Bank, Charlie Daniels team up to bring financial relief to truckers

The legendary Charlie Daniels is now a spokesman for National Bankers Trust, which has a program aimed at bringing truckers financial relief. (Courtesy National Bank and Trust)

By DOROTHY COX
The Trucker Staff

2/22/2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? If some factoring companies are like the song, “Hotel California,” (“you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave”), then maybe National Bankers Trust’s (NBT) financial program for small business truckers should play more like Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing.”

At least that’s what this Memphis-based financial services business is hoping.

Their passion, says NBT CEO Dudley Boyd, is to help educate small business truckers (those who own from five to 75 trucks) manage their money, facilitate their cash flow and make any money left over earn more money.

And to the adage: “If it sounds too good to be true it probably is,” Boyd insists it is true.

In fact, NBT has enlisted the help of American music legend Charlie Daniels as a spokesman to get across the idea that NBT is the real deal and not out to fleece truckers.

“I’m not a businessman but the bottom line seems to be they’re aiming this at the independent guys, the small companies that don’t have access to big money,” Daniels told The Trucker long distance from where he was vacationing in Colorado.

“I’m amazed to find out that probably 96 percent of trucking companies have 28 or fewer trucks. … The major part [of trucking companies] aren’t mega companies. And that’s who this is aimed at, to [enable smaller companies] to lay their hands on cash when they need it and to help plan [financially] for their future.”

Although he’s never driven a big rig, himself, the 71-year-old Daniels, who will have been a full-time professional musician 50 years this June, counts himself as part of the trucking culture.

“My outfit’s been running trucks for years and years ? as many as three 18-wheelers, and we still run a big box truck,” said Daniels. From that standpoint, “We’re kind of in the trucking business. I’ve had drivers who’ve been with me over 20 years.”

Indeed, in 2006 Daniels was tapped to be the voice of SIRIUS Radio’s Road Dog Trucking and Daniels’ driving song, “Road Dogs” (although it was about traveling bands, not truckers) was named the official theme song of Channel 147, a 24/7 channel geared to professional truckers.

Daniels said he’s always had a lot of fans among truck drivers.

“In my mind we went to Charlie because he’s a straight-talking man of the people,” said Boyd. He said NBT was formed in 1995 “to do this specific business” of helping truckers with their cash flow and helping them find their own financial footing.

He had had a factoring business at one time but “I wanted this to be a more traditional finance company with an exiting strategy, not a ‘Hotel California.’ Most factoring companies have termination penalties and make it impossible for them to leave. We’ve asked Charlie to address fair financial practices and expose abusive programs.”

NBT is Internet based, handing out money 24/7. How it works, Boyd said, is this: When a load is delivered, the company has a Web site provided by NBT on which they can upload their transactions. Once transaction documents are faxed over, those transactions are processed and funded within 60 minutes. The money is put in the company’s online NBT account and they can access the funds via the Internet and pay bills online for free, move money to their fuel card account for free or write EFS Transchecks for up to $10,000 at a cost of $2 each. “If a driver needs money over the road he can call his boss and get a Transcheck authorization code and get repairs made,” explained Boyd.

Factoring companies purchase a company’s accounts receivable (open invoices). In a sense, factoring companies “rent you money,” said Boyd. “Our plan not only is to solve your cash flow, but show you how to make your cash flow work for you so you can become self capitalized.

“Say a guy gets $10,000. If you’re with a factoring company you’re paying a flat rate or a stair-step rate that goes up every 10 days or so. But with our system, you don’t pay the full fee until you actually spend the money. With AR MAX Line of Credit you have instant access to cash 24/7 but you don’t have to pay for it until you pull the cash to actually pay a debt. You save thousands of dollars in fees; that’s the beauty of a real line of credit. The money you save is automatically put in a wealth-builder account where it compounds and grows every day.

“Most small carriers stay with a factoring company less than 14 months. Our clients stay more than two years. We make less over a longer period of time, but we generate a higher revenue stream,” said Boyd.

In effect, NBT is helping their customers not be customers any more. Isn’t that financial suicide? Apparently, there’s more than enough business to go around. “We’ve enjoyed double-digit growth since our inception and we expect triple-digit growth in 2008,” Boyd said.

“We know they [small independents] just want to focus on making profitable sales and giving great customer service … that’s how they really make money.

“We assist our clients with all their back office operations such as billing, presentment, payment expediting, collections, surety bond filings and filing lawsuit notices to deadbeat customers.

“We also have an auto-budget on the system where they can set aside money to help manage costs and we have other tools to help them organize their business and to [help] differentiate themselves from their competitors.”

NBT has full-time payment expeditors on staff as well as full-time collectors. All told, they have about 30 employees.

“We offer a sophisticated cash management program that’s specifically designed to work for the small guy,” Boyd said.

He was heartened, he said, after NBT approached Daniels and word came back that: “he wants this gig.”

Some advertising spots already have been filmed with legendary musician, he added.

Daniels said modestly the term legendary may just mean that he’s lived long enough.

He said his family is of utmost importance to him and that although he loves the outdoors and hobbies that take him outdoors, “my real passion besides my Christian life is music … it’s my major driving force besides Jesus Christ.”

Even on vacation, he said, “I’m never completely away from it [music]. It always takes me awhile to realize I’m off and I don’t have to be anywhere.”

As to taking on his new financial gig, “I’m getting a little bit of an education on this thing,” he said.

“If they [