Guides
Trucking billing guides: detention, TONU, short pay and more
Deep guides for owners of 5 to 15 trucks and owner-operators. Each one has a short answer on top, a step list, a table, a diagram, a message you can copy and a worked example with invented numbers. None of it is legal or tax advice. Your rate con and contracts always come first.
Find the guide for your problem
| What happened | Read |
|---|---|
| The truck sat at the dock | Detention pay, layover pay |
| You paid someone to unload | Lumper fees |
| The load was cancelled after you arrived | TONU |
| The deposit is smaller than the invoice | Short pay and chargebacks, rate con vs invoice |
| The broker will not pay a clean invoice | POD and BOL errors, broker payment delay |
| Extra charges keep slipping through | Accessorial recovery calendar |
| Cash is tight and you are weighing factoring | Factoring vs direct billing |
| You do not know which loads make money | True RPM, deadhead miles |
| A receiver rejected or disputes a cold load | Reefer claims |
| Quarter end is close and the fuel records are a mess | IFTA record-keeping |
All guides
Detention pay
Record the right times at the dock, bill detention with the invoice and keep the proof a broker will ask for.
Lumper fees
Get approval before you pay, keep the receipt and put the lumper on the invoice as its own line.
TONU
Keep the dispatch record and the cancellation time, then bill TONU on its own invoice.
Layover pay
When a hold turns into layover, how it differs from detention and how to bill both without double counting.
Short pay and chargebacks
How to read a remittance, sort deductions and dispute a short pay in writing.
Rate con vs invoice mismatch
A revision-aware, line-by-line check of rate confirmations against invoices.
POD and BOL errors
The BOL and POD defects that stall payment, caught at the dock or fixed after.
Accessorial recovery calendar
A day-by-day and week-by-week routine for billing and chasing accessorials.
Broker payment delay
How to protect yourself from slow-paying brokers, with an escalation ladder and letters.
Factoring vs direct billing
A method for comparing factoring with direct billing on total cost, not on the headline fee.
True revenue per mile
From the rate per loaded mile on the rate con to profit per all mile, step by step.
Deadhead miles
How to count empty miles, what they cost and how to price them into a load.
Reefer claims
Pull the records, answer in writing inside the contract deadline and keep the file complete.
IFTA records
Keep miles by jurisdiction and fuel receipts every month so the quarter takes an hour, not a week.
Broker vetting
Check authority, the $75,000 bond, the paperwork name and the payment terms before the truck moves.
Broker not paying
Climb a fixed ladder with dates: reminder, demand letter, bond claim, complaint, counsel.
Broker bond claim
The BMC-84 bond is a shared $75,000 pool. File early, with a clean packet, and expect to share.
Double brokering
Verify who is paying, match the truck to the paperwork and walk away from blind loads.
Per diem for truckers
IRS Notice 2026-60 sets $80 a day for transportation workers in the continental U.S. Log the days.
Fuel surcharge
Surcharge per mile = (current diesel − base price) ÷ peg mpg. Check it against your real fuel.
Authority and insurance check
A lapse in insurance or authority stops loads. Check your own record monthly and a partner’s before booking.
13-week cash view
Plan cash by the week an invoice will be paid, not the week you sent it.
By type of freight
Run the numbers while you read
The free calculators do the arithmetic from these guides. They run in your browser and send nothing anywhere. Short versions of several guides live in Resources, and the glossary explains the shorthand.
See what your last 20 loads show.
One short form. We reply by email with the next step, and a one-page report follows. Free, no obligation.
Mon-Fri, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Raleigh, NC). Voicemail is answered the next business day.