Trucking invoice template

What to put on a trucking invoice

• Your carrier name, USDOT and MC numbers, and the broker or shipper you are billing.
• The load number or rate confirmation number, exactly as the broker issued it.
• Pickup and delivery locations and dates, and the miles run.
• The linehaul rate, either per mile or as the flat rate on the rate confirmation.
• Fuel surcharge, if the rate confirmation includes one.
• Accessorials agreed on the rate confirmation: detention, layover, lumper, stop-off or truck order not used (TONU).
• A note that the signed bill of lading and any lumper receipts are attached.
• Payment terms, and the factoring company’s remit-to address if you factor the invoice.

Create it online or in Excel

FigureLane’s free invoice generator makes a PDF with your lines, tax and any deposit deducted, and saves it in Income with your receipts. It counts in your reports once you mark it paid.

Prefer a spreadsheet? Download the Excel template above and fill the yellow cells; it works out the amount due.

• Create a PDF invoice

Example trucking invoice

A fictional job, in US dollars before tax. The template’s first sheet holds this example; the second is blank for your own invoice.

Bookkeeping for owner-operators and small fleets: what to keep

• Fuel: keep every fuel receipt with the date and location; they also support state fuel-tax reporting under IFTA if your truck needs it.
• Tolls and scales: toll statements and scale tickets, by trip.
• Repairs, tires and maintenance: invoices with the truck’s unit number.
• Insurance and permits: liability and cargo insurance, IRP plates and state permits.
• Heavy vehicle use tax: trucks with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more file IRS Form 2290 for each July-to-June period; keep the stamped Schedule 1.
• Lumper and loading fees: keep the receipt, because you bill the broker for it.

Rate confirmations, detention and factoring

• Bill exactly what the rate confirmation says. Brokers match the invoice to it, and a different rate or missing load number is the most common reason for a delay.
• Log arrival and departure times at each stop, and have them signed on the bill of lading where you can. Detention is only paid when the times are documented and the rate confirmation includes it.
• Send the invoice with the signed bill of lading and any lumper receipt in one PDF, so the broker has everything at once.
• If you factor, the factoring company usually sends a notice of assignment and asks for its remit-to address on the invoice. Keep factoring fees on their own expense line.
• If you pay other drivers as independent contractors, 1099 rules apply.

• Read the 1099 rules in full

A ten-minute monthly routine

Mark trucking invoices paid when the money lands, keep each receipt as it arrives, and check the month against the originals before sending your accountant a report.

• Use the monthly bookkeeping checklist

Common questions