At FreightWaves’ F3 festival in Chattanooga on October 21–22, Phoenix Capital President Bryan Alsobrooks described a trend that has factoring firms on edge: shippers stretching payment terms far beyond the traditional 30 days, in some cases toward 90–120 days. The longer tail on collections may help shippers conserve cash, but it shifts working-capital stress onto factors—and ultimately the small carriers and brokers who rely on them for liquidity.
Why it matters now: the freight market backdrop still gives shippers the leverage to push terms. Fresh data show truckload demand remains choppy. The American Trucking Associations reported on Tuesday, October 21, that September for-hire tonnage fell 0.9% from August and sits roughly 3.9% below the peak three years ago—evidence of a long, uneven climb off this year’s lows. In a soft market, capacity is plentiful, and buyers of transportation can dictate both rates and payment timing.
Ocean trade isn’t providing much relief. Freightos’ weekly update on Wednesday, October 22, showed carriers pushing mid-month general rate increases that nudged Asia–U.S. prices higher even as demand lags. Rate volatility tied to tariffs and capacity adjustments adds uncertainty to transportation cash cycles—another incentive for shippers to hold onto cash longer and for brokers to protect working capital.
Inside trucking, DAT’s October 21 market reads point to a year-end shaped by weaker imports and cooler industrial activity. DAT expects monthly U.S. containerized imports to slip below 2 million TEUs through the rest of 2025, while manufacturing backlogs have normalized after the pandemic spike—both signals of softer freight that keep price power with shippers and extend the temptation to lengthen payables.
The knock-on effects are already visible in the payments stack. When a factor advances a carrier within 24 hours but waits 60, 90 or even 120 days to collect, its cost of capital and credit risk rise. To compensate, factors tighten credit screens, trim advance rates or lift discount fees—moves that erode margins for small fleets and thinly capitalized brokerages. That was Alsobrooks’ warning from the F3 stage: slower remittance upstream eventually becomes higher financing costs downstream.
For carriers, the practical takeaway is to treat credit as part of pricing. If a broker’s or shipper’s days-to-pay have drifted out, the cheapest per-mile rate may be the most expensive once financing is considered. For brokers, the spread between how fast you pay carriers and how slowly customers pay you becomes the existential metric; a few late big-ticket invoices can swamp cash on hand in a market where volumes are steady to down and spot rates are only inching. The latest ATA tonnage reading and DAT’s outlook reinforce that this is the reality truckers must plan around today, not a hypothetical.
What to watch next:
– Payment behavior in Q4 bids and renewals. If extended terms persist into contract season, factors may broadly reprice risk, and quick-pay programs could see higher adoption.
– Fraud and identity risk controls paired with payments. With more invoices aging on balance sheets, the cost of a single misdirected payment rises; F3’s agenda devoted multiple sessions to fraud and financial operations, highlighting how intertwined these risks have become.
Bottom line: a subdued freight cycle plus tariff-tinged trade volatility is encouraging longer shipper payables. That creates a financing burden that factors can’t absorb indefinitely—so costs are migrating to carriers and brokers via tighter credit and higher discounts. Cash discipline, customer credit vetting, and aligning rates with real payment timing are no longer nice-to-haves; they’re survival skills for Q4 and beyond.
Sources: FreightWaves, DAT Freight & Analytics, American Trucking Associations, Freightos
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