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Free cash gap calculator

How much cash are you floating for shippers?

The cash gap is the number of days a freight broker pays the carrier before the shipper pays the broker. This free calculator shows how much cash that ties up and what it costs a year.

About 30 seconds. Change any number and the gap updates as you type.
  • Nothing leaves this browser
  • Live numbers as you type
  • One pager to forward

Tied up

$0

10 days between paying the carrier and getting paid by the shipper. One day is worth $5,753.

Adjust the numbers

These start as example numbers from a $30M brokerage. Adjust them to match your operation.

UltraShip cash gap estimateAnnual revenue $30,000,000 · gap 10 days · printed Oct 26, 2026
Cash gap

$821,918 is sitting between the carrier and the shipper

Example: 12,000 loads a year$30,000,000 revenuegap of 10 days

$0

a year, just to hold the gap open

Carrying the cash above costs this much a year at a 7% cost of money, on 12,000 loads a year.

This week: Ask your largest shipper for 5 days faster terms. On 12,000 loads a year that is $410,959 of cash back and $28,767 a year off your cost of money.

$0What one day is worth

What you pay the carrier on day 20, and the shipper on day 30.

What you wait 10 days of float on every load, $68.49 of your own cash per load.

What it costs a year of interest at 7% on the money you have tied up while you wait.

Quick pay is not in use, so no factoring fee is in these numbers.

10 days of floatCarrier paid, day 20Shipper pays, day 30Day 0, deliveredDay 30
Delivery on day 0. The carrier is paid on day 20, the shipper pays on day 30.
How this is calculatedEvery number on this sheet
  • Annual revenue is loads per month times 12 times revenue per load.
  • Gap days are the days the shipper takes to pay you, minus the days you take to pay the carrier, floored at zero.
  • Capital tied up is annual revenue divided by 365, times the gap days.
  • Yearly cost of carrying it is capital tied up times your cost of money.
  • What one day is worth is annual revenue divided by 365, times your cost of money.

This is an estimate from the numbers set above. It does not include fuel advances, detention, accessorials or any payment terms your customers negotiated off rate confirmation.

UltraShip research, example model

  • A 20 person brokerage running $30M floats about $821,918 at a 10 day gap. Use that as a reference line.
  • Carriers are typically paid 15 to 30 days after delivery, and shippers pay net 30 to 60. Quick pay moves the carrier money in 24 to 48 hours for a 1 to 3% fee.
  • At 5% factoring against a 9.9% gross margin, cash flow consumes about half the spread.
UltraShip cash gap, owner one pagerPrepared October 26, 2026

Owner one pager

Prepared October 26, 202612,000 loads a year at $2,500

Free to forward

This is the page to send a partner or a bank. It holds the gap as it stands now, what it costs a year, and the three ways to shrink it.

Capital tied up
$821,918
Cost of carrying it a year
$57,534
What one day is worth
$5,753
Gap
10 days

Three ways to shrink the gap

Levers 1 and 2 are the same 5 days from two different sides, one pushes the carrier payment out and the other pulls the shipper payment in.

  1. 1Pay the carrier 5 days later

    On the lanes where terms sit now, ask for 25 days instead of 20. Carriers are typically paid 15 to 30 days after delivery.

    Frees $410,959 of cash and saves $28,767 a year, at $5,753 for every day you take out.

  2. 2Get the shipper to pay 5 days sooner

    Ask for net 25 instead of net 30 on the next renewal, or on the next lane you take.

    Frees $410,959 of cash and saves $28,767 a year, at $5,753 for every day you take out.

  3. 3Half of each invoice paid on delivery

    If a shipper pays half the invoice when you deliver and half on the net date, the part paid on delivery stops waiting 30 days for the money.

    Frees $821,918 of cash, which closes the gap, and saves $57,534 a year, at $5,753 for every day you take out.

Every figure comes from the numbers on the sheet above: 1,000 loads a month at $2,500 a load, carrier paid on day 20, shipper paying on day 30, at a 7% cost of money.

An estimate from the numbers on this sheet, not financial advice. Public payment terms vary by lane, carrier and customer.

See the gap on every load, not just the average.

  • Accounting and invoicing in one workflow
  • Load management and dispatch
  • Replaces spreadsheets and disconnected tools

On the call we take one of your real loads, with your carrier terms and your shipper terms, and walk the gap through.

Book a demo15 minutes, on your own loads. Nothing to prepare.

How the cash gap calculator works

  1. Enter your volume and terms

    Loads a month, revenue per load, and the day you pay the carrier and the shipper pays you.

  2. Read the gap in dollars

    See the cash tied up, what it costs a year at your cost of money, and what one day is worth.

  3. Forward the one pager

    Copy or print the owner one pager with three ways to shrink the gap, written from your numbers.

Cash gap note

The gap is quiet until the bank balance tells you.

Most brokerages find the gap at month end, when the carrier bills have left and the customer money has not landed. UltraShip puts both on the load, so the float shows up per load while there is still time to do something about it.

Built for non-asset freight brokers. We will run this on a real load of yours and show you the cash on it.

Book a demo15 minutes, on your own loads. Nothing to prepare.
“UltraShip replaced our spreadsheets and disconnected tools with one workflow that actually makes sense. More control, fewer misses, and faster execution without enterprise-level cost.”
Mike Mitchell Operations Manager · Midwest Freight Solutions

Cash gap note Filled in from the inputs

Loads a month
1,000
Annual revenue
$30,000,000
Carrier paid
day 20
Shipper pays
day 30
Gap
10 days
Capital tied up
$821,918
Yearly cost
$57,534
One day is worth
$5,753
Date
Oct 26, 2026

Estimates from the numbers on this page, not financial advice. UltraShip research, example model: a 20 person brokerage running $30M floats about $821,918 at a 10 day gap, carriers are typically paid 15 to 30 days after delivery and shippers pay net 30 to 60. Public payment terms vary by lane, carrier and customer.

Questions brokers ask about the cash gap

What is the cash gap for a freight broker?

The cash gap is the number of days between when a broker pays the carrier and when the shipper pays the broker. During those days the broker covers the freight with its own money. A longer gap ties up more working capital and costs more every year to carry.

How do you calculate the cash gap?

Subtract the day you pay the carrier from the day the shipper pays you, both counted from delivery. Capital tied up is annual revenue divided by 365, multiplied by the gap in days. This calculator then multiplies that capital by your cost of money to show the yearly cost.

How much cash does the example tie up?

The default example is a 20-person brokerage with $30 million in annual revenue and a 10 day gap, which ties up about $821,918. That is example data from UltraShip research, not your result. Change every field to match your own operation.

What do quick pay and factoring change?

Quick pay pays the carrier within 24 to 48 hours for a fee reported at 1 to 3 percent, and factoring advances cash against an invoice for a fee. Both trade a fee for speed. Switch on the quick pay option in this calculator to add that fee to the yearly cost.

How accurate is this calculator?

It is a model, not a financial statement. It uses the numbers you type, a 365 day year and a simple cost of money, and it ignores seasonality, disputes and partial payments. Use it to size the problem and compare scenarios, then check the result against your own receivables and payables.

How can a broker shrink the cash gap?

Three levers move it: pay carriers later, get shippers to pay sooner, or collect part of each invoice on delivery. The owner one pager in this tool shows how much cash and how many dollars a year each lever frees, calculated from your own numbers.