know, hey, you know, if the broker doesn't pay the factoring company back, now we kind of know what recourse and non-recourse is. And if someone's telling you we're true non-recourse, go ahead and raise another maybe red flag there, right? Uh, because you're dealing with a lender. Okay. Um, do you check my credit if I apply? Um, there's no red flag if they say yes, it's more of a personal preference for you, right? Uh a lot of people just do not want that little ding on their credit report and you cannot blame them. So uh, you know, maybe you butt up against one of those factoring companies that's a requirement and you're uncomfortable with it, just go ahead and back away and don't fill out any forms. You know, find find someone who doesn't require that credit check. Um, are there any fees or deposits required to start? Uh, you'll hit companies that will charge you if you fill out their factoring uh applications. Sometimes you'll see$100 or to open up your account once you get approved, now you owe them$1,000. Uh, that's certainly out there. Uh, you should not be doing that. Um, one that I really like uh is ask the factoring rep for any carrier references. You know, just get it, you know, try to get on a call uh with that factoring rep. If they've been around a while, they have a large, you know, book of business. Uh try to get on the phone with one or two of them. You know, there's the you shouldn't feel bad about asking that. Uh if they say no, then I can't imagine a reason they would say no. It's that maybe they're hiding something. But you know, if I'm starting a trucking company and I don't already have a network built on my own, then you know, I I I don't think it's inappropriate to ask that factoring rep, you know, for more this is your money and your cash flow.

SPEAKER_03 59:50

So, you know, the average truck brings in over 200,000 or should be bringing in over 200,000 a year, well over. I mean. Back when it was good, you were looking at more like three, three fifty, three hundred and fifty thousand a year. Um, so that's a lot of money to be cycling through a factoring company. So they should be willing and able to answer all those questions for you and be transparent. And if they can't, then your money doesn't need to go there. It's just like walking into a bank, right? You're not gonna walk into a bank and put your as checking your savings account with somebody who's not going to give you all their fees and be up front with you.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:28

You're exactly right. Um, and we're we're almost to the end here uh in terms of the questions. But if I apply, uh not sign a contract, but if I apply, are you gonna file a UCC filing on me? I've had it happen so many times where I have a client referred to me or a prospect, I guess at that point. Hey Andy, I would love to sign up with your factoring company. Uh, I get them to apply, uh, and you know, they're they sign the contract, but during our due diligence period, oh no, there's a UCC filed on them. You know, we can't move forward until we address that and get it out of the way. So, hey, I see so-and-so company filed a UCC filing on you two days ago. You know, what happened there? They're kind of you know, stopping us from moving forward. Well, just filled out their application. I never signed the contract, but unfortunately, a lot of times, you know, just uh carriers will fill out that application because maybe maybe they're even told, hey, you know, we'll get you a rate offer, but you got to fill this out first. Well, you might have just locked yourself in now, you don't have any more choices, you know. So um how does that work?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:29

I mean, I I've never heard of that. So just by filling out the application, is there any verbiage on the application that drivers the carriers need to look for when when filling out an application?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:40

There can be fine print, but you know, uh a lot a lot of times the the carriers rushing through it because they want to hear that rate offer, right? But what I try to do up front before I even put an application in front of a prospect, um, I tell them what the rate is, you know, hey, here's where we're gonna be at, right? Um, because I there I I I already know, you know, I kind of know their stats, I know their units, I know you know what they're probably gonna be running a month month. There's really no reason that I shouldn't be able to tell them, you know, at least a very tight range of where their rate's gonna be at. So um if we agree to that verbally, then you know we're probably comfortable going ahead and filling out the paperwork and getting things moving. Uh, so that is my one of my last pieces of advice is don't fill out paperwork. And this stretches way beyond factoring companies, um, it until you're sure that you're gonna do business with that company, right? Um, there's just it, you're just kind of hedging your bets, you know. If at that point, you know, you've made your five or ten factoring company calls and you you know who you're gonna go with, go ahead and get the paperwork signed and you know get to funding as quick as you can. But other than that, as you're still vetting out companies, just don't put your signature or information on anything quite yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:55

Yeah, I'm just as guilty as the next person about skimming the fine print. So um, if you guys are looking at factoring companies, heed this advice. This is obviously a situation where you want to read the fine print and not put yourself in a situation that you can't get out of.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:13

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

Yeah, so that is a lot of great questions. So, besides the logistics, the fuel card, is there anything else that you would like to add the single point capital provides to their carriers? Any other services?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:28

There is. Um, and and first of all, uh let me tell you, you know, the reason I moved here from my former company is because of the service itself. You know, I kind of got uh beat down for a couple of years of, you know, my former company was so so large, and I could feel the strain on my clients um that they weren't getting the support they needed because they were calling me all the time desperate for help. And that even got so stressful on me, so I can imagine how much stress they're going through. But that trickles down all the way to me as their original salesperson, right? So um, you know, uh just going to a smaller company who has the time, who has the resources, who has the space, um, has in the funniest way changed my life and relieved me of so much stress. Uh, it's been so much better. But uh, to actually answer your question, we do offer uh insurance as well. Um, so we provide insurance and insurance down payment assistance uh if it's needed. So on the uh assistance side, uh we'll fund up to 50% of your initial down payment if everything is approved. Uh but the the thing to know is on that side, we do uh require a credit check on that. So the factoring part we certainly don't, but if we're gonna you know fund and help the uh insurance down payment, we'll have to check the personal credit first.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:48

Yeah, because that's a pretty big chunk. I mean, most most down payments are are a significant amount.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:55

Unfortunately, yes. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:56

Yeah, so I I can see that. Um, and does your your insurance uh obviously you represent multiple companies so that you're able to shop the best rates, or do you guys just have one insurance company that you use?

Insurance Options And Down Payment Help

SPEAKER_04 1:05:10

We're we're building it out. This is brand new to us as of last year. So we're we're providing Geico right now, and and a lot of the reason we're doing this is we have a lot of clients who want everything in one spot, uh, you know, as much as reasonable, right? Just have everything just built in together with insurance fuel, this, that. I think we'll build that out more, but uh um even more importantly, we have so many partners on the dispatching side and the insurance side where if our insurance isn't the best for you, then by all means go somewhere else, do what's best for you. Uh, you're crazy not to, but we have so many partners that we trust that we would you know love referring our clients to to help them out and get get them steady and get them where they need to be.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:56

And a lot of people don't understand. I actually started at the in on the insurance and risk management side. So um I I handle commercial lines, I own two agencies back in in my earlier career. Um this is used to be. Yeah, yeah. That's where that's where I started before I came to this side of it. Um, but there are you're limited on how many companies that you can go to to get insurance for a trucking company. There are only so many out there. It's not like every trucking comp or every insurance company offers insurance coverages for a trucking company. Uh so what you're really going to be looking for is the agency and the agent that you're going to be dealing with. So you do want someone that you can that's going to pick up the phone that's going to be there to answer your questions, going to make sure that you're well covered. Um, and in the event of a claim is accessible. And I'm sure with the with service being single point capital's main focus, that you're going to be carrying that service on to every part. Um, every little arm that you guys have, whether it's fuel cards, logistics, or insurance.

Building A Trusted Network

SPEAKER_04 1:07:00

Yep, it is. We're all in the same office, we're all working together face to face, uh, which expedites a whole lot. I can just, you know, go down the hall and solve a problem in 20 seconds instead of waiting 20 minutes for an email to come back, you know. Um, so everything's very efficient, uh, very customer friendly and customer focused. So um, yeah, that is probably one of the last pieces of advice I would say is leverage your current network for their instant network as well, right? Even if it is a factoring company. Because, like I said, you know, I personally know and uh you know one of them as well now, uh, some very good dispatchers out there. Uh yes, yep. And uh you spoke to her a couple days ago on here, and that was uh such a fun lesson. But you know, use us to your benefit beyond factoring or beyond insurance or beyond our brokerage. You know, we've been around for 17, 18 years. We have a massive network. We've made some even mistakes years ago that we've learned from that we'd love to go and tell tell you about so you don't miss you know make the same mistake or you know, um just just build a trusted network. It is my biggest piece of advice, I think I could say, because it's just so hard to do alone, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:17

It is, it is, and you know, it's one thing when you're already an established carrier, but what I learned from my own personal experience is when you first come out here, your first two years are really hard. And there's not always open doors for your first two years. So whether it's insurance, and I'm not sure, I'm not familiar with Geico. I imagine they take new carriers. Um, some insurance companies do not. Um, and so you run into a lot of roadblocks as a new carrier. So it's really important to align yourself with somebody who has products that cater to your experience level. Um, and I really like the single point capital, does that? Um, it really helps out because we're always going to have new carriers, and somebody needs to hold their hand and get them started and um educate them.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:07

You're exactly right. So, you know, we're we're not the only ones that we've never claimed to be that kind of pull a lot of these pieces together for you, but we certainly can, right? Even down to ELD connections and and things like that, um, regulatory companies that can help you out with all your filings and paperwork. We know them all. Uh, we we know the good ones and the bad ones, and and are more than happy to put the good ones in front of you.

Links, How To Connect, And Closing

SPEAKER_03 1:09:32

Yeah, Andy's the networking guy. If he doesn't do it, he can point you in the direction of who can. I mean, he set me up with Mrs. V and I loved her to death. So um, you are definitely the go-to guy. All right, guys. Well, that is going to be it for trucking with Tammy today. I am going to be putting in a special link on all the posts, the website. Um, obviously it's not going to be on the podcast platforms, but if you go to truckingwithtammy.com or if you see me over on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or um TikTok, of course, I'll post a link for um simple simple point, and that'll direct you to their products. And then if you have any questions or concerns or want to get hooked up, you'll be able to talk to a rep straight with them. Other than that, thanks to everybody for hanging out. I hope you learned something new. This is Tammy. We're tracking with Tammy, and we'll see you next time.