Quick pay
Quick pay is a broker's offer to pay you faster than the standard terms, usually within a few days of paperwork, in exchange for a percentage taken off the invoice.
How quick pay works
A rate con might say "Net 30 from receipt of POD. Quick pay available at 3%." If you choose quick pay, the broker pays sooner and keeps 3% of the invoice. On a $2,000 load that is $60. The question is whether getting the money roughly a month earlier is worth that.
Turning the fee into a yearly rate
A small percentage over a short time is an expensive loan. A simple way to see it (an estimate, ignoring compounding): divide the fee by the number of days you gain, then multiply by 365.
- 3% to be paid 28 days sooner: 3 ÷ 28 × 365 ≈ 39% a year.
- 5% to be paid 40 days sooner: 5 ÷ 40 × 365 ≈ 46% a year.
That doesn't make quick pay wrong. If cash is what keeps the truck moving, a known fee can beat a missed fuel stop or a late truck payment. But it is worth knowing the real price, and comparing it with factoring or a line of credit.
What to read in the quick-pay terms
- When the clock starts: from receipt of "clean" paperwork, which the broker defines.
- Whether the fee is on the full invoice or only line haul, and whether accessorials paid later also lose the fee.
- Whether quick pay is automatic unless you opt out. Some setups default to it.
- Whether it conflicts with your factoring company. If you've assigned your invoices (a notice of assignment), the broker must pay the factor, not you.
What the Rate Con Checker flags
The quick-pay fee is read as part of the payment-terms rule. If the checker finds "quick pay" followed by a percentage, it adds the fee to the payment-terms finding. With otherwise acceptable terms, a quick-pay fee above 3% turns the finding into a flag. Payment terms of 45 days or more are a red flag regardless of quick pay, because the fee then works as a charge for being paid on time.
Payment records
Federal rules require brokers to record, for each shipment, the freight charges they collected and the date they paid the carrier, and to keep the record for three years; each party has the right to review it (49 CFR 371.3). If you think you were charged a quick-pay fee you didn't choose, that record is a place to start.
What to ask for
Please confirm payment within [N] days of receiving POD/BOL, with no quick-pay fee.