How Car Haulers Get Paid: COD, Broker Terms, Quick Pay

The four ways a load gets paid

How the money arrives · sources under the table
Method	When you are paid	What it costs	In a loadez net
COD or COPCash on delivery or on pickup	At delivery or pickup, from the customer	No fee	0%
Broker termsACH or company check	After you invoice; 30 to 45 days is standard	No fee, but you carry the wait	3%Counted as factored
Quick payThe broker pays early	Often within 24 to 72 hours	Most commonly 1.5% to 5% off the rate	2%
FactoringA factor buys the invoice	Often the same or next day	About 1% to 5% of the invoice	3%

Quick pay figures are from FreightWaves (March 2026). Factoring rates are from factoring companies' own pages, collected on our factoring guide, which keeps the math. The last column is what loadez deducts in each load's net.

COD and COP

On a COD load the driver collects the carrier's pay from the customer or the receiver when the car comes off the trailer. COP is the same thing at pickup. When a private customer ships a car, the price is sometimes split: a deposit to the broker at booking, the balance to the carrier at delivery.

Sherpa Auto Transport's customer FAQ tells customers they can pay the initial payment by card and the balance on delivery day by cash or a certified check made out to the carrier.
Its carrier agreement (last updated 20 November 2023) says the carrier collects payment from the customer in full, by cash or certified check, at delivery unless agreed otherwise, and that Sherpa "shall in no event be responsible for payment of your fee".

So read who owes you before you load. Know the COD amount and the form of payment from the rate confirmation, and call the broker before you unload if the customer cannot pay. COD costs nothing and pays the same day, which is why it counts most in the cash-flow part of a loadez score.

Broker terms: ACH or company check

On every other load the broker pays you after delivery, by ACH or a company check, on the terms in the rate confirmation. FreightWaves puts standard terms at 30 to 45 days, sometimes longer. Brokers posting on the loadez board choose quick pay, standard 15 days or net 30.

The clock is paperwork. Send the invoice with the signed BOL and the rate confirmation to the broker's billing email, with your remit-to on it. A missing signature, an unclear damage note or a check mailed to an old address holds up the money. What a car hauler BOL has to show.

Quick pay

Quick pay is the broker paying early in exchange for a fee taken off the rate. FreightWaves describes it as payment often within 24 to 72 hours instead of 30 to 45 days, for a fee most commonly between 1.5% and 5%, which varies by broker and is rarely shown as a standard line item. On the $1,400 load in our worked example, a 2% quick pay fee is $28. Ask for the fee before you book, not after delivery.

Factoring

Factoring is the other way to get paid this week on a net-terms load: a factoring company buys your invoices from every broker you haul for, and a notice of assignment tells the broker to pay the factor instead of you. Quick pay is one broker's offer; factoring works across the brokers your factor accepts. Rates, advances and recourse are in factoring for car haulers.

When a broker does not pay

Check your side first. The terms on the rate confirmation, the signed BOL, an invoice that reached the billing email, the right remit-to. Then ask in writing when you will be paid.
Ask for the record. Under 49 CFR 371.3, a broker keeps a record of each transaction for three years, including "the amount of any freight charges collected by the broker and the date of payment to the carrier." And: "Each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record of the transaction."
Claim against the bond or trust fund. Every broker must have $75,000 of security, a surety bond on form BMC-84 or a trust fund on BMC-85 (49 CFR 387.307(a)), "providing for payments to shippers or motor carriers if the broker fails to carry out its contracts." Under 49 U.S.C. 13906(b)(2), it pays a claim for unpaid freight charges when the broker consents, when the broker does not respond to adequate notice and the surety finds the claim valid, or when the claim is reduced to a judgment against the broker. Find the provider in the insurance details of the broker's FMCSA record (FMCSA points to its Licensing & Insurance public system), or ask the broker. Send the provider the rate confirmation, the signed BOL, the invoice and your emails.
Know the deadlines. The surety must respond by the 30th day after it gets your claim and put the grounds for any denial in writing (13906(b)(2)(B)). The broker gets 7 business days to answer the surety about a claim; a payment that drops its security below $75,000 is reported to FMCSA within 2 business days, and FMCSA suspends the broker's authority unless it restores the full amount or settles the claims another way (387.307(e)).
File early if the broker is failing. When a broker fails, the provider accepts claims for 60 calendar days after FMCSA posts the notice in the FMCSA Register (387.307(f)(4)), pays within 30 days after that, and pays a pro rata share if the claims add up to more than the security (13906(b)(6)). FMCSA notes the court process that splits a bond "can be costly and time consuming for motor carriers."
FMCSA will not collect for you. FMCSA "does not act as an intermediary in disputes involving financial security or payment." If you believe a broker committed fraud or broke federal rules, file in FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database, which takes complaints against property brokers. Possible violations of the broker bond rule can be reported to FMCSA at fmcsa.brokerff.finresp@dot.gov.
Mind the 18 months. A carrier "must begin a civil action to recover charges for transportation or service provided by the carrier within 18 months after the claim accrues" (49 U.S.C. 14705(a)). If you sue a surety on a bond claim and win, you recover reasonable costs and attorney's fees (13906(b)(2)(C)).

A plain-language summary, not legal advice. Read the rules themselves or ask a transportation attorney about a specific claim.

Most unpaid loads start before the load: a broker with no active authority, a stranger asking for a new remit-to, a rate confirmation with no terms. Car hauling scams and how to spot them.

How loadez handles the money side

Terms counted before the claim (Growth and up). The payment method the broker posted is a line in every load's net: 3% on ACH, check and net terms, counted as factored; 2% on quick pay; 0% on COD, cash and Zelle. It is also a factor in the AI score, where COD and cash count most, quick pay next, and ACH, check or net terms least, next to the broker's rating. So a COD load and a net-30 load at the same rate rank differently on the board.
Invoices from the office (Starter and up), made from the same load, not sent automatically at delivery. The due date counts from the day the invoice is sent: 2 days for quick pay, 15 for standard or net 15, 30 for net 30.
Payment details on every invoice. The owner sets once how brokers pay the company: ACH, check or factoring. Each invoice and invoice email then carries a remit-to line: the bank and routing number with the account's last four, the payable-to name and mailing address, or, if you factor, a line telling the broker to pay your factor only, at the remit-to address on your notice of assignment. The full account number is stored encrypted and never printed.
Receivables and reminders (Starter and up). Open and overdue invoices with an aging view. A payment reminder gives the broker the invoice number, amount, due date and days late, one per invoice per day.
Paperwork that does not wait. The BOL and inspection photos reach the broker when the driver uploads them, on every plan.

loadez invoices and tracks payments; it is not a payment processor. The broker pays you, or your factoring company, directly. Pricing.

Common questions

How do car haulers get paid?

Either the customer pays the driver at delivery (COD), usually in cash or a certified check, or the broker pays after delivery by ACH or company check on the terms in the rate confirmation. Quick pay and factoring get the money sooner for a fee.

How long do brokers take to pay car haulers?

On standard terms, usually 30 to 45 days according to FreightWaves, though the rate confirmation sets the actual terms. A COD load pays at delivery, and quick pay often arrives within 24 to 72 hours.

What is quick pay in trucking?

Quick pay is a broker paying a carrier early in exchange for a fee taken off the rate. FreightWaves puts it at payment often within 24 to 72 hours instead of 30 to 45 days, for a fee most commonly between 1.5% and 5% of the load.

What does COD mean in car hauling?

Cash on delivery: the driver collects all or part of the carrier's pay from the customer when the car is delivered, usually in cash or a certified check. COP is the same at pickup. The rate confirmation should state the amount and the form of payment.

What can I do if a broker does not pay me?

Ask for the record of the transaction, which the broker must keep for three years and let you review under 49 CFR 371.3, then file a claim with the broker's surety or trust provider against its $75,000 BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust fund. FMCSA does not mediate payment disputes, and a carrier has 18 months to sue for its charges under 49 U.S.C. 14705(a).

How long does a surety have to answer a broker bond claim?

Under 49 U.S.C. 13906(b)(2)(B), the surety must respond on or before the 30th day after it receives notice of the claim, and must give the grounds in writing if it denies it.

How car haulers get paid, and what to do when a broker does not.