For US logistics
For small trucking companies running under their own authority. We build and run your website, and an AI that keeps the federal dates on every load: the freight bill, the driver's trip papers, the owner-operator's pay, the cargo claim, the unpaid bill. It drafts and you send. It gives no legal, tax or hours-of-service advice.
A load is not finished when the receiver signs. Each of these runs behind it, and each ends with somebody outside your business.
Most of a small carrier's back office is sold already. We checked before writing this page, and we do not rebuild any of it.
Every load keeps its own clock · A claim is dated the day it arrives · A website that says what you haul
A load is not finished when the receiver signs. Each of these runs behind it, and each ends with somebody outside your business.
The paperwork clock
| The clock | How long | Who is on the other end | What the rule adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present the freight bill | 7 days from delivery on a collect shipment, weekends and holidays not counted | Whoever pays the freight | The payer's credit period starts the day after the bill is presented.49 CFR 377.205(b); 377.203(b) |
| The payer's credit period | 15 days, weekends and holidays included; a tariff can set up to 30 | The broker or shipper paying the bill | A tariff rule may add a service charge for paying after the credit period ends.49 CFR 377.203(c)-(e) |
| Driver hands in the trip papers | 13 days from the day they cover, or from the day the driver gets them if later | You, then anyone checking the driver's hours | Bills of lading, dispatch records and settlement sheets all count.49 CFR 395.11(b), (c)(1) |
| Keep the log and the trip papers | At least 6 months from the day you receive them | Enforcement checking the driver's hours | They must be kept so each can be matched to the driver's log, and nobody may alter or destroy what is on them.49 CFR 395.8(k)(1); 395.11(e), (f) |
| Pay a leased owner-operator | 15 days after they hand in the delivery papers | The owner-operator hauling under your authority | The lease must say so, and you may not set a time limit on their paperwork.49 CFR 376.12(f) |
| Answer a cargo claim | Acknowledge within 30 days; pay, decline or make an offer within 120 | Whoever filed the claim | Still open at 120 days: a written status to the claimant every 60 days.49 CFR 370.5(a); 370.9(a) |
| Sue for an unpaid bill | 18 months from delivery | The broker or shipper who has not paid, then a court | The claim starts on delivery, and the lawsuit must begin within the 18 months.49 U.S.C. 14705(a), (g) |
Plain summaries of federal rules as read on 18 September 2026, not legal advice. A written contract can waive some of them (49 U.S.C. 14101(b)), so your broker or shipper agreement may set other terms. Detention pay comes from your rate confirmation; we found no federal deadline for it.
Most of a small carrier's back office is sold already. We checked before writing this page, and we do not rebuild any of it.
The problems in the owner's own words, and three things we would build against them.
Every load keeps its own clock
From the moment the receiver signs, a load carries dates set by federal rules: the bill within 7 days not counting weekends and holidays (49 CFR 377), the driver's trip papers to you within 13 days (49 CFR 395.11), a leased owner-operator paid within 15 days of handing in theirs (49 CFR 376.12). It keeps those dates on each load, tells you the morning one is close, and drafts the invoice packet. You send it.
A claim is dated the day it arrives
When a damage claim comes in by email or post, it records the date received, opens a file with its own number, and drafts the written acknowledgment that 49 CFR 370.5 expects within 30 days. Whether to pay, decline or offer is yours and your insurer's. It keeps the 120-day date in front of you, and the 60-day status letters after it.
A website that says what you haul
We build and run a plain site with your USDOT and MC numbers, your equipment, the lanes you run and how to reach dispatch, so a shipper who finds you, or a broker checking you out, gets a straight answer. It promises no rates and no transit times.
A shipper calls the carrier's office line about a load delivered two days earlier
The caller: Two pallets on Tuesday's delivery came in crushed. Is your company going to pay for them?
The AI: I can't decide that. I'm the carrier's AI assistant, and whether a claim is paid is the owner's decision, with the insurer. What I can do is get your claim on file today.
The caller: Fine. What do you need from me?
The AI: A written claim with the amount you're asking for, the load number and the signed delivery receipt. The day it arrives I record the date and give it a claim number. Under federal rule 49 CFR 370.5 the carrier acknowledges it in writing within 30 days.
The caller: Is the carrier liable for this under the law, or is the broker?
The AI: That's a legal question, and I don't answer those. I'll put it in the file so the owner can take it to the company's lawyer or insurer.
They do, and we will not rebuild it. Turning a photo of the signed receipt into an invoice, sending it to a factoring company, getting paid the same day, driver logs, fuel-tax mileage and a broker's credit score and days to pay are all sold already. What we did not find in the products we checked are the dates around each load: the claim acknowledged in 30 days, the owner-operator paid in 15, the unpaid bill before 18 months. That is what we build, next to what you have.
Some may not. Under 49 U.S.C. 14101(b) a carrier and a shipper can expressly waive rights and remedies in a written contract, though not the rules on registration, insurance or safety fitness. So your agreement may set different billing and payment terms. It keeps the dates your contract sets, and the federal ones where your contract says nothing. Which one governs a load is a question for your lawyer, not for the software.
No. It gives no hours-of-service rulings, no legal opinion on a claim, and no fuel-tax or other tax advice. It names the federal rule a date comes from and hands the question to you, your safety person, your lawyer or your accountant.
No. It drafts the invoice packet, the claim acknowledgment and the status letters and puts them in front of you. You read them and you send them.
It can draft the request. Federal rule 49 CFR 371.3 requires a broker to keep a record of each brokered load for three years, including what the broker was paid, and gives each party to the load the right to review it. Whether to ask is your call.
Finish pass
Ring the number. That's the product answering.
00 · Any time
Sarah answers it — the same AI receptionist we'd build for you, running on our business instead of yours. Ask her anything you'd ask us.
Free · 24/7 · Hang up any time
01 · A set time
Rather book than ring? Take an open slot and Michael runs the call himself.
Book a 15-minute call →Prefer email? michael@deeplathe.com — it reaches Michael, not a helpdesk.
Then we build it, show you the finished thing on a call, and you decide. $0 setup · nothing paid until you've seen the work · 30-day money-back from go-live.