Working capital for trucking and logistics companies

A truck burns money every mile and gets paid when the shipper feels like it. Fuel, driver pay, tires, tolls and the repair that happened in Georgia are all due now; the invoice for the load lands in 30–90 days. A working-capital program bridges that gap — typically up to 2X monthly revenue, depending on how the file looks — and invoice factoring can turn the invoice itself into cash. Two minutes and no documents shows you your options, and qualifying files typically hear back within one business day.

The gap between the delivery and the check

Trucking has the longest pay lag of any trade that moves this fast. The costs are per mile and immediate. The American Transportation Research Institute’s annual study, as reported by Transport Topics in July 2026, put the industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 at $2.336 per mile, 3.4% higher than 2024, with the largest increases in tolls (13.2%), repair and maintenance (8.6%), driver benefits (6.6%) and tires (6.4%). Excluding fuel, costs rose to $1.854 per mile. None of that waits for net-30.

The revenue side runs on someone else’s calendar. The shipper or the party that booked the load pays on terms, a quick-pay costs a discount, and a disputed delivery receipt can push one invoice out another month. The Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey found that among employer firms that sought financing, 56% did so to meet operating expenses, and 51% named uneven cash flow as a financial challenge; a fleet feels both at once. The moments a carrier usually calls a desk:

• A new lane or a new customer that needs a second truck and a driver before the first invoice pays.
• A breakdown — the engine, the transmission, the tow — that has to be fixed to keep the revenue coming at all.
• Fuel and payroll in a week when three customers are all paying late.
• Insurance renewal, due in one lump that no weekly pay sheet was built for.

Factoring, a term program, or a line: which fits a fleet

If the money you are waiting on is sitting in invoices to business customers, start with invoice factoring. You sell the invoice to a factor, a large share of its face value is advanced up front, and the reserve is released when the shipper pays, minus the fee. Your customer deals with the factor for payment, which some carriers like and some do not. The guide on how invoice factoring works shows the advance, the reserve and the fee moving through one example.

If the need is bigger than one invoice — a truck, a trailer, a second driver’s first month — a working capital or term program advances general-purpose capital repaid on a schedule spelled out before you sign. Terms run out to 48 months at the ceiling — most files land 12–24. If your revenue swings with freight season, revenue-based financing repays as a share of what the business actually brings in, heavier in strong months and lighter in slow ones. A business line of credit fits the recurring gaps, with limits that typically scale with monthly revenue and cost tied to what is drawn. Rates can start around 1% a month for the strongest files, depending on the file, and every figure on this site is an illustrative range, not an offer.

What the review desk reads on a trucking file

Deposits from shippers and factors, fuel-card and insurance debits, existing equipment payments, and the balance between them. A healthy trucking file shows revenue landing most weeks, a balance that does not hit zero every time a customer pays late, and equipment payments the deposits can carry. What hurts: bounced payments, a balance that lives at zero, and more weekly debits than the deposits explain. Underwriters know trucking revenue is lumpy and do not punish the lumps; they weigh whether the lumps add up. If you already factor, say so; it changes how deposits read. The guide on what underwriters look for in bank statements covers what helps and what you cannot fix in a week.

What the desk does not need to see your options: rate confirmations, delivery receipts, or your authority paperwork. The two-minute form asks for the basics of the business. Bank statements and ownership details come later, on the secure application or by phone, never by text or email.

When an equipment lender, a fuel card or a bank is the better tool

Take the cheaper money when it fits. An equipment lender who takes the truck as collateral usually prices below general-purpose capital. A fuel card with terms is the cheapest fuel financing there is. A bank line, if the bank will open one and the need can wait for it, costs less than anything on this site. Working-capital programs are for the file the bank turned down, the breakdown that cannot wait for underwriting at the bank, or the month when every customer pays late at once.

Where the desk fits

We’re not the cheapest desk. Files that fit usually leave with a longer term and one payment instead of three — and you’ll know exactly what it costs before you sign anything. Speed and flexibility typically price above a bank line; if your bank can fund the file in time, take it. Aglet Funding is a DBA of Lendera Capital LLC, based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and programs are available to businesses across the United States; availability can vary by state and by file. We also work with contractors, restaurants, auto repair shops and healthcare practices. How it works walks through the three steps; the quick assessment shows what files of your shape typically reach.

Sources

1. Federal Reserve Banks, 2025 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey — the share of firms seeking financing to meet operating expenses, and the share citing uneven cash flow
2. Transport Topics, “Truck Operating Costs Rose 3.4% in 2025, ATRI Finds” (July 17, 2026) — the 2025 cost-per-mile figures from ATRI’s annual study, and which line items rose most
3. American Transportation Research Institute, An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update — the report itself, downloadable from ATRI