Request a Quote
New Customer Inquiries
Customer Service
Make A Payment
Request a Quote
blue pattern page header

Logistics Management Collections

LOGISTICS & FREIGHT

Logistics & Freight Collection Agency

Unpaid freight invoices age faster than almost any other commercial receivable. Carriers and brokers run on thin margins. A few large open balances can wreck a month. Freight charges, detention, accessorial fees. Southwest Recovery Services has recovered logistics and transportation debt since 2004. We work on contingency: no recovery, no fee.

We handle logistics collections for freight carriers, brokers, and 3PLs across the country.

Talk to a Recovery Specialist
two people working togethertop patternblue pattern

FREIGHT DEBT WE RECOVER

What Freight and Logistics Debt We Recover

The logistics industry generates a specific set of receivable problems. We recover them all:

Unpaid freight invoices. Line-haul charges, fuel surcharges, and accessorial fees that shippers are carrying past terms: net 30, net 45, whatever the contract said. These are often disputed by the shipper’s AP department after delivery is complete.

Broker-carrier receivables. Freight brokers regularly face carriers demanding fast payment while shippers stretch payment windows. When a shipper goes dark or disputes charges after the load moved, the broker absorbs the gap. We recover those balances.

Detention and accessorial charges. Detention time, layover, TONU (truck ordered not used), lumper fees, and stop-off charges. These are the receivables that shippers push back on hardest. We know the documentation requirements and how to work these accounts.

3PL and warehousing balances. Third-party logistics providers dealing with customers who underpay or stop paying for storage, handling, and fulfillment services.

Fleet and owner-operator receivables. Fleets and independent owner-operators owed for completed hauls where payment was delayed, shorted, or stopped entirely.

LOGISTICS CLIENTS WE SERVE

Who We Serve in Logistics and Freight

Any business in the freight and transportation supply chain that is owed money by another business:

  • Motor carriers full truckload, LTL, and specialized carriers with open shipper balances
  • Freight brokers and 3PLs intermediaries carrying both shipper and carrier receivable risk
  • Freight forwarders domestic and international forwarders with open shipper accounts
  • Warehouse and fulfillment operators storage and handling balances from commercial customers
  • Fleet owners and owner-operators independent contractors owed for completed work
  • Dispatchers and transportation management companies service fee receivables from fleet clients

This is B2B commercial debt, worked from our offices in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, and Georgia. No FDCPA complications. That statute applies to consumer debt, not to business-to-business freight claims.

See our trucking and transportation collections page for carrier-specific detail.

white background
WHY YOU NEED A FREIGHT SPECIALIST

Why You Need a Freight Specialist, Not a General Collector

A general commercial collection agency can call a shipper’s AP department. What they can’t do: read a rate confirmation, understand what a detention claim requires, argue a TONU charge, or navigate a NOA with a factoring company.

Freight debt disputes fail on documentation and specificity. A collector who doesn’t know what a proof of delivery is supposed to contain, or why a lumper receipt matters to an accessorial claim, loses those accounts. We don’t.

Southwest Recovery Services has worked logistics and transportation accounts since 2004. We are a member of ACA International. We hold the bonding and insurance this work requires, and we keep our licensing current in each state where we collect.

We handle everything from a single $4,000 detention invoice to multi-account freight portfolio placements. The contingency model means you pay only on what we recover. No upfront cost regardless of account size.

Talk to a Specialist
Columbus Collection Agency logistics managementtop patternblue pattern

WHY FREIGHT RECEIVABLES ARE HARD

Why Freight Receivables Are Uniquely Difficult to Collect

Freight debt is not the same as a standard commercial invoice. Several dynamics make it harder to work without industry knowledge:

Broker-carrier payment disputes. When a broker pays the carrier but the shipper hasn’t paid the broker, the broker is carrying the load. When the shipper disputes a charge post-delivery, it triggers a paper trail fight: bills of lading, PODs, rate confirmations, accessorial documentation. Collectors who don’t understand these documents lose that argument.

Factoring complications. Many carriers and brokers factor their receivables. When a factored invoice goes unpaid, the funding company and the originating business may have competing claims on the recovery. We navigate factoring arrangements, including NOAs (notices of assignment) and recourse vs. non-recourse agreements, and work the account correctly.

Quick-pay and fuel advance deductions. Shippers and brokers sometimes deduct quick-pay fees or fuel advances against later invoices without proper documentation. These deductions create underpaid accounts that require careful reconciliation before collection can proceed.

Freight broker network (FBN) and credit exposure. Credit decisions in freight move fast. Brokers extend credit to shippers based on limited data. When a shipper’s credit rating shifts, or when a new shipper turns out to be a bad actor, the broker is holding unsecured freight receivables. We have recovered these accounts.

Documentation intensity. Freight claims require rate confirmations, bills of lading, proof of delivery, lumper receipts, detention logs. If your documentation is incomplete, we tell you before we start. Not after we’ve spent 60 days on an account that can’t be proven.

OUR FREIGHT RECOVERY PROCESS

Our Freight Debt Recovery Process

  1. Submit the account. Provide the debtor business name and last known address, the outstanding balance, and your documentation: rate confirmation, BOL, POD, any prior communication. We review the account the same day.
  2. Account assessment. We evaluate the documentation, assess recoverability, and flag any gaps before outreach begins. If factoring or a NOA is involved, we sort that out first.
  3. Skip trace and contact identification. We locate current decision-makers. Not just the AP email address that has been ignoring you. Owners, controllers, operations managers, whoever has authority to authorize payment.
  4. Active outreach. Phone, mail, and other permissible channels. We move through the debtor’s organization until we reach someone who can resolve the balance.
  5. Negotiation and documentation. We negotiate payment, lump sum or a structured plan, and document every step. If there is a disputed accessorial charge, we work to get the undisputed portion paid first.
  6. Pre-legal escalation. Accounts that don’t respond to direct collection move to pre-legal demand. Escalated contact and formal demand letters resolve a significant share of stalled accounts without litigation.
  7. Legal referral if needed. When pre-legal doesn’t move the account, we walk you through options: court filing, judgment enforcement, asset levy. We manage the process and keep you informed.

COMMERCIAL CREDIT BUREAU REPORTING

Commercial Credit Bureau Reporting

Unpaid freight balances from business debtors are eligible for commercial credit bureau reporting. Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business. Reporting an open balance creates real leverage: a shipper or broker that relies on business credit to secure financing or vendor terms has a strong reason to pay rather than let the account report.

We report eligible accounts as part of the standard recovery process, not as a separate add-on.

READY TO RECOVER WHAT YOU’RE OWED?

Recover your freight and logistics past-due balances.

Talk to a Recovery Specialist
FREIGHT COLLECTION QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Frequently Asked Questions

A freight collection agency recovers unpaid freight invoices, carrier receivables, detention charges, accessorial fees, and other logistics-related commercial debt. Unlike general collection agencies, a freight specialist understands rate confirmations, bills of lading, proof of delivery documentation, factoring arrangements, and broker-carrier dispute dynamics. That knowledge is often the difference between a resolved account and a written-off balance.

Yes. Freight brokers deal with shipper non-payment regularly, especially when a shipper disputes charges after a load has moved. Southwest Recovery Services recovers broker receivables involving disputed freight charges, underpaid invoices, and shippers who have stopped communicating. We also work accounts where a factoring company has a notice of assignment, coordinating with all parties to ensure the recovery is handled correctly.

Generally no. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates the collection of consumer debts incurred by individuals for personal or household purposes. Freight invoices, carrier receivables, and logistics contracts are B2B commercial debts and are not subject to FDCPA. Southwest Recovery Services collects commercial logistics debt under applicable state and federal commercial law, and we keep our licensing current in each state where we collect.

Detention and accessorial disputes require documentation: detention logs with timestamps, signed rate confirmations that include accessorial terms, driver check-in and check-out records, and any written shipper acknowledgments. We review your documentation before placing the account and work to recover the undisputed portions of a balance first while the disputed portion is worked through. Incomplete documentation is flagged upfront. Not after 60 days of collection activity.

Southwest Recovery Services operates on a contingency fee model. We charge a percentage of the amount we recover. Nothing if we do not collect. There are no upfront fees, retainers, or charges for uncollected accounts. Contingency rates vary based on account age, balance size, and complexity. We quote the rate at account placement, before we begin work.

Yes. Southwest Recovery Services is bonded and insured to collect commercial debt, and we keep our licensing current in each state where we collect. Freight and logistics debt is inherently interstate. Carriers, brokers, and shippers operate across state lines routinely. We handle multi-state debtor relationships without requiring separate placements per jurisdiction.

Expert Insights for Your Industry

Related Services & Guides
More Resources

Related Articles

white background with dots
client meeting
i pad discussion
HAVE A QUESTION?

Get in Touch

We recover debt for businesses from our 12 offices in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, and Georgia. We manage collections so you can focus on running your business.

Get In Touch