Freight Payment Terms Cost Calculator — Net-30 vs Net-60 Cash Flow
Calculate the true cost of freight payment terms. Net-30 vs net-60 vs quick-pay discounts — find what extending carrier payment terms really costs your supply chain.
💳 Freight Payment Terms Cost Calculator
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter monthly freight spend — total freight billing paid each month.
- Compare current vs proposed terms — extending from net-30 to net-45 or net-60 frees cash but may cost you in carrier rate premiums.
- Evaluate quick-pay discount — many brokers and carriers offer 1–3% discount for payment in 1–2 days — compare to your cost of capital.
Worked Example
$500K/month freight, net-30 current, net-60 proposed, 8% cost of capital.
- Cash at net-30: $500K
- Cash at net-60: $1,000K
- Extra cash tied up: $500K
- Annual financing cost: $40,000/yr
Extending terms from net-30 to net-60 effectively costs $40K/year in financing — and carriers who accept net-60 often build 1–2% into their rates. Total cost may be $50K–$60K/year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick-pay programs (paying carriers in 1–2 days for a 1.5–3% discount) are effectively short-term lending at 18–36% APR annualised. If your cost of capital is under 18% and carriers reliably offer the discount, quick-pay often costs more than it saves. But for brokers — quick-pay carrier programs fund operations and are built into business models.
Carriers track payment reliability. Late payers get deprioritised in capacity allocation. Net-60+ terms increasingly lead carriers to add 2–4% to quoted rates or simply decline to quote. In tight markets, fast payment is a competitive advantage for securing capacity.