Convoy Offers Factoring At 0% Rate; Fuel Card With 63 Cents Per Gallon Average Savings

Carriers moving Convoy loads can now access same-day or next-day payment at a rate of 0% through the new Convoy Factoring program. Non-Convoy loads are also eligible at a rate of between 1% and 2.99%, the company said.

Convoy has also launched a fuel card that it said will save carriers an average of 63 cents per gallon.

"Driving a truck is one of the most important jobs across our nation. Yet the vast majority of carriers are forced to pay thousands of dollars annually just to get the money they've earned, fast enough to stay in business and provide for their families," said Dan Lewis, CEO of Convoy.

Convoy Factoring is designed to save small carriers and owner-operators, which make up 90% of the nation's trucking companies, expensive fees tied to receiving quicker payment for hauling loads. It comes with no contract lock-in and no invoice or transaction fees, the company said. Convoy said that a typical carrier that factors its freight bills could lose more than $9,000 in take-home pay due to factoring and associated fees.

Convoy already offers Quick Pay – which enables carriers driving for Convoy to get paid in two days with no fees. The new Convoy Factoring offering builds upon that and adds Quick Pay services for non-Convoy loads.

"It has been encouraging to see some others in our industry follow suit with similar programs," said Ziad Ismail, Convoy chief product officer. "Today we take that innovation and support for carriers a major step further with Convoy Factoring, offering carriers the lowest effective rate in the industry across all the loads they haul, which puts more money back in their pockets."

Convoy Factoring is available within the Convoy mobile app.

Fuel Card Offers Big Discounts

Convoy believes that using its new fuel card could save carriers as much as $12,000 per truck per year in fuel costs when compared to filling up using the industry average savings of 20 cents per gallon. At an average 63 cent savings per gallon, Convoy believes its fuel card discount is the largest in the industry.

There are more than 1,000 stations across the country that accept the Convoy fuel card, including TA-Petro, Ambest, Roady's and Sapp Bros, it said.

According to FreightWaves' SONAR data GFEMIL, company fleets were paying $0.28.82 per mile in fuel cost as of July 26. That was down from 45 cents per mile at the end of November 2019. Smaller fleets and owner-operators, who often don't have access to the same fuel discounts the large fleets enjoy, typically pay a much higher rate that is closer to or actual retail rate. The U.S. average for diesel fuel for the week of Aug. 3 was $2.42 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Inside the Convoy mobile app is an interactive map of fueling locations along with current fuel prices that the company said can be used by carriers to plan routes and fuel costs when deciding which loads to select.

"Our continued focus is to help these carriers earn more, and keep more of their hard-earned pay, while removing many of the day-to-day hassles of the job. Extending Convoy Quickpay to cover non-Convoy loads, with low rates and a best-in-class fuel card, provides the industry's leading option for savings," Lewis said.

Innovation Keeps Coming

The fuel card and Convoy Factoring continue a year in which Convoy has rolled out one new product feature after another. Last month, the company stated that it had rolled out nationwide dedicated freight opportunities with contracts that can last up to six months. The freight is available within the Convoy mobile app.

"Since our inception, we've made it our priority to maximize earnings for carriers by keeping their trucks full on the lanes they like to run, with less hassle," Ismail told FreightWaves at the time. "We've heard from owner-operators and carriers with small fleets that they want access to this type of regular, steady contract work. We knew we wanted to address this need and make it more readily available. We've built the offering in-app to streamline carriers' ability to search for and bid on work that keeps their trucks full."

Dedicated freight comprises about 10% of all freight on the Convoy network currently.

Earlier this year, Convoy automated lumper payments within its app. A lumper is someone who loads or unloads a trailer. In some cases, particularly in food warehousing or grocery companies, the shippers require the use of lumpers. However, Title 49 of the United States Code, §14103 states that it is up to the discretion of the driver as to whether to use a lumper if he or she is not going to be compensated for the lumper's service. Even in cases in which reimbursement is approved, it is the carrier's responsibility to pay the lumper and then seek reimbursement from the shipper or broker. In about 9% of the cases, that reimbursement never comes, according to Convoy.

The lumper payment service only requires a driver to submit the lumper company name and fee and once a lumper code is received, Convoy assumes responsibility for paying the lumper service.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Brian Straight.

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