When you’re in the trucking business, late customer payments can throw off your TMS cash-flow and create extra work for your team. Frontline Q7 trucking software solves this issue by using an option invoice-based driver pay hold feature. Withhold driver pay from appearing on a pay settlement until the load invoice has been paid by the customer. Q7 handles the hold and release automatically, which means dispatchers or billers can move on from the load. We like this feature because it saves time, reduces errors, and keeps pay settlements aligned with your trucking company’s cash flow.
Steps to Pay Drivers When the Trucking Invoice is Paid
In trucking, cash flow often depends on how quickly customers settle their invoices. You risk dipping into funds that you have not received yet if you pay drivers before the invoice is collected. That’s where the Hold Driver Pay Until Customer Payment feature comes in.
With this option, dispatchers are billers can calculate and authorize a driver’s pay during the course of the load or after it’s complete. However, the load will not appear as available for inclusion on a pay settlement until the freight billing invoice is paid in full. This ensures that the cash that leaves your bank account for driver pay is aligned with the cash you receive for a load, without requiring you to manually track everything.
HOLD PAY ONE LOAD AT A TIME
If you need to withhold driver pay only one time, set the flag before authorizing the automatically calculated pay.
HOLD DRIVER PAY ON ALL LOADS
Set the flag in driver setup profiles where all load pay should be withheld until customer payment. You can always remove the flag from the load level if pay should be released immediately.
WORKFLOW WHEN DRIVER PAY IS HELD
When pay is driver pay is held until the invoice is paid, your workflow would look something like this:
- Approve the driver’s paperwork. Once the load is delivered, you can auto-calculate and review the driver’s pay as usual.
- Hold pay until invoice payment. Set the flag manually in one-off situations.
- Authorize for pay settlement. The driver pay is now ready for settlement, but it won’t appear there yet.
- Customer is invoiced. Create and send the invoice to your customer using Q7’s freight billing tools.
- Wait for payment. Instead of manually tracking which settlements are pending, Q7 releases the held pay into the settlement program. Now it’s ready for payout.
- Review and confirm. You can see exactly which load pay was held, when it was released, and the invoice it was tied to.
By linking driver pay directly to invoice status, Q7 takes the guesswork out of pay settlements. Billers no longer need to chase down which drivers should be paid each pay period. Instead, the system ensures that driver pay is automatically released only when the customer invoice is paid. As a result, your trucking business cash flow is kept healthy.
Why Holding Driver Pay Improves Trucking Business Cash Flow
In trucking, profit margins can be tight and payments from shippers don’t always arrive on schedule. This is why many trucking businesses use cash-based accounting methods. While Q7 is, at its core, an accrual trucking accounting software system, there are several features and tools that let you get the most out of working a cash-based method. By using Q7’s Hold Pay feature, you can keep cash in your business until revenue has cleared the bank. As a result, you aren’t paying out of pocket for loads that have generated income, but not cash.
For many carriers, this kind of TMS cash-flow automation means the difference between covering fuel and maintenance costs comfortably and making ends meet. Instead of delaying pay settlements manually or tracking the load payouts outside of the system, Q7 automates the process so that driver pay and customer payments stay in sync, protecting your business from cash shortages.
Another popular TMS cash-flow automation strategy is factoring settlement. When you factor your invoices, you aren’t exactly generating an accounts receivable invoice. Instead, you are receiving payment right away. However, if the factoring company is unable to collect payment from the shipper, you may be responsible for doing so. Q7 includes a factoring settlement tool that lets you manage all of this for your factored invoices.
Build Trust and Transparency with Drivers
Managing cash flow doesn’t have to come at the expense of driver satisfaction. When carriers use the Hold Pay feature, drivers can receive a report that lets them know that their load pay has been calculated and approved, even if funds aren’t yet available for payout. This generates transparency, which shows drivers exactly where they stand without leaving them in the dark.
By tying pay release to invoice payment status, you avoid confusion or disputes about when payments will be made. Drivers know that as soon as the customer invoice is marked paid in full, their load pay will be released. That clarity helps maintain trust, reduces frustration and strengthens your relationship with the people who keep your trucks moving.
Addressing Driver Concerns About Invoice-Based Pay Holds
Whether you are holding all load pay or just some load pay (i.e., for detention paperwork or review), it’s not uncommon for drivers to object.
“I did the work. Why should my pay wait for the customer’s check?”
This is a valid concern. The reality is that trucking companies depend on steady cash-flow to keep trucks fueled, maintained, and on the road. If the company is paying the driver before the invoice is collected on, it risks creating a financial strain that can ripple across the entire operation, including payroll reliability in the long run.
What You Can Do
The Hold Pay Until Customer Payment feature in Q7 is a powerful tool for protecting your cash-flow when you need it. However, the bigger picture is how a solid TMS like Q7 helps you avoid getting into that situation in the first place.
Q7 trucking software doesn’t just handle settlements. It streamlines your entire operation so you can keep money moving faster and more predictably. With tools like automated invoicing, IFTA reporting, real-time expense tracking, dispatch, and customizable profitability reports, you can spot the payment bottlenecks quickly.
In fact, newer carriers will find their cash-flow improves after using Q7 in just a few months. In that case, the need to hold driver pay becomes more of a rare exception than a regular practice. For a happier, healthier and stronger cash-flow, reach out to us to learn more about Q7 trucking software.
