Freight & Logistics

Trucking moves a lot of money. The question is whether you actually know where it all goes and what you keep.

Big Revenue, Thin Margins

A single truck can push $150,000 to $200,000 in gross revenue a year. That sounds like a solid business until you subtract fuel, insurance, tires, maintenance, permits, and the loan payment on the rig. What remains is often single digits. Sometimes less.

Nashville sits in the middle of one of the busiest freight corridors in the Southeast. There’s no shortage of loads moving through the region. But available freight doesn’t mean profitable freight, and the difference between a trucking company that grows and one that quietly bleeds out usually comes down to one thing. Whether the owner actually knows the numbers.

Who We Work With

Owner-operators, small fleet owners, freight brokerages, courier services, and warehousing operations across Franklin, Williamson County, and Greater Nashville. Different operations, same fundamental challenge of tracking money that moves fast through a lot of hands.

The Core Problem

Trucking generates high cash flow but keeps very little of it. The gap between what hits the bank and what you actually keep is where most operators lose visibility. Without precise tracking, you can run busy for months and have nothing to show for it.

Knowing Your Cost Per Mile

Cost Per Mile is the number that runs your business. Every expense tied to moving a truck needs to be captured and divided by the miles it ran. Fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, permits, tolls. When you know your true CPM, you know your floor rate. You stop guessing whether a load is worth taking and start making dispatch decisions based on actual profit.

Driver settlements add another layer of complexity. Whether you’re paying owner-operators a percentage or running company drivers on hourly and mileage rates, the settlement math has to be right every pay period. Deductions for fuel advances, insurance contributions, and cash draws need to be tracked accurately. One mistake erodes trust. Repeated mistakes cost you drivers.

IFTA Fuel Tax Reporting

Quarterly IFTA filings require matching fuel purchases to miles driven in each state. We organize the data throughout the quarter so filing day is straightforward. No more digging through shoeboxes of receipts or scrambling to pull fuel card statements at the last minute.

Factoring Reconciliation

If you factor invoices, the deposit hitting your bank is net of fees, reserves, and chargebacks. We record the gross revenue, the factoring costs, and the reserve holdbacks separately so your books reflect reality. You see exactly what factoring costs you every month and every year.

Where the Money Disappears

The most common problem we see is operators who check the bank balance and assume they know where they stand. $30,000 in the account feels comfortable. But if $18,000 of that is already spoken for between fuel cards due Friday, an insurance premium hitting next week, and a quarterly IFTA payment around the corner, you’re actually tight. Without a cash flow forecast that accounts for the timing of money in and money out, you’re making decisions based on a number that doesn’t mean what you think it means.

The other blind spot is lane profitability. You might run a consistent route between Nashville and Atlanta that feels productive because the truck stays busy. But when you account for the deadhead miles on the return trip, the tolls, and the fuel burn through the mountains on I-24, that lane might barely break even. Without tracking at that level, you keep running loads that look good on the rate confirmation but aren’t actually putting money in your pocket.

The Hidden Cost of Factoring

Factoring fees of 2% to 5% per invoice add up faster than most operators realize. It gets treated as just the cost of doing business without anyone tracking the annual total. When you finally see that number in a report, it often changes how aggressively you pursue direct-pay shippers or build cash reserves to self-finance receivables.

Equipment Decisions Without Data

Buying another truck based on gut feeling is how operators get overextended. Without knowing the true revenue and cost profile of your existing units, adding iron is a gamble. We track per-truck profitability so you can see which units are earning their keep and whether the fleet can actually support another payment.

What Changes

You stop hauling freight at a loss. When CPM is calculated and updated monthly, you have a real number to compare against every rate confirmation that crosses your desk. Dispatching becomes a financial decision, not just a matter of keeping the wheels turning. You say no to bad loads with confidence because you know exactly what they would cost you.

The compliance burden gets lighter too. IFTA filings are handled. 1099s for owner-operators are prepared on time. Payroll for company drivers runs without drama. Tax season is straightforward because the books have been clean all year. You spend your energy managing trucks, drivers, and customers instead of drowning in paperwork and guessing at numbers.

Cash Flow You Can Actually Plan Around

You know what’s coming in, what’s going out, and when. Insurance renewals, quarterly tax payments, and maintenance reserves are all accounted for ahead of time. No more surprises that force you to scramble or borrow. You plan ahead instead of reacting.

Growth That's Calculated

When the numbers are clear, you can model what adding a truck actually looks like. Revenue needed to cover the note, insurance cost per unit, driver expense, maintenance accruals. Fleet expansion becomes a decision backed by data instead of a bet you’re hoping works out.

Greater Nashville's Trusted Financial Partner

The Next Step:
A Quick Conversation

Tell us about your business and where you need support. We'll listen, figure out what makes sense for your situation, and give you a straightforward quote.

Get Started