A trucking invoice is a document that ensures you’re getting paid promptly for your work. It contains the information about your service and the details necessary to facilitate payment. A well-written and professional invoice optimizes the cash flow of your business and helps it maintain good financial health.

This article provides in-depth analysis of trucking invoices; you’ll learn what they are, what should be included in them, and what the best way is to make these documents. We’ll also go through five different types of trucking invoices and examine some of the critical mistakes you need to avoid when creating these documents.

What Is a Trucking Invoice?

A trucking invoice is a bill that a trucking company, freight broker, or owner-operator sends to a client for their transportation services. It’s a concise and detailed professional document that outlines the services provided and the total amount due, and it serves as a formal request for payment.

An invoice is a critical part of a trucking company's billing process. It is used by a wide range of professionals and contractors in the transportation sector, ranging from independent drivers to companies that own mid-sized fleets, dispatchers, and freight brokers. In essence, anyone who moves freight for a client typically needs to send them an invoice to get paid.

The primary purpose of a trucking invoice is to facilitate payment. It needs to be clear and accurate to ensure smooth and fast transactions between clients and truckers. This means itemizing all charges and services and clearly outlining payment terms to avoid misunderstanding and invoice disputes and build trust with your clients.

What Should Be Included in a Trucking Invoice?

Before we start, let’s see which details every trucker invoice needs to have.

#1. Business and Client Details

The first section you should add to your invoice is the one containing details about your business and your client. This typically goes at the top of the invoice and clearly outlines which party is issuing the invoice and which party is the payer.

The information you want to add includes your company’s name, address, phone number, and email. If you have a logo, you can add it for branding purposes to achieve a more consistent and professional look. Then, add your client’s business name, address, and contact details in the same manner.

#2. Invoice Number and Date

The invoice number is a unique number assigned to the document for tracking and record-keeping purposes. You should have an established system for numbering your invoices (e.g., #001, #002, etc.) to help both you and the client store and find the document when needed.

On top of that, include the date the invoice is issued to establish a payment timeline, ensure compliance, and further assist with keeping records.

#3. Description of Services

A description of services should be a clear and concise breakdown of your work. This section typically contains an itemized list that specifies:

• Information about the load (e.g., type, weight, quantity)
• Mileage (especially if you’re charging per mile)
• Delivery details (pickup and delivery locations, including dates of service)
• Bill of lading

#4. Payment Terms

Clearly outlined payment terms ensure a smooth translation by helping avoid confusion and disputes. Net terms are common for carrier invoices, with some examples being net 15, net 30, and net 60. They indicate the number of days the client has to pay the invoice in full upon receiving the document.

It’s not uncommon to offer an early payment discount, like “2/10 net 30,” which means the payee will receive a 2% net discount by paying within 10 days.

#5. Rate Per Mile/Hour or Flat Rate

Your invoice needs to clearly state whether you’re charging by mile or hour, or if you have a flat rate. While these terms are often determined and agreed upon before providing the service, they still need to be included for transparency. Additionally, you should also multiply rates by corresponding services to get subtotals.

When the client receives your freight invoice, they need to know how the total amount was calculated. This reduces any potential questions or concerns they might have before sending over the payment.

#6. Total Amount Due

The total amount due needs to be displayed clearly and prominently, and it needs to represent a sum of all subtotals and any taxes that you’ve included.

On top of that, you need to include the payment methods that you accept, such as bank transfer, credit card, or an online payment processor. Make sure to provide the details that the payer needs for each method.

#7. Notes or Special Terms

In the final, optional section of a trucking invoice, you can mention any additional charges or special conditions. Some examples include:

• Fuel surcharges: additional fees for covering fuel costs.
• Detention time: charges for waiting at the shipper or receiver for more than what was initially agreed upon.
• Lumper fees: costs of having third-party workers load or unload the trailer.
• Accessorial charges: any other fees that the client needs to pay for services in addition to standard transportation.

5 Types of Trucking Invoices

There are many different types of trucking invoices, depending on the job and your business model. While they all share the same foundation, they can differ in specific details, so let’s explore the five most common ones.

#1. Freight Invoice

A freight invoice is a comprehensive document that lists all the costs associated with transporting goods in great detail. It’s typically used for full truckload (FTL) or long-haul deliveries. Freight invoices are the main financial documents for both the carrier and the client.

While this term is often used interchangeably with the trucking invoice, it’s important to note that a freight invoice can be broader in scope. For example, if not used specifically by a trucking company, a freight invoice may be used for transporting goods not just by a truck, but via rail, sea, or air.

#2. Owner-Operator Invoice

An owner-operator invoice is a special type of trucking invoice tailored for independent truck drivers (independent contractors who own their trucking business). As a result, they may want to put more effort into personalizing invoices through thank-you notes and logos for branding. This helps them foster healthy and long-term relationships with their clients.

Additionally, owner-operator invoices may feature specific details relevant to the business, such as their Motor Carrier (MC) and Department of Transportation (USDOT) numbers.

#3. Broker Invoice

A broker invoice (also referred to as a dispatch invoice) is used by freight brokers who are intermediaries between shippers and carriers. Since brokers are middlemen, they send invoices to shippers, billing them for transportation services, and then pay the carriers, who perform deliveries.

As a result, a broker's invoice will typically include the broker’s fee or a commission for arranging the shipment. This makes it more of a logistics invoice, compared to the straightforward nature of a truck driver invoice.

#4. Flatbed or Reefer Invoice

A flatbed or reefer invoice is an invoice for specialized hauling services. Flatbed trucks are used for transporting oversized or unconventional cargo, while reefers are for temperature-sensitive shipments (e.g., frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, etc.).

Compared to a regular example of a trucking invoice, the one for a flatbed or reefer transportation will usually include additional charges. These are associated with the nature of the transportation, as it requires specialized equipment and handling (e.g., trucks with refrigeration units or cranes and forklifts needed for loading).

#5. Hourly or Per-Mile Invoice

This type of invoice is based on your pricing model.

An hourly invoice outlines the hours that you worked and multiplies them by your hourly rate. This is more common for short-haul or local deliveries, which can have unpredictable wait times. As a result, fewer miles of transport can still take many hours of work.

A per-mile invoice, on the other hand, calculates the cost by using the number of miles you’ve driven as a multiplier. This is more prevalent in long-distance hauls, where there is more predictability in terms of time.

One trucking company (or even a single owner-operator) can swap between both of these types of invoices on a case-by-case basis.

How to Make a Trucking Invoice

There are several different ways to make an invoice for truckers, with the best one being to use an invoice generator. It’s a tailor-made software solution that helps professionals and businesses automate the creation process. This makes invoice writing quick and easy and reduces the chances of making a mistake.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use an invoice generator at Paystub.org:

• Navigate to the invoice generator on our website.

• Choose a template that suits your needs. We offer a number of templates with different layouts and visual appeal; depending on the template, you can also choose a color version.

• Fill out the form with relevant information. The generator comes with predesignated areas for you to input your details and allows you to set the tax type, discount type, and payment terms. Plus, a built-in calculator automatically works out subtotals, taxes, and totals based on your inputs.

• Review your final invoice to see whether you need to change something.
• Check out to download a finished document.

Another method is to use a trucking invoice template, like a Word invoice template or an Excel invoice template. Using templates is better than creating an invoice from scratch, but you miss out on many automation features that speed up the process, ensure its accuracy, and create a consistent look.

This is important not just for billing clients, but for growing your business and maintaining your reputation.

4 Typical Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Trucking Invoice

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest and most common mistakes you need to avoid when making a professional invoice for truckers:

• Incorrect or missing details. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating a trucking invoice is to forget a critical piece of information or to input the wrong detail. A mistake in the invoice number, payment terms, or even service descriptions can result in significant delays due to the misunderstanding or concerns from the client.

• Late invoicing. Any delays when sending your invoices can negatively impact your cash flow. The longer you take to bill your clients, the bigger the delay before your payment. Moreover, clients can be inclined to pay quickly if you bill them as soon as you finish your work. Otherwise, they can focus on other affairs and pay you much later.

• Unclear descriptions of charges. Vague or unclear descriptions of charges and services can confuse the client and lead to additional questions from them before the payment. That’s why it’s important to explain every item on your trucking invoice to ensure the client knows what they are paying for and how much.

• Not following up on unpaid invoices. Unpaid invoices can be a common occurrence in a contract-based business, and sometimes the reason is that the client forgot. A simple and polite follow-up email can quickly turn a potentially written-off invoice into a paid one. You can even set up a system to automatically send reminders for overdue invoices.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to create a professional and accurate trucking invoice is critical in maintaining the strong financial health of your business. This involves adding the information about your business and the client, numbering and dating the document, clearly describing the charges, summarizing totals, and listing payment terms and accepted methods.

While you can do all of this using a template and following a transportation invoice sample from the web, it’s much better to use an online invoice generator. The one at Paystub.org lets you choose from several professional templates and upload your logo, plus, the tool automatically calculates subtotals, taxes, and totals based on your rates and quantities.

Trucking Invoice FAQ

#1. How to write an invoice for transport?

To write an invoice for transport, enter your business and client details, a unique invoice number, the date, an itemized description of rendered services with appropriate rates, calculated subtotals, and the total amount due. Also, include the payment terms and your accepted payment methods.

#2. Do owner-operators need to issue invoices?

Yes, owner-operators need to issue invoices. An invoice serves as a formal request for payment and a record of the transaction, which can later be used in case of a dispute or an audit from a government institution.

#3. Can I use the same invoice for multiple loads?

You shouldn’t use the same invoice for multiple loads, unless it’s for the same client and within the same billing period. Otherwise, each shipment should have its own invoice with a unique number and payment request. This improves record-keeping and helps avoid confusion.