FLATBED & HEAVY HAUL
Flatbed loads carry high per-load values and accessorials that do not exist on van freight. Tarping fees, escort charges, permit costs, and equipment surcharges all need to be documented and invoiced correctly. We run the billing that matches the complexity of your loads.
THE FLATBED BACK OFFICE
Flatbed, step-deck, lowboy, and RGN billing carries a different accessorial structure than enclosed trailer freight. Tarping fees depend on the commodity and customer requirements. Escort and pilot car charges vary by state and load dimensions. Oversize and overweight permits are route-specific and need to be matched to the correct shipment for passthrough billing. Equipment surcharges for specialized trailers are often negotiated per load.
The load values are higher, which means more margin at stake when an accessorial is missed. We handle the post-dispatch workflow: POD retrieval, carrier invoice audit with permit and accessorial verification, shipper billing with all load-specific documentation, and AR follow-up.
DSO Reduction
Reporting
POD Chase
Tarping is labor-intensive and often required by the customer or the commodity. Tarping fees typically run $50 to $150 per stop depending on the commodity and cover requirements. When the tarping charge is agreed between dispatch and the driver but never documented for billing, that cost is absorbed instead of billed. Over a month of loads, undocumented tarping adds up fast.
Oversize loads often require escort or pilot cars. Industry rates for pilot cars typically run $2 to $3 per mile plus a daily standby fee. Multi-state moves may require a pilot car in each state, and each state sets its own escort requirements by load dimension. If the escort invoice comes in after the customer invoice goes out, it becomes a rebill situation or an absorbed cost.
Route-specific oversize and overweight permits are passthroughs that belong on the customer invoice. Permit costs vary by state and can be significant on multi-state moves. When permits are purchased by dispatch and the receipts do not reach billing, the passthrough does not happen. Some states also require separate bridge permits and utility crossing permits that add to the total.
Specialized trailers (step-deck, lowboy, RGN) carry equipment surcharges that may be negotiated per load. If the surcharge is not documented on the rate confirmation or is applied at the wrong amount, the invoice is short.
We inventory your trailer types, lane patterns, state-by-state permit requirements, and customer-specific billing rules for tarping, escorts, and equipment surcharges.
Team members train on your flatbed billing rules, permit tracking workflow, and customer-specific requirements for tarping and escorts. Roughly two weeks to go live.
POD retrieval, carrier invoice audit with accessorial verification, shipper billing with permits and surcharges, and AR follow-up run on every load.
More equipment types, more lanes, more loads. The back-office capacity is already there.
The result is a back office that handles the complexity your freight demands:
We work inside the TMS platforms you already use for flatbed dispatch, billing, and permit tracking, with no migration and no new software to learn.
Yes. We match permit costs to the shipment file and include them on the customer invoice as a documented passthrough. Permits purchased by dispatch are tracked from receipt through billing so nothing falls through.
Yes. Tarping fees and escort or pilot car charges are verified on the carrier invoice and billed to the customer per the rate confirmation or load-specific agreement. The team documents each charge with the backup required for the customer to approve it.
Flatbed back-office support covers POD retrieval, carrier invoice audit with tarping, escort, permit, and equipment surcharge verification, shipper billing with all load-specific charges, AR management, and carrier compliance monitoring.
Pricing is volume-based, tied to your monthly load count. A 20-minute call is enough to walk through your operation and put together the right package.
Yes. We work inside TMW, McLeod, Magnus, Axon, Tailwind, and other platforms common in flatbed and heavy haul. Your workflow stays the same. We log in and handle the billing from inside your system.
Each stop is documented separately with its own delivery confirmation, accessorial charges, and backup. Tarping at one stop and lumper at another are captured individually and billed per the rate confirmation or load-specific agreement.
Catch tarping, escort, and permit charges before the invoice goes out.
Get Started
Most flatbed clients start with carrier invoice audit and permit cost billing, then grow into full back-office management.
