Transportation & Logistics
Trucking companies, freight brokers, moving companies, and courier services where cash flow timing and per-load profitability determine survival.
The Industry
Transportation looks profitable on paper until you understand the timing. You haul a load on Monday, burn $800 in diesel, pay your driver Friday, and wait 45 days for the broker check. The bank account shows money moving constantly but the gap between expense and collection creates a cash flow puzzle that trips up even experienced operators. A trucking company can be profitable on an accrual basis and still run out of cash to make payroll.
South Florida logistics adds its own complexity. Port traffic from Everglades and Palm Beach creates opportunity but also seasonal swings. Moving companies deal with snowbird migration patterns that spike revenue December through April and go quiet in summer. Courier services handle last-mile delivery for e-commerce but face pressure on rates while fuel costs keep climbing. Every segment of this industry operates on tight margins where small miscalculations compound into real problems.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Trucking companies running regional or long-haul routes. Freight brokers coordinating loads across carriers. Moving companies handling residential and commercial relocations. Courier and last-mile delivery services. Any South Florida business where revenue depends on miles driven or loads moved.
What Complicates It
What Complicates It
Payment timing that creates 30 to 60 day gaps between expense and collection. Factoring arrangements that obscure true revenue and financing costs. IFTA fuel tax reporting across multiple states. Driver settlements calculated correctly every pay period. Equipment depreciation and maintenance reserves. Per-load profitability that most accounting setups fail to capture.
What We Handle
Controller-level oversight means understanding what drives profitability in this industry. Cost per mile is the fundamental metric. We break down fuel, maintenance, insurance, driver pay, and fixed costs against actual miles driven. This shows your true floor rate. When a broker offers $2.15 per mile and your actual cost is $2.08, you know whether that load makes sense or just keeps the truck moving at near-zero margin.
Cash flow forecasting accounts for the payment delay reality of this business. You need to see not just what you earned but when cash will actually arrive and what obligations come due before then. Driver settlements get calculated with all deductions for fuel advances, insurance contributions, and repairs. Factoring statements get reconciled so you see gross revenue, fees, and reserves separately instead of just the net deposit that hits your account.
Fleet and Route Profitability
Fleet and Route Profitability
Expenses tracked per truck and per route. You see which units generate profit and which ones eat margin with maintenance issues. Load-level analysis reveals which lanes and which broker relationships actually make money after all costs are allocated. Historical data builds a foundation for accurate bidding on future work.
Compliance and Settlement Accuracy
Compliance and Settlement Accuracy
IFTA reporting organized quarterly with fuel purchases matched to state mileage. Driver settlements calculated correctly including advances, deductions, and percentage splits. Factoring reconciliation that shows true revenue and true financing costs. Equipment depreciation scheduled properly for tax purposes. Year-end preparation that captures per diem deductions and asset write-offs.
What Goes Wrong
The cash illusion catches many operators. Having $40,000 in the bank feels comfortable until you realize fuel cards are due Friday, insurance pulls next week, and payroll hits the day after. Without cash flow projection that accounts for the collection lag, you make decisions based on money that feels available but is already spoken for. Profitable months still produce cash crunches because the timing never aligns.
Factoring creates another blind spot. The deposit that hits your account is net of fees and holdbacks. Recording just that deposit understates your true revenue and hides how much the financing actually costs. Some operators run for years without realizing they pay 8 to 12 percent annually for the convenience of faster payment. That cost is invisible unless someone breaks it out and tracks it over time. Meanwhile, per-load profitability gets ignored entirely. You know total revenue and total expenses but have no visibility into which loads made money and which ones moved freight at a loss.
No Visibility Into True Costs
No Visibility Into True Costs
Fuel expenses hit the books but never get allocated to specific loads or routes. Maintenance gets expensed as it occurs rather than tracked per truck. You think margins are 15 percent but after proper cost allocation, some routes run at 6 percent and others lose money entirely. Without per-load analysis, you keep taking unprofitable freight.
Cash Flow Surprises
Cash Flow Surprises
Profitable months produce negative cash flow because collections lag expenses by 45 days. Factoring fees accumulate to thousands annually but never appear as a clear line item. Equipment failures happen with no reserve funds set aside. Every major expense becomes a scramble for financing instead of a planned disbursement from money set aside for exactly that purpose.
What Changes
Every load gets evaluated against actual cost per mile. You stop accepting freight that barely covers fuel because you can see it in the numbers. Broker negotiations start from a position of knowledge. When you know your floor rate is $2.10, you walk away from $2.05 loads without second-guessing. Routes and lanes get analyzed for true profitability, which sometimes reveals that high-revenue runs actually generate less profit than shorter hauls with better efficiency.
Cash flow becomes predictable because someone is actually projecting it. You know two weeks ahead when a cash gap is coming and plan for it instead of scrambling. Factoring costs become visible and you can make an informed decision about whether to build reserves and reduce dependence on it. Equipment purchases get analyzed with real data showing how much revenue a new truck needs to cover its note and insurance. Growth decisions become calculated rather than hopeful.
Strategic Rate Decisions
Strategic Rate Decisions
Historical cost data shows exactly what it takes to move a truck profitably. Bidding on new contracts uses real numbers instead of estimates. Unprofitable broker relationships get renegotiated or dropped. You focus capacity on lanes and customers that generate actual margin rather than just keeping trucks moving.
Controlled Growth
Controlled Growth
Adding a truck becomes a financial decision with clear break-even analysis. Cash reserves build systematically for equipment replacement and major repairs. Factoring dependence decreases as cash position strengthens. You operate from financial clarity rather than reacting to whatever hits the bank account this week.
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