Triumph Financial has outlined how higher trucking invoice values feed into its earnings, as the company seeks returns from years of investment in freight financial services. FreightWaves reported that its third-quarter results showed broadly positive trends, with chief executive Aaron Graft’s shareholder letter emphasising the next step: turning its expanded capabilities into stronger financial performance.
According to Graft’s estimates, reported by FreightWaves, a $100 increase in the average invoice value would generate approximately $12 million in additional annual revenue, $8.5 million in pre-tax earnings and 27 cents in earnings per share. The relationship also works in reverse when invoice values fall. Diesel prices affect the value of invoices Triumph finances or processes even when the linehaul charge is unchanged, although the extent varies with customers’ fuel surcharge arrangements and other factors.
Graft put year-on-year growth in dry van revenue at 40%, against a 67% rise in pump diesel prices, which exclude truckers’ fuel discounts. He also cited current driver costs of 70 cents per mile, alongside pressure from insurance, interest and equipment expenses. His assessment was that the revenue truckers need per mile, and consequently average invoice values, would remain double-digit percentages above historical norms until market conditions changed.
The company also reported growth and efficiency gains in factoring. Drawing on Triumph’s own data, Graft estimated that more than 90,000 US carriers use factoring, with the company serving about 8,000 and adding a net 78 clients a month. The cost of servicing an invoice had fallen by roughly 20% over the past year, according to the letter cited by FreightWaves.
Factoring also provides a route to sell carriers other services, including equipment finance, insurance, fuel and intelligence products. Triumph has broadened its offering through its 2021 purchase of HubTran, the subsequent development of invoice payments services and the launch of LoadPay in 2024 for drivers and small fleets. That investment programme has weighed on profitability, FreightWaves noted, while Triumph’s shares have declined about 43.5% over five years. Graft now wants the wider business to deliver earnings consistent with, or better than, its historical performance.