# Freight people,  _in freight places._

Where we've been, what we're thinking, and what others are saying about the problem we're solving.

## Straight from the source.

Perspectives from the Upwell team on freight finance, AR automation, and the back office.

### Featured Post

**How Freight Brokers Can Stay Profitable during Global Conflicts and Rising Oil Prices (Not Another Cost Cutting Strategy)**  
Learn how to manage freight cash flow during rising fuel costs by improving invoicing efficiency, reducing delays, and strengthening internal operations.  
**Silas Sorilla**  
April 6, 2026  
[Read more](https://40032878.hs-sites.com/upwell-insights-smarter-finance-for-logistics/how-freight-brokers-can-stay-profitable-during-global-conflicts-and-rising-oil-prices-not-another-cost-cutting-strategy)

**“I Sold My Car to Make Payroll.” How Upwell’s CEO, Turned a Freight Cash Flow Crisis Into a Company**  
Charley Dehoney sold his car to make payroll, exposing the freight cash flow problem that led to Upwell and a better way for brokers to get paid faster.  
April 6, 2026  
[Read more](https://40032878.hs-sites.com/upwell-insights-smarter-finance-for-logistics/i-sold-my-car-to-make-payroll.-how-upwells-ceo-charley-dehoney-turned-a-freight-cash-flow-crisis-into-a-company)

**From Freight Chaos to AI Judgement: How Upwell is Reshaping Order-to-Cash**  
Learn how Freight invoice processing with AI improves cash flow by reduced errors, speeding approvals, and fixing delays before they impact freight brokers  
April 6, 2026  
[Read more](https://40032878.hs-sites.com/upwell-insights-smarter-finance-for-logistics/from-freight-chaos-to-ai-judgement-how-upwell-is-reshaping-order-to-cash)

**The Operational Friction Quietly Slowing Freight Broker Payments**  
Operational friction in freight back offices quietly slows invoicing and payments, forming cash flow delays that most brokers don’t see until it’s too late  
April 6, 2026  
[Read more](https://40032878.hs-sites.com/upwell-insights-smarter-finance-for-logistics/the-operational-friction-quietly-slowing-freight-broker-payments)

## What the industry is talking about

### Cash Flow

The hidden cost of slow freight payments  
25–30% of freight invoices are paid late industry-wide. The downstream effects, strained carrier relationships, constrained working capital, and bloated AR headcount, are rarely measured but always felt.  
[TIA Freight Broker Industry Report →](https://www.tianet.org/resources/research)  
[ATRI Trucking Industry Operational Costs Report →](https://atri-online.org/research/results/)  
[DAT Freight Focus 2026: Keys to Success for Brokers →](https://cdn.bfldr.com/8CX31GU6/as/46s98qk9bqw3hrrw6trsw3px/Freight_Focus_2026)

### AI & Automation

Why back-office automation is freight's next frontier  
Routing and tracking have been transformed by technology. Accounts receivable hasn't. Industry analysts increasingly point to back-office automation as the highest-ROI opportunity remaining in logistics tech.  
[OPERATOR STACK Generative AI Is Reinventing Logistics Tech →](https://www.operator-stack.com/research/generative-ai-is-reinventing-logistics-tech)  
[FORRESTER Top AI Use Cases for AR Automation in 2025 →](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/top-ai-use-cases-for-accounts-receivable-automation-in-2025/)  
[FREIGHTWAVES How Automation is Solving Logistics' Biggest Problems →](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-automation-is-solving-logistics-biggest-problems-in-2025)  
[MEDIUM Why 95% of Enterprise AI Projects Fail →](https://skooloflife.medium.com/why-95-of-enterprise-ai-projects-fail-the-architecture-problem-nobody-wants-to-admit-fd79967567d8)

### Industry

Where freight and finance are headed, and why they're converging  
The structural forces reshaping trucking and freight brokerage are the same ones reshaping how money moves through supply chains. Understanding both is essential context for what Upwell is building.  
[FAST COMPANY Moving Money, Moving Goods: Fintech Meets Freighttech →](https://www.fastcompany.com/91342049/moving-money-moving-goods-the-parallel-evolution-of-fintech-and-freighttech)  
[ACT RESEARCH Trucking Industry Forecast: 2025 in Review →](https://www.actresearch.net/resources/blog/trucking-industry-forecast-2025)

### DSO

Days Sales Outstanding: the metric every logistics CFO should obsess over  
DSO is one of the clearest indicators of operational health in transportation. Yet most logistics companies still manage it reactively. Research shows reducing DSO by even 3–5 days meaningfully changes working capital position.  
[CFO Six Ways to Reduce Days Sales Outstanding →](https://www.cfo.com/news/six-ways-to-reduce-days-sales-outstanding/659774/)  
[LLR PARTNERS Playbook to Improve DSO and Take Control of Collections →](https://www.llrpartners.com/growth-bit/playbook-to-improve-days-sales-outstanding-dso-and-take-control-of-collections/)  
[FREIGHTAMIGO Understanding DSO: A Key Metric for Cash Flow in Logistics →](https://www.freightamigo.com/en/blog/logistics/understanding-days-sales-outstanding-dso-a-key-metric-for-cash-flow-management-in-logistics/)

## On the Mic

### Podcasts

Talking freight AR, automation, and why the back office is overdue for a reckoning.  
**Everything Is Logistics**  
Delivery to Cash: Fixing Invoices Before They Break  
  
**Between Two Quarters**  
How AR chaos inspired the founding of Upwell  
  
**The Freight Coach**  
Transforming freight billing and AR with AI  
  
**Driving Forward**  
More Than Freight & Finance: Building Companies, Families & Futures  
  
**Transforming AR**  
AI's Impact on Cash Flow

## Press & Media

### In the news

Coverage, features, and conversations about what we're building and why it matters to freight.  
[FreightWaves Upwell Secures $6.5M to Automate Logistics Billing Practices](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/upwell-secures-6-5m-to-automate-logistics-billing-practices)  
February 10, 2025  
[Silicon Prairie News Logistics Billing Startup Upwell Raises $6.5 Million Seed Round](https://siliconprairienews.com/2025/02/logistics-billing-startup-upwell-raises-6-5-million-seed-round/)  
February 20, 2025  
[Globe Newswire Giltner Logistics Accelerates Payments with Upwell and Descartes Aljex Integration](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/14/3009137/0/en/Giltner-Logistics-Accelerates-Payments-with-Integration-Between-Upwell-Accounts-Receivable-Solution-and-Descartes-Aljex.html)  
January 14, 2025