The load delivered Tuesday. The POD arrived Thursday. Someone entered the invoice Friday. Billing sent it Monday. The broker's payment terms start from receipt date, not delivery date.

You just added a week to your cash cycle because of process, not payment terms.

Most carriers blame slow-paying brokers for cash flow problems. Often, the real problem is internal. Manual invoicing creates delays that compound into weeks of unnecessary float. The right TMS built for carriers eliminates those delays with features designed to get you paid faster.

Here are the seven invoicing features that actually move the needle.

1. Automatic Invoice Generation

Load status changes to delivered. Invoice generates automatically. No waiting for someone to enter it manually. No Friday billing batches. No delays.

Automatic generation means the invoice exists the moment the load completes. The only remaining step is attaching documents and sending. For carriers running 50+ loads weekly, this single feature saves hours and shaves days off payment cycles.

The math is simple. If manual entry delays invoicing by three days on average, and you run 200 loads monthly, you are carrying three extra days of receivables on every load. At $2,000 average revenue, that is $400,000 in unnecessary float.

2. Integrated Document Attachment

Rejected invoices are cash flow killers. Brokers reject invoices missing rate confirmations, BOLs, or PODs. Each rejection adds 7-14 days to your payment timeline.

A proper TMS attaches documents automatically. POD uploads from the driver's phone. Rate con links from load creation. BOL attaches from pickup confirmation. When the invoice generates, documents are already there.

Carriers using integrated document management report 80% fewer rejected invoices. That is not a minor improvement. That is transformational for cash flow.

3. Accessorial Capture and Billing

Detention time. Lumper fees. TONU charges. Layover. Driver assist. These charges represent real money that manual billing systems routinely miss.

Accessorials add 3-7% to load revenue when captured correctly. On $2 million annual revenue, that is $60,000 to $140,000. Most of it walks out the door because nobody tracked the detention hours or remembered to bill the lumper receipt.

TMS invoicing should prompt for accessorials, track detention automatically through ELD data, and include charges on the invoice without manual intervention. If your billing person has to remember to add fees, fees get forgotten.

4. Batch Invoicing and Submission

Some carriers invoice load by load. Others batch by customer or by day. The right TMS supports both workflows efficiently.

Batch invoicing matters for:

• Factoring submission. Send 20 invoices to your factoring company in one click instead of twenty separate submissions.

• Customer consolidation. Shippers running multiple loads daily prefer consolidated invoices over individual billing.

• Processing efficiency. Review and approve batches faster than individual invoices.

Integration with factoring companies should be direct. Invoice generates, documents attach, submission happens. No exporting PDFs, no uploading to portals, no manual reconciliation.

5. Invoice Status Tracking

Where is that payment? When was the invoice sent? Did the broker receive it? Has it been approved?

Without status tracking, answering these questions requires digging through email, calling brokers, and hoping someone documented the conversation. With proper tracking, you see the complete lifecycle:

Visibility into status lets you chase problems early. A disputed invoice caught at day 3 gets resolved faster than one discovered at day 30.

6. Automated Payment Reminders

Payment terms say net 30. Day 35 arrives. Someone needs to follow up. Usually nobody does until day 45 or 60.

Automated reminders solve this without adding work. Invoice hits day 25, system sends a friendly reminder. Day 32, firmer follow-up. Day 40, escalation notice. The carrier who automates collections gets paid before the carrier who forgets to call.

This is not about being aggressive. It is about being consistent. Brokers pay the carriers who follow up because those invoices stay visible.

7. Multi-Format Invoice Delivery

Some brokers want PDF attachments. Others use EDI. Some require portal uploads. A few still want faxes.

Your TMS should handle all formats without manual conversion. Generate the invoice once, deliver it however the customer requires. Carriers who struggle with format requirements often delay billing simply because the conversion is tedious.

EDI capability matters increasingly for larger shippers. Enterprise carriers with direct shipper relationships need electronic invoicing that flows without manual intervention.

The Cash Flow Impact

These features compound. Automatic generation saves days. Document integration prevents rejections. Accessorial capture adds revenue. Status tracking catches problems early. Reminders accelerate collection.

Ray Cargo saved $150,000+ annually by eliminating invoicing inefficiencies. At 350+ trucks, the savings multiplied. But the percentage improvement applies at any fleet size.

What to Look For

Not every TMS delivers these features equally. When evaluating options:

• Ask for a demo of the complete invoice lifecycle, not just generation

• Verify mobile document upload works from actual driver phones

• Confirm your factoring company integrates directly

• Check that accessorials link to cost tracking and profitability reporting

• Test status tracking with a real invoice scenario

Carriers who struggle with cash flow often have invoicing problems disguised as payment problems. Fix the process, and the cash follows.

Get Paid Faster

Datatruck is the carrier-first TMS with invoicing built for speed. Automatic generation, integrated documents, accessorial capture, factoring integration, and status tracking that keeps every dollar visible from delivery to deposit.

See how carriers are cutting their payment cycles.