Buying is better than renting. That is what most of us are taught, whether it involves a home, a vehicle or a piece of equipment. 

That belief may be outdated in the trucking world. Many large trucking fleets today are upgrading their aging fleets with newer trucks and equipment. That increased demand, along with stricter emissions standards, continue to make it more expensive to buy new or used big rigs. The average resale price of most commercial trucks ranges from $41,900 to $69,600, according to a 2015 report by EquipmentWatch Intelligence.   

There are multiple benefits to factoring your invoices, most important being that factoring helps you increase your cash flow for things like payroll, operating expenses, taking on new business and more. Additionally, a factoring company will provide back-office support by managing your collections on any invoices you've submitted for factoring. But what happens if a customer's client (called a debtor) does not pay one of those invoices?

Factoring helps thousands of companies improve their financial situations each day. Yet some business owners have a negative perception about factoring their invoices.

There is a lot of misinformation about factoring, even though the financing of receivables has been around for centuries and is practiced in many industries. Below are six myths that cause some companies to shy away from factoring, even when doing so might stall their growth and financial performance:

A common mistake many business owners make is counting receivables as cash. It is important to remember that the invoice is worthless until the customer pays it. You need that payment as soon as possible for your company to meet its goals.

That is why it is crucial to have a credit policy in place that you and your customers can follow. The terms and conditions you establish for providing services on credit will drive how quickly and consistently you can turn your invoices into revenue. Here are a few things to consider when drafting your credit policy:

It is a well-known fact in the trucking industry that prices on diesel fuel are different in each state and often in each city. You may wonder why fuel prices vary so greatly by region or section of the country. Taxes are a major reason, but there are other factors as well.

Below are five key reasons why fuel prices can be vastly different from one stop to the next along your route:

Booking loads is just one part of operating a successful trucking fleet. The other part is controlling costs. When starting your own company, you need to take advantage of every available opportunity to save money on your expenses.

One of your first steps should be to sign your fleet up for a fuel card. In addition to saving you money at the pump, many fuel cards offer discounts on other products and services that trucking companeis rely on. 

If you do not know the cost of each mile your trucks drive, you cannot know the best per-mile rate to charge your shippers. This makes it difficult to post a profit.

Having customers that you trust is a good thing. Depending on one or two of them for most of your business, however, can be risky.

Relying on just a couple of shippers for your loads means tying your fate to the success or failure of those customers. What happens if one of them switches to a different trucker, defaults on payments, or goes out of business? Suddenly your company is scrambling to replace more than 50 percent of its revenues and struggling to keep its own doors open.

Many small trucking companies still use ledgers, spreadsheets and file drawers when managing their financials. If your company falls into that category, there are easy ways to do accounting without all the paperwork. Online accounting software allows you to update and track your financials in real-time for as little as $10 a month.

Your company needs to make money. That's a given. Determining profitability for trucking companies, however, can be a complicated process. As your company grows, it becomes crucial to regularly track how much money is coming in and how much is going out.