Help
Setup steps, how-to guides and answers to common questions.
Getting startedSeven steps from a blank account to paying your drivers. Most carriers finish in under an hour.
- 1
Complete your company profile
Settings → Company. Your legal name, MC, USDOT, address and phone print on paystubs and settlement PDFs, so fill them in first.
- 2
Add trucks and trailers
Trucks & trailers → Add truck, or Settings → Import to bring the whole fleet in from a CSV (there’s a template). Registration, plate and inspection expiry dates feed the document alerts on your dashboard.
- 3
Add drivers with a pay scheme
Drivers → Add driver (or import them with the trucks). Pick percentage of gross, cents per mile or salary, plus any weekly deductions. Upload a CDL photo and freightline reads the number, class and expiry for you.
- 4
Import your first rate con
Loads → New load, then drop the rate confirmation PDF. Broker, rate, stops, dates and reference numbers are filled in; check them and save.
- 5
Settle with drivers
Once loads are delivered, go to Settlements, select a driver’s unpaid loads and generate a settlement. Add advances or bonuses, approve, mark it paid and print the paystub.
- 6
Connect Telegram (optional)
Settings → Notifications. Connect your own Telegram bot to get delivery alerts and a ready-to-send factoring packet with the rate con and POD attached.
- 7
Connect your ELD (optional)
Settings → ELD. Pick Motive, Samsara, Swift ELD or the TT ELD family (TT ELD, EVO ELD), paste a read-only API key and press Connect & test. The Live map then shows every truck, the driver on it, hours of service (Motive, Samsara, Swift ELD) and the load it’s running. Trucks match by VIN first, then by unit number.
How-to guides
- Add a load from a rate confirmation PDF
Drop the rate con PDF, let AI fill the form, check it and save.
- Calculate IFTA from ELD miles and fuel purchases
Build the quarterly IFTA worksheet from miles and fuel, then export a CSV.
- Driver settlements and paystubs
Pay schemes, deductions, generating settlements and sharing paystubs.
- Connect your ELD to freightline
Motive, Samsara, Swift ELD, TT ELD and EVO ELD: keys, setup and what data is pulled.
- Import fuel receipts by email or CSV
Your fuel import address, Gmail auto-forwarding and fuel card CSV import.
- Set up the freightline driver app on a phone
Driver login, Add to Home Screen, and BOL/POD photo uploads.
- Invoices and factoring packets
Invoice brokers yourself, or send the packet to your factoring company.
- Add fuel purchases and expenses by hand
Fuel entries with auto totals and receipts, plus expense categories.
- Set up your company, trucks and drivers
Company logo, VIN decode, maintenance odometer and phone-only drivers.
- Non-domiciled CDLs and English proficiency: what freightline tracks
Non-domiciled CDL status dates, I-94 reminders and the English proficiency check log.
Guides for owner-operators and small fleets
Plain-language guides to the business side of running trucks: IFTA, driver pay, a new authority, factoring, rate confirmations, cost per mile, DOT inspections, taxes, the ELD rule, dispatchers, accessorial pay and startup costs. Written for carriers, with links to the official sources.
- How to calculate IFTA: a step-by-step guide
Fleet MPG, taxable gallons, credits and surcharges, with a worked example and the quarterly due dates.
- Driver settlement template: what a pay statement must show
The lines every settlement needs, percentage vs per-mile vs salary, deductions, deadhead and 1099 vs W-2.
- New MC authority checklist: what to do after you get your MC
BOC-3, insurance, UCR, IRP, IFTA, 2290, ELD, Clearinghouse, Motus and the new entrant audit, in order.
- Factoring vs net 30: how freight factoring works
Advance, fee, reserve, recourse vs non-recourse, and when factoring is worth it compared with billing brokers yourself.
- Rate confirmation explained: what to check before you sign
What's on a rate con, red flags like double brokering and missing MC numbers, and how to verify the broker on FMCSA.
- Trucking cost per mile: how to calculate and price a load
Fixed vs variable costs, break-even rate per mile, and pricing a load with deadhead, with a worked example.
- DOT inspection checklist: Levels 1–3, what to have in the cab, and CSA
Level I–III inspections, the documents to carry, out-of-service basics and how violations hit CSA.
- Owner-operator taxes: 1099 vs W-2, quarterly payments, per diem and deductions
1099 vs W-2, self-employment tax, quarterly estimates, per diem, deductible categories and Form 2290.
- ELD mandate explained: who needs one, what it records, and how to pick
Who must use an ELD, exemptions, what it records, malfunction rules, choosing a provider and what a TMS reads from it.
- Load board vs dispatcher: costs, pros and cons, and what to ask a dispatch service
Dispatch percentage vs board subscription, pros and cons, questions for a dispatch service, and keeping your own records.
- Detention and accessorial pay: how to document and bill it
Detention, layover, TONU, lumpers and extra stops: getting them on the rate con, documenting them and billing them.
- How much it costs to start a trucking company: one-time and monthly buckets
One-time and monthly cost buckets for a one-truck startup, a timeline, and which fees are actually published.
- Leased On Owner Operator Settlement Checklist
What leased on means, and how to check the carrier's fee, deductions, escrow, fuel and missing loads.
- Owner-operator expenses: the complete list (and which are tax-deductible)
Fixed and variable owner-operator costs, which ones are deductible, the 80% per diem rule and the records to keep.
- How to calculate cost per mile for a trucking company (with example)
Cost per mile for a multi-truck company: per-truck fixed costs, overhead allocation, a three-truck example and a benchmark.
- How to vet a freight broker before you book a load
Check authority, the $75,000 bond, contacts, credit and double-brokering signs before you take a load.
- IFTA for small fleets: how quarterly filing works step by step
Qualifying trucks, required trip and fuel records, quarterly deadlines, the filing steps and late penalties.
Frequently asked questions
Can I try it with sample data first?
Yes. On a new company, click Load demo data in the dashboard checklist (or Settings → Company). You get 2 trucks, 2 drivers, 12 loads, fuel, expenses and a paid settlement, all marked “(demo)”. Remove demo data deletes exactly those rows and nothing you entered.
How accurate is rate con parsing?
It handles most broker formats, including multi-stop loads. AI can misread a scan, so always review the rate, dates and stops before saving. Nothing is saved until you confirm.
How are driver settlements calculated?
From each driver’s pay scheme: percentage of the load rate, cents per loaded mile (optionally deadhead and extra stops), or salary. Team loads split 50/50. Weekly deductions, fuel, advances, bonuses and lumper reimbursements are applied, and every settlement keeps a snapshot of the math.
Can I run more than one company?
Yes. Use the company switcher at the top of the sidebar to create or switch companies. Data never mixes between them.
Who on my team can see what?
Owners see everything. Dispatchers manage loads and drivers but not company financials. Accountants handle settlements, fuel and expenses. Drivers only see their own loads and paystubs.
Does it do IFTA?
Fuel & IFTA tracks gallons and spend per state from manual entries or imported fuel card reports, giving you per-state totals for your quarterly filing. Current rates are on the public IFTA rates pages, and the free IFTA calculator gives a quick estimate without an account.
Can I get my data out?
Yes. Reports & export gives you CSV files for any period — a QuickBooks-ready transactions file (direct QuickBooks sync is coming later), loads & revenue, driver and office pay, expenses and fuel. Settlements export to PDF and uploaded documents can be downloaded any time. The owner can also download everything at once, as one ZIP of CSV files, from Settings → Data export. If the trial ends, a payment fails or you cancel, the workspace is locked but your data stays and Reports & export remains open to the owner. We delete your data when you ask us to (email hello@freightline.app); we may also delete a workspace that has stayed canceled or unused for 12 months, after emailing the owner a warning first. How your data is stored and protected: Security & trust.
How does billing work after the trial?
The 30-day free trial needs no card. To keep going, open Settings → Billing, pick Solo (1 truck), Starter (2–5 trucks), Growth or Scale, monthly or yearly, and pay by card through Stripe. If you pick a plan while the trial is still running, the first charge happens when the trial ends. Growth and Scale are priced per truck (trucks that aren’t sold) with a monthly minimum; adding or removing a truck adjusts the next invoice automatically. Switching plans is prorated, and you can cancel from the same page — access stays until the end of the paid period.
Still stuck?
Email hello@freightline.app or send a message through the contact form. Include your company name and, for a specific load or settlement, its number.