Check Freight Broker, The World's Only Quick-Pay Load Board

(Reprinted from Driving Times, June 2011 Edition)
Copyright: Tony Furman, 2011

Freight matching is not a new or unique concept. Load boards have been around for a dozen years and just when it seemed all load boards were alike, along comes Check Freight Broker, a revolutionary new idea from the transportation funding experts at Interstate Capital.

Building on the company’s 18 years of experience funding owner/operators and small trucking fleets, Interstate Capital developed a unique load board designed for small motor carriers seeking loads with fuel advances and quick pay options.

“We designed Check Freight Broker in response to hundreds of owner operators and trucking fleets who we already fund,” said Tony Furman, president of Interstate Capital. “Our clients were asking ‘can you help us find loads?’ so we took the old load board concept and expanded on it by providing all the most popular features found on the ‘old-school’ load boards, and added a funding option and other unique features.”
What makes Check Freight Broker unique is the cost. It costs nothing to join the load board and once you do, you can perform unlimited load searches, post unlimited trucks, log in as often as you wish, and have unlimited access to 10,000+ free freight broker credit reports. Most major load boards charge a minimum fee of $420 per year just for a “basic” subscription. Many load boards are amazingly complex and difficult to learn. Check Freight Broker’s mission is different: Help carriers find freight…get fuel money…and get paid on delivery. After all, who wants to deal with receivables?

“The concept of load board is not new — it’s been around as long as the Internet,” Furman says. “It seems the other load boards overlooked the most essential (funding) piece of the freight matching concept. The other boards have a referral relationship with outside factoring companies, requiring carriers to maintain dual relationships. The motor carrier cannot be certain a load will be funded until it obtains permission to load from the outside factoring company. Even then, most will not provide a fuel advance. The Check Freight Broker Load Board is the funding source for its funding members, so when we display quick-pay loads, we fund them.”

The real game changer with the Check Freight Broker Load Board is that carriers can refine their load search only to quick-paying loads, and for qualified loads, the load board will provide fuel advance and quick pay direct from the site. Carriers do not have to reduce their search to freight brokers offering quick-pay, since the load board offers quick-pay whether the freight broker does or not.

One Stop Shop

“Check Freight Broker is a one-stop-shop where you can find freight, receive payment for fuel, and get paid all in one shot,” he said. Check Freight Broker members don’t need an outside factoring company, because on its load board, owner operators and small fleets can find freight, get a fuel advance (when loaded), and get paid 100 percent upon delivery with no factoring reserve or long-term factoring agreement. To be eligible for fuel advances and quick pay through the site, you may not have an outside factoring company and you must register as a funding member with the load board, which takes a day or two of advance planning. Just like for regular load board members, there’s no set up cost and no long-term contract. Once a motor carrier or owner/operator is set up as a funding member, they are free to search for quick-paying freight, receive fuel advances upon request, and receive payment direct from Check Freight Broker.

Furman, developer of the Check Freight Broker concept, and President of Interstate Capital, claims that his load board is an industry game changer for the small fleet operator and owner operator that needs fuel advances and quick pay to bolster cash flow. With the cost of diesel still hovering near $4.00 per gallon, most small operators need money to fill up as well as payment immediately following delivery.

To provide even greater incentive for all freight brokers to post their loads on its site, Check Freight Broker pays the freight broker every time a fuel advance or quick pay is given to a carrier on their posted loads. “I want to make a compelling statement to the freight broker public: Post your loads on Check Freight Broker and in most cases, earn as much from us as you would otherwise earn (in earned discounts) by tying up your own capital in a quick pay program.” Furman explained. On a typical $1,000 load, a freight broker can earn an extra spread of 1.5% when a fuel advance and quick pay is given by Check Freight Broker on a posted load.

Many owner/operators have fallen into the trap of limiting their load searches to loads from brokers offering fuel advances and quick pay, no matter how cheap the rate. Since the Check Freight Broker load board will actually advance fuel money and pay the carrier upon delivery, its members can find good-paying freight at the best rates instead of limiting their load searches only to brokers with the low per-mile rates that happen also to offer quick pay.

All Check Freight Broker members have access to tens of thousands of loads covering millions of miles, whether they are eligible for quick pay or not. Check Freight Broker allows its users to filter searches for loads it will fund and those it won’t. Some members use Check Freight Broker just to have access to tens of thousands of free credit reports. One of the most popular load board features is an opt-in to alerts when new quick paying loads are posted. Members that opt-in may receive their quick pay load alerts via text message, e-mail, or fax.

“Imagine you are an owner operator and you go to the Check Freight Broker load board while sitting with an empty trailer and empty gas tank. You narrow your search to loads against which fuel advances are available in the United States. Your search criteria narrow the field of available loads from 50,000 to 5,000 loads. Then, you narrow your search to loads available within 100 miles of your truck and further narrow the field to 5 loads that suit your needs. That’s what we are offering,” adds Furman.

In the trucking industry, whether you have one or 250 trucks, 99 percent of fleets need access to the type of outside capital, found at banks or factoring companies, to manage their cash flow needs. Now, a load board also fills that need, while also assisting the dispatcher to fill his trailers.

Furman adds, “In good times and bad, margins are just so thin and trucking companies have intensive cash needs for diesel fuel, permits, driver pay, break downs and other daily expenses needed to keep trucks running. It is difficult for operators to conduct business without outside help, while having to contend at the same time with slow payment, non-payment and other issues.”

Another exclusive feature found only on Check Freight Broker is the PLATINUM BROKER. Look for credit reports containing a platinum seal, indicating that the freight broker is a Platinum Broker that uses Check Freight Broker to escrow shipper payments and disburse payments to motor carriers. Carriers can refine their searches for loads to Platinum Brokers, and receive an exclusive payment guarantee. It’s this simple: If Check Freight Broker is the disbursing entity on a Platinum Broker load, the motor carrier is guaranteed payment by Check Freight Broker. The Platinum Broker Payment Guarantee is displayed on every Platinum Broker credit report in the Check Freight Broker system. Interstate Capital, one of North America’s best-funded transportation financial institutions, backs the payment guarantee.

Check Freight Broker, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Interstate Capital Corporation.

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