O/O, having trouble with paperwork and billing, where do you turn?
 

Where are other owner operators turning for help with paperwork and billing. I know people that have their own trucks, own drivers, own runs and do a fine job, but seem to have trouble with the compliance paperwork and billing side of the industry. Would it be worth hiring a dispatch/compliance service to take care of these issues so they can continue to find their own work and not have to worry about the BS paperwork end of it? I see many of the "dispatchers" on here are offering to find your loads as well, isn't that just a glorified brokering service? Any input would be welcome...

When I first started INDEPENDENT O/O signed up with UNITED LANES DISPATCHING I still use them about once a week to get me a load and take care of my back office faxes, broker packets and billing.Got a dedicated lane now with a shipper so I dont deal with finding loads and brokers as much.They do good work tho just tell them you only want there back office service for paper work/biling ,they only charge about $10 www.uldispatching.com
HOPE THAT HELPS

I would be scared of United Lanes Dispatching because they can't even spell words right on their main page. LOL

I wonder what Incosistant miles are? lol They must mean inconsistent but are not bright enough to spell it right.

10% of the load? Dang!!!!

I pay a dispatching service 7% and get all they offer plus get paid by them on receipt of bill of lading.

I don't understand why these questions continue to be asked. Anyone who goes through the trouble of getting his own operating authority should understand that the regulatory requirements are going to be real tough. That is what you do when you are on home time. When I was on the road I carried my office in my truck. It is very doable these days. The hardest part was trying to get some brokers to e-mail, not fax docs. If you are not billing your customers within hours of fulfilling the contract terms you are setting yourself up for cash flow problems. also if a broker does not pay within the terms of the contract, do nor haul for them again, ever.

If you are not willing or able to do these things then go sign on with Landstar. They charge a % of the load but they do all of the office regulatory stuff. You remain independent in most respects, get paid within 24 hrs, get fuel discounts and deal directly with the broker of your choice...Hope this helps.

When I started, and that was I think in '07 or 08' and there were even less regulations, I outsourced it to a compliance company. As you go along, it's not that hard once you figure out the terminology.

As for billing, that another issue. I had a laptop with a wireless printer in the truck and would mail the bills or email them or even fax. It's much easier today as most seem to accept email copies and now with Transflo it's even easier. No need for you to hire anyone to do the billing. Also make sure to always check credit. And don't assume that good companies stay good. Always stay alert. The credit service we use sends out email alerts when a broker has been downgraded. Thanks to that alert, I actually got every penny owed to me from Eleets who ended up screwing tons of people. (That and the girl in payables was from the same South American city as my wife so she pushed my paperwork to the top)

It is worth the 2% to me to not worry about the billing. I get paid as soon as the bill of lading is received by my dispatcher. He takes all the risks if the broker doesn't pay him, I still get my money and he eats the loss.

One load that didn't pay me in a year would add up to more than I pay him for the whole year.

The paperwork isn't that difficult once you get started. If you don't want to deal with the fuel taxes, there are services that will do that and keep your books for about $50-100/month. I have a friend who uses a service in California. I prefer doing my own fuel taxes and billing. You can use spreadsheet or buy one of the trucking specific software packages. I own one that will add the fuel gallons, miles and print out a report for me to file my IFTA quarterly's. Many states have gone to electronic filings. All you need to do is put in the miles and gallons by state and their software does all the calculations in a couple of seconds so you can print out your report and it will show credit or debit. If you owe anything, you just copy the return, sign and return with your check for any taxes. It is pretty simple these days. I use a spreadsheet and Trucknpro software for my books. It tracks maintenance, expenses, revenue and a lot more, including invoicing and has a feature you can check once the invoice has been paid. I also can print out an invoice that I designed.

You could do like my friend and send all your paperwork every week and have them do all your filings for you. OOIDA has a drug consortium that you can subscribe. It may seem overwhelming now, but with time it will become second nature. If you decide to hire an outside service, make sure you find one with current trucking experience. I am talking about a bookkeeping service. Some will do all of your fuel taxes, income and other filings for you. I believe that it is usually best to do whatever you can yourself rather than using an outside service. You should be able to do your own books in about an hour each week. I have a friend of mine who also uses Trucknpro and he once told me that he spends about 40 minutes each week dong his books. He is an owner operator and leases to a carriers.

It really doesn't make any difference how you keep your books, as long as they are accurate. Software or using a spreadsheet simply makes it easier.

If you are concerned about billing and collections, you could only use brokers who have a quick pay option or factor your receivables. Factors do their own billing in your behalf. Getting loads you will need to either do it for yourself or hire a dispatch service unless you want to lease on to a carrier. It really isn't as complicated as you might think.

get, print out and read this manual....

Follow and use the forms in here and when you do your new carrier audit, they won't gig you on a thing.

ETA - A Motor Carrier's Guide to Improving Highway Safety - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration


as far as billing and collections, I use Quicken Home & Business. Tracks all my invoices and I do my billing in it and track who's paid and when. It follows and categorizes all of my expenses as well so I have minimal work to do during taxes. My CPA loves that portion.

I don't factor anything and when I can (have to), I'll quickpay stuff instead. If the bank is there, I just invoice and bill the broker/shipper for the load.

I use an HP 4630 all-in-one in the truck with a Verizon Mi-FI for internet and I am scanning the BOL/POD as soon as I get it on the dock before I even leave the receiver.

IFTA, I took the spreadsheet from the interweb and modified it to my liking and use that. I have no clue where I got it, but several states have sheets available for free. MN also has you file it electronically so it takes me about 5 minutes to do MN and about 1/2 hour to file MN, KY, NM. You'll need accounts for NY and OR too. AR also has an ad valorum tax too you file annually.

I use Trucknpro software (www.trucknpro.com) that is specifically designed for the trucking industry. The new version has a driver qualifications file which will help you to keep all your driver information current. You need a driver qualifications file even if you own the truck and are the only driver. It also has invoicing and you can put in all your IFTA information where all you need to do is print out the IFTA report for your quarterly filings. I have a friend who is leased to a carrier and he spends about 40 minutes per week doing his paperwork and putting his loads into the software. The software also has a maintenance file which allows you to print out a maintenance report any time you wish. We are required to keep current maintenance files on our equipment. If you want to go paperless, they have one version which allows you to scan in fuel receipts and any other receipts that you wish. All you need to do is print out any receipts you may need. I have several friends who have been using trucknpro for several years.

I don't use the software to do invoicing, but it is possible with this software. It will capture the load information and transfer it to the invoice. I have invoices on my computer for most of the companies with whom I do business so I prefer using that than the invoicing in the software. I seem to forget that I have that capability. I still use a spreadsheet for some things. Whether you use a spreadsheet, trucking specific software, general accounting software or paper and pencil, you need to stay on top of your books.

There are a couple of other trucking software programs that I have purchased or used, but I like the Trucknpro best. The other two are Easy Trucking (www.easytrucking.com) and The Truckers Helper (www.thetruckershelper.com). Depending on the version, all three have invoicing. Each of them have either an online demo or a trial version you can download.

There are several benefits to using software specifically designed for the trucking industry. One of the most important is that it helps you to remember what you need to input into the program. I believe all three of these programs can be customized to some extent. For instance, I separate the cost of tires so that I can track the costs easier. It is still under maintenance, but I like it better. Another feature of all three of these trucking packages is that you can immediately see your total revenue, costs and mpg on each load or by specific time periods. You can do the same thing with a spreadsheet, but I like having everything already set up and ready to go. I think each of these programs currently sell for under $200. For me, it is worth the expense to be able to access the information that I need.

I am actually looking for something new. I love Quicken Home & Business because it lets me track both my checkbooks and keep them separated. The issue I have with them is that I have been using H&B 2011. At the new year, I started to get messages that come april, quicken will no longer allow them to download my accounts directly. Only if I purchase 2014 will it let me continue to do that.

I am not excited about 2014 version. I don't like the way they are pushing the smartphone and cloud system onto the package.


A caveat to using ANY software.

When I did my new carrier audit, the DOT guy wanted to see paper files: driver, maintenance, insurance, authority, logs and drug testing. He had no interest in looking at the computer one bit. You needed to hand him a file folder with the specific information he asked for. nothing else.

That is why I suggest using nothing but the ETA manual to set up your files. It has EXACTLY what they want and in the format they are expecting to see it in. Compare those forms to what JJ Keller sells or any of the others put out and it's the same thing. One you can have for free, the other stuff you pay for.

That really stinks about your software. I keep a hard copy of my authority, W9 and insurance in a file and also scanned in copies to maintain on my computer. You could scan in all of your documents into the Trucknpro software and then print it out at any time that it is needed. I don't believe Easy Trucking software has a scanning feature. At least the version that I have didn't have scanning capability. Truckers Helper is a good package, but I don't recall if they have scanning capability. Both Truckers Helper (some versions) and Trucknpro have a driver qualifications file. If you just want a hard copy, you can purchase the one required by the feds at most truck stops. If you decide to go with Trucknpro, you can scan in a copy of your drivers license, physical and expiration dates of each. Maintenance records can be printed out and put in a file for your permanent records. At one time the Trucknpro developers discussed having the ability to transfer data to or from Quicken. I don't know if they ever got that feature added to the program.

I know some owners who like Quick Books Pro. I looked at this program myself. It is a good program, but I don't think it would give me some of the reports and features that I could get with one of thee trucking programs. I bought Quicken and started using it, but decided to stick with Trucknpro. I have used the program for a number of years.

If you want to be able to access various reports, such as maintenance reports I think you will need to either do them manually or purchase one of the trucking specific programs. You can still put them into a file once you print them off. I know one owner who just scans in his logs, too. I am not completely trusting of technology. I always like the idea of having a hard copy.

You may want to sit down and make a list of what you would like in your accounting program and see if you can match it to something that will best suite your needs.

I keep 4 sets of books/papers.

A binder in the office with the originals.
These are also scanned into the computer and put in a secondary location stored outside of my house.
A copy of these are also on my computer.
the fourth set is kept in the truck binder. Pretty much only that which is needed on the road in this set.

I have a packet of all my company stuff on the computer that I send in when I fill out carrier packets; profile, W9, Authority letter.

I use Home & Business because it tracks both my house and company checkbooks in one package. I have learned how to use text files to transfer data from inside quicken into a spreadsheet or a database if I want to. Some times I do that to do financial planning. I can take my invoices and export them into a text file as well and get them into Excel.

I have created my own Access database as well for loads etc. Has shipper, receiver and broker etc in the them as well as route and fuel tables. Just been something I have been toying with. The thought process for it all was to create an interface to put stuff into Quicken.

I bored with it and after awhile figured I would just use the individual files to do what I want out of it all.

spreadsheets I have:
one for loads. I enter all my load cities and mileage into along with rates. This also has a copy of a pro forma statement of cashflow. I use this kind of as a gage to tell me if the load is worth hauling.

Trip sheets. This is where I enter the data in for my trips by week and also fuel stops and state mileage beginning and ending. Basically this is a "driver duty" sheet for the IFTA stuff.

IFTA sheet. A new sheet for each quarter. I fill this out each week when I do my trip sheets. More a copy and paste task really. I can track what I am doing for my IFTA report and if I have a refund or owe that quarter. The goal with this is to be within $20 of break-even. Currently, I am owed like $80 by the state of MN on my IFTA account.

Fuel sheet. I didn't create this until LATE 2013. I use this to track the historical fuel mileage by month on the truck and to give me an annual average as well. Think long term trends here. I can see if I am having a mechanical issue or what not with the truck. It's showing me that the truck is tracking fuel mileage pretty even since I got the truck. When I say it's a 6.2 mpg truck, that's my average economy now since I got the truck. Winter I go down to about 5.8 and summer I am closer to 6.8-7 MPG. Even running 75-80K gross most of the time. The reality here is, weather temps and wind ARE the biggest contributors to good or bad fuel mileage. I have had days kill my mileage on a run as low as 4.8 mpg with a 20+ head wind and -10 temps and the same run has given me 6.8 MPG with a 20+ tailwind and +10*F. Same load, same road same direction. (Yes, I have been running the SAME load every day M-F since about 1 Oct 13)

What I like in my accounting package I have not found ANY PLACE else. Namely the ability to track all of my account; fuel, personal & business bank accounts, fleetone, invoices. That's the beauty of Home & Business.