Freight & Logistics
Trucking runs on cost per mile. We track fuel, maintenance, and fixed costs by truck so you know your floor rate before taking a load.
The Cash Gap
Trucking looks like big money until you trace where it actually goes. A $12,000 load hits the bank and seems like a good week. But fuel already went on the card. Insurance is due Friday. The drive tires are at 4/32nds. That $12,000 turns into maybe $1,800 of real margin if everything goes right. And if you factor the invoice to get paid faster, you gave up 3-5% before the money even arrived.
Freight brokers have different math. No trucks to maintain, but you need to track what carriers cost versus what shippers pay, lane by lane. Courier operations deal with high transaction volume and driver settlements that get messy fast. Warehousing involves handling fees, space utilization, and inventory tracking that needs proper allocation. Different business models, but all of them require tight cost tracking to know if you are actually making money.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Trucking companies and owner-operators running freight across New England and beyond. Freight brokers matching loads with carriers. Courier services with local delivery fleets. Warehousing operations tracking inventory and handling fees. Any logistics business where profit depends on knowing exact costs.
The Timing Problem
The Timing Problem
You haul the load today and burn the fuel today. The driver expects a check this week. But broker payment might not show up for 30 to 45 days. Factoring gives you faster cash but costs money and holds reserves. Managing that gap while keeping trucks moving requires knowing exactly where you stand financially.
What We Track
We calculate your true cost per mile by truck. Fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, loan payments, and depreciation all get tracked against odometer readings. This gives you a floor rate. If it costs you $2.15 to move your truck one mile, you know not to accept a load that pays $1.95 just to keep the wheels turning. That sounds obvious, but most trucking companies cannot tell you their actual cost per mile with any confidence.
Driver settlements and owner-operator payments need to be accurate every pay period. Fuel advances, insurance deductions, percentage splits, and escrow holds all require careful calculation. We handle the math so drivers get paid correctly and you have documentation to support every number. IFTA quarterly filings require matching fuel purchases to miles driven in each state. We keep that data organized throughout the quarter so filing is straightforward instead of a last-minute scramble.
Cost Per Mile by Truck
Cost Per Mile by Truck
Every expense categorized by unit. Fixed costs like insurance, loan payments, and permits spread across miles driven. Variable costs like fuel, maintenance, and tires tracked as they happen. You see what it actually costs to operate each truck in your fleet, not just what the whole business spent.
Settlements and Compliance
Settlements and Compliance
Driver pay calculated with all deductions documented. Owner-operator settlements with clear breakdown of charges. IFTA data organized by state with fuel purchases matched to mileage. Heavy vehicle use tax tracked. When compliance deadlines arrive, the data is already there and ready.
What Goes Wrong
The biggest mistake is not knowing your cost per mile. You think you are profitable because there is cash in the account, but you have not accounted for the insurance payment due next week or the PM service coming up at 15,000 miles. Without tracking costs by truck, profitable equipment subsidizes losing equipment. That older truck with constant repairs might cost more per mile to operate than the newer one with the payment. But you will not know unless someone tracks it.
Factoring statements make everything harder to see clearly. The deposit in your bank is net of fees, reserves, and chargebacks. If you record just the deposit as revenue, your books show lower income than you actually earned and the true cost of that fast cash stays hidden. IFTA becomes a quarterly panic when nobody tracked fuel purchases by state throughout the quarter. You end up recreating data from credit card statements and guessing at state mileage, hoping the filing is close enough.
Costs Not Allocated
Costs Not Allocated
Fuel gets expensed when purchased without allocation to specific trucks or loads. Maintenance costs get lumped together instead of tracked by unit. Insurance and permits spread across the business instead of assigned properly. You cannot see which trucks make money and which ones drain it because the numbers are all mixed together.
Compliance Scrambles
Compliance Scrambles
IFTA becomes a quarterly emergency. Fuel receipts are missing or disorganized. State mileage is estimated rather than tracked. Factoring fees get buried in net deposits instead of shown as a separate cost of doing business. Per diem deductions get missed because days on the road were never logged properly throughout the year.
What Changes
You know your floor rate. When a broker calls with a load, you can calculate the actual margin instead of guessing. You have the confidence to say no to freight that does not cover your costs and say yes to loads that make real money. Lanes get evaluated based on net profit per mile after fuel, tolls, and wear, not just gross revenue.
IFTA gets filed on time with accurate supporting data. Driver settlements are documented and defensible. You can see which trucks earn their keep and which ones might need to be sold or replaced. When it is time to add another truck or hire another driver, the decision comes from real numbers instead of gut feeling. The books show what the business actually does, and decisions follow from there.
Confident Rate Decisions
Confident Rate Decisions
Floor rate calculated and current. Load profitability evaluated before you commit. Routes and lanes analyzed for true margin after all costs. You stop hauling unprofitable freight because you can finally see that it is unprofitable. Growth comes from better loads, not just more loads.
Clean Operations
Clean Operations
IFTA filed quarterly with organized data to support every number. Driver and owner-operator settlements accurate and documented. Equipment decisions based on per-mile cost reality. Factoring fees visible as a real expense so you can plan to reduce or eliminate them as cash reserves grow.
Greater Boston's Trusted Bookkeeping Partner
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
We'll ask a few questions, figure out what you need, and give you a straightforward quote.