Six weeks of fuel. Six weeks of insurance. At least one truck note. All out of your own pocket while broker check #1 sits in someone else's accounting queue. Factoring closes that gap: paid in 24 hours on load #1.
We recommend Summar because of its published non-recourse and same-day-funding terms. We are not paid by Summar today. If that changes, we'll disclose it here.
Here's your first 45 days on a net-45 broker. Every striped day, the money comes out of YOUR pocket. The broker pays once - on the last one.
And that's a good broker. Net 90 doubles this calendar. You know your weekly fuel number - count the squares and multiply. That's the float you carry, per invoice, out of savings.
You hand your invoice to Summar, they pay you within 24 hours, and they collect from the broker when the broker finally gets around to it.
The standard advice to new carriers: line up factoring before the authority even activates. You can apply now, whether your first load is booked or not.
Run the load like normal. Send the invoice and paperwork to Summar instead of waiting on the broker.
The money hits your account within 24 hours. Summar waits out the broker's net-30-to-90 clock, not you.
Without factoring: deliver a load, wait net 30 to net 90 for the broker to pay, and cover every expense out of savings until the check shows up.
With factoring: deliver a load, get paid within 24 hours, and use that money to fuel the next one.
"I'm very proud of working with Summar for the last five years. Picking up the right trips with good money is very important, but so it is to have the money available in 24 hours like you have with Summar. I recommend Summar factoring unconditionally."
— Summar factoring client, published at summar.com
"I have been working with the Summar team for over three years. We all work in different ways, and they adapt to those circumstances. I have had offers from other cash factors. I won't leave Summar. I'm very happy."
— Summar factoring client, published at summar.com
These are Summar's own published client reviews, quoted for reference. We are not paid by Summar and are not their referral partner.
Summar's factoring fee starts as low as 2% of the invoice, and they advance up to 98% of it, often the same day. Here's the other side of that math: while load #1's check sits with the broker for 45 days, you can't fuel load #2. A parked truck costs more than any factoring fee.
And the honest version: if you have enough saved to float 60 to 90 days of fuel, insurance, and payments, you may not need factoring yet. Most new carriers don't. That's fine. It's what factoring is for.
Plenty of companies factor freight. A few things make Summar a straightforward first call when you're brand new:
Program details as published by Summar (summar.com). Confirm the specifics that apply to your operation when you apply.
You deliver the load, submit the signed rate confirmation and paperwork to the factor instead of waiting on the broker, and the factor advances most of the invoice within about a day (same-day is common). The factor collects from the broker when the invoice comes due, commonly weeks later, then sends you the reserve minus their fee.
Across the market, the factoring fee is a small percentage of the invoice and varies by deal. Three things move your number: how many loads you factor (more volume, lower rate), the broker's credit strength (the factor is buying their promise to pay), and whether it's recourse or non-recourse (non-recourse costs more because the factor takes the credit risk, usually half a percent to a point and a half extra). Ask whether the quote is flat or tiered — a flat rate stays the same if a broker pays late, a tiered rate climbs every 30 days the invoice sits unpaid.
Recourse: if the broker doesn't pay, you buy the invoice back from the factor. Cheaper. Use it when you trust the broker. Non-recourse: the factor eats the loss if a covered customer fails. Costs more — and read what "covered" actually triggers. Some non-recourse clauses only pay out on a formal broker bankruptcy; if the broker just goes slow or vanishes, you could still be on the hook.
Worth it: your brokers pay in 30+ days and reserves are thin, you're a new carrier who can't float a month of costs, or you want to take a load from an unfamiliar broker without taking on their credit risk. Not worth it: your brokers pay in 15 days or less and you have reserves, you haul for one or two customers with ironclad credit, or you'd be factoring just to cover a truck payment you can't afford — that's a margin problem factoring won't fix for long.
A first-year owner-operator is more exposed than an established fleet. Four things matter most:
The trap that burns new carriers: a cheap recourse rate plus a long contract plus auto-renewal. It looks like a good deal on the fee and locks you in long-term with a notice window you'll forget. Get the recourse terms in writing before you sign anything.
New carriers are also the top target for freight fraud — double brokering, fake-load-board phishing sites, and upfront "slot fee" scams all prey on owners desperate for that first load. Before you book freight from anyone, read our complete scams & warnings guide. And factoring fixes cash flow, not compliance — if you haven't locked down the federal requirements yet, check our new-authority compliance checklist first.
Want to see current terms side by side? Run the numbers in our factoring calculator, or check a broker's safety record with our DOT number lookup before you haul for them. Comparing load boards instead? See best load boards for owner-operators.
We are not paid by Summar today. We recommend them because of their published terms, not because of payment.