Freight bill collection in Canada turns on two things most carriers underestimate: who you actually contracted with, and whether your paperwork proves the load moved as agreed. A carrier who hauled for a broker generally has no contract with the shipper, which means that when the broker fails to pay, the obvious target is often the wrong one. Understanding that structure before an account ages is what separates a recoverable freight bill from a write-off.
Key Takeaways
- Your claim runs against the party you contracted with, usually the broker rather than the shipper.
- Double-brokered loads are the single largest source of uncollectable freight bills.
- Holding freight to force payment carries real legal risk and should not be done without advice.
- Signed bills of lading, rate confirmations, and proof of delivery are what make a claim enforceable.
- Alberta’s limitation period for most claims is two years from when the claim was discovered.
- Broker vetting before the load moves protects more revenue than any collection effort afterward.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Freight claims depend heavily on the specific contracts and facts involved.
Why Freight Receivables Go Bad Differently
Trucking runs on thin margins and long payment cycles. A carrier fronts fuel, wages, and equipment costs, then waits 30, 45, or 60 days to be paid on terms it did not set. One broker failure can absorb a month of operating profit.
The structural problem is that carriers extend credit to intermediaries they often know very little about. Loads are booked quickly, sometimes through load boards, and the commercial relationship may consist of a rate confirmation and nothing else. Recovering from that position depends entirely on the documentation created at the time, which is why transport receivables behave differently from ordinary trade credit.
The Double-Brokering Problem
This is where most uncollectable freight bills originate, and it is worth understanding before it happens to you.
Double-brokering occurs when a broker accepts a load and, instead of tendering it to a carrier directly, re-brokers it to another intermediary who then hires the actual carrier. The carrier hauls the freight and invoices the party that hired them. If that party collects from the chain above and disappears, the carrier is left pursuing a company that may have no assets and no operating history.
The shipper is rarely the answer in this situation. It may have already paid in full, in good faith, to the broker it hired. Asking the shipper to pay twice is a difficult argument, and the shipper generally has no contract with your company at all.
Two protections matter. Confirm who you are contracting with before accepting the load, and verify that the entity on the rate confirmation is the entity you invoice. Where that entity has vanished, trace and investigation work becomes the necessary first step, since a corporation that was struck from the registry may still leave directors or guarantors worth pursuing.
Can You Hold the Freight Until You Are Paid?
Carriers ask this constantly, usually while the trailer is still loaded. The instinct is understandable and acting on it without advice is dangerous.
Holding goods to force payment raises questions about what rights you hold over property that belongs to someone else, and the answer depends on your contract, the governing conditions of carriage, and who actually owes the money. In a double-brokered situation the goods usually belong to a shipper who has already paid, which makes the exposure worse rather than better.
Speak to counsel before refusing delivery. The cost of a short consultation is minor against the risk of a conversion claim, and legal services applied at that moment is far cheaper than defending the decision afterward.
The Documentation That Decides a Freight Claim
Freight disputes are won on paperwork. Alberta regulates the information that must appear on bills of lading and waybills for goods moved by commercial vehicle on the provincial highway network, with additional requirements for specific categories such as livestock and household goods. Beyond those requirements sits a commercial standard worth meeting on every load.
What to Keep on Every Load
- The rate confirmation, showing the agreed rate, the accessorials, and the exact legal name of the party that hired you
- The signed bill of lading, with the consignee’s signature and any notations at delivery
- Proof of delivery, including timestamps and photographs where the receiver disputes condition
- Records of detention, layover, or accessorial charges as they were incurred
- Any written communication varying the original terms
- Your invoice and a record of when and how it was sent
Why Notations at Delivery Matter
A clean signed bill of lading closes off most defences before they can be raised. A driver who accepts a notation about shortage or damage without documenting the circumstances hands the other side an argument that reduces or defeats the claim. Train drivers to photograph and report anything written on the document at delivery.
Vetting a Broker Before You Accept the Load
The strongest protection is applied before the wheels turn, and it takes minutes.
Confirm the broker’s full legal name and corporate registration, and check that it matches the rate confirmation. Ask for and actually call trade references from other carriers. Check how long the company has been operating, since new entities with no history carry the most risk. Watch payment behaviour on small loads before accepting large ones, because deterioration shows up there first. Cap how much exposure any single broker can represent, since carriers rarely fail because of one bad rate and frequently fail because one intermediary owed them six weeks of work.
Carriers who move freight for shippers directly should apply the same discipline through a credit application, which is standard practice in commercial debt collection terms and gives you something to work with later.
What to Do When a Freight Bill Goes Unpaid
Freight receivables lose value quickly, because the entities involved can dissolve fast and the paperwork trail gets harder to assemble over time. Move on a schedule rather than waiting for a promise to be kept:
- At terms: Confirm the invoice was received and that no dispute exists over rate, detention, or delivery condition.
- Day 10: Escalate past accounts payable to an owner or operations manager and get a specific payment date.
- Day 30: Send a formal written demand identifying the load, the rate confirmation, and the amount owing.
- Day 45: Verify the broker is still operating and confirm the corporate entity has not changed.
- Day 60: Place the account for collection while the entity still exists and contact details still work.
A broker in financial difficulty is usually paying whichever carriers push hardest. The ones who wait quietly end up filing proofs of claim.
Common Questions About Unpaid Freight Bills
The questions below come up in nearly every freight collection conversation.
The broker will not pay. Can I invoice the shipper instead?
Usually not with any success. Your contract is with the broker, and the shipper has likely already paid. Some carriers pursue this route where the shipper has not yet paid the broker, though it is fact-specific.
How long do I have to collect a freight bill?
In Alberta, most claims must be started within two years of the date you knew or ought to have known you had a claim, under the Limitations Act.
The broker filed for bankruptcy. Is my invoice gone?
Not automatically. File a proof of claim through the trustee, and review whether personal guarantees or other parties in the chain carry any obligation. Recovery in an insolvency is usually partial at best.
Is it worth pursuing a small freight bill?
Often yes. Claims up to $100,000 can be pursued through the Alberta Court of Justice, where corporations have more flexibility to appear without counsel than they do in the Court of King’s Bench. A collection placement usually costs nothing upfront, which makes the calculation easier still.
Does this apply to marine and intermodal freight?
The commercial dynamics are similar, though the governing rules differ. Claims involving marine shipping and cross-border movements carry their own conventions and time limits, so confirm which regime applies before assuming a two-year window.
Place Freight Accounts Before the Broker Disappears
The carriers who recover are the ones who documented the load properly, confirmed who they were dealing with, and escalated before the entity dissolved.
Bison Credit Solutions recovers receivables for freight and logistics companies, trucking operations, and shipping and cargo businesses, working on a contingency basis with no charge where nothing is collected. Locating a vanished broker and pursuing the balance run as one process rather than two, and the pressures described in debt collection in supply chain turmoil have not eased for carriers.
Contact Bison Credit Solutions to place unpaid freight accounts while the paperwork and the parties are still traceable.
