The short answer: don't hand the invoice to a collection agency for a 25–50% cut, and don't factor it at a discount. Use your provincial repairer's lien as leverage while you have it, then offer the carrier what they can actually say yes to — the full amount, split into 3 or 5 automatic monthly payments.
Most delinquent carriers aren't deadbeats; they're squeezed. Fuel costs and soft freight rates have left many Canadian trucking companies unable to write one cheque for a $42,000 engine rebuild — but perfectly able to pay $8,400 a month for five months. A structured, automatic plan recovers the whole invoice. A demand letter usually recovers a fight.
Every route to the money has a cost. Only one of them lets your shop keep the full invoice.
| Option | What it costs you | You keep (of $42,000) | Customer relationship | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collection agency | 25%–50% contingency | $21,000–$31,500 | Usually burned — agencies pressure; carriers remember | Months, if it works at all |
| Invoice factoring / financing | Discount + fees; often recourse (their default becomes your debt) | Face value minus the discount — and the risk can come back | Intact, but you've taken on a lender | Fast cash, ongoing cost |
| Small claims court | Filing fees + your time; limits vary by province | A judgment isn't money — you still have to enforce it | Over | Many months |
| Automatic payment plan (RemitRight) | Free for your shop — the carrier pays a small convenience fee (3 months at 3% or 5 months at 5%) | $42,000 | Preserved — you offered them a way to pay, not a fight | Plan can start the week they accept |
In Canada, a shop that repairs a commercial vehicle generally holds a possessory lien — your strongest legal position exists while the unit is still in your possession. The moment it rolls out, your rights narrow and deadlines start. Know your province's rules:
Repair and Storage Liens Act (RSLA)
While the truck is in your possession you hold a possessory lien for the repair bill. If you release the unit, you can still claim a non-possessory lien — but only if you obtained a signed acknowledgment of indebtedness and register a claim for lien in the Personal Property Security Registry. Priority depends on registering promptly.
Garage Keepers' Lien Act
Your lien terminates on the 21st day after you surrender the vehicle unless, on or before day 21, you register a financing statement in the Personal Property Registry. Miss the window and the leverage is gone.
Commercial Liens Act (in force June 30, 2025)
BC replaced the old Repairers Lien Act with the Commercial Liens Act. You have a lien while you hold the vehicle, and registering in the Personal Property Registry lets the lien survive after you release the unit back to the carrier.
A lien is leverage, not cash — enforcing one means seizure and sale through a bailiff, and it usually ends the customer relationship. The productive move is converting that leverage into an agreement: "we'll release the unit / hold off on registering enforcement, and you go on an automatic 3- or 5-month plan for the full amount." General information only — for lien enforcement, talk to a lawyer in your province.
Canadian carriers are getting squeezed from both ends: diesel and operating costs stay high while freight rates stay soft. When a fleet's cash is going to fuel cards and payroll, your invoice — often one of their biggest non-fuel bills — slides. Not because they dispute the work, but because they can't clear it in one payment.
That's why the all-or-nothing demand fails: you're asking for the one thing they don't have. Split the same number into months and the answer changes:
3-month plan
$14,000/month
Carrier pays the $42,000 invoice in full plus a 3% convenience fee on each installment. Your shop receives $42,000 — every dollar of the invoice.
5-month plan
$8,400/month
Carrier pays the $42,000 invoice in full plus a 5% convenience fee on each installment. Your shop receives $42,000 — every dollar of the invoice.
Compare that to the agency route on the same invoice: at a 25–50% contingency you'd keep $21,000–$31,500 — if they collect at all.
A calm, professional SMS about the invoice — CASL-compliant, with consent and a one-word opt-out built in. You can step into any conversation yourself.
Instead of "pay it all now," the carrier is offered the invoice split into 3 or 5 automatic monthly payments — the ask most struggling fleets can actually say yes to.
When they accept, Stripe schedules the installments automatically. Each payment pays out to your own Stripe account — we never hold your funds.
The small convenience fee (3 months at 3% or 5 months at 5%) is added on top of the carrier's installments, only if they choose to split. Your shop is never charged. If they pay in full instead, we earn $0.
Before the unit leaves your bay, know your provincial lien rights — possession is your strongest leverage in Ontario, Alberta and BC. Then, instead of demanding the full amount or handing the file to an agency for 25–50%, offer structured terms: most carriers who can't write one cheque for $42,000 can manage $8,400 a month for five months. RemitRight automates exactly that — the AI texts the carrier, offers a 3- or 5-month automatic plan, and every payment goes straight to your Stripe account. It's free for your shop.
Agencies charge contingency because they do the chasing. Software does the chasing now. An automated payment-plan approach contacts the customer, negotiates terms within limits you set, and processes the payments — with the platform earning a small customer-paid convenience fee instead of taking a cut of your money. On a $42,000 invoice, that's the difference between keeping $42,000 and keeping $21,000–$31,500.
Generally yes while you still possess the vehicle — that's a possessory lien. After release, the rules are provincial: Ontario's RSLA allows a registered non-possessory lien if you got a signed acknowledgment of indebtedness; Alberta's Garage Keepers' Lien Act gives you 21 days after surrender to register; BC's Commercial Liens Act (since June 30, 2025) lets a registered lien survive release. Registration deadlines are strict — this is general information, not legal advice.
If the customer is genuinely squeezed — as many Canadian carriers are with fuel and freight-rate pressure — a payment plan usually recovers more than a demand. You collect the full amount over months instead of a discounted amount (or nothing) now. The key is making the plan automatic: card-on-file installments through Stripe, not promises to e-transfer 'next Friday.'
No. Factoring sells your receivable at a discount and can leave you on the hook if the carrier defaults. With a payment plan, the carrier pays the invoice they already owe — in full, over 3 or 5 months — and your shop borrows nothing and gives up nothing.
Nothing — free for your business, no card required. The carrier who chooses to split pays the convenience fee (3 months at 3% or 5 months at 5%), added on top of their installments. If they pay in full, you keep 100% and RemitRight earns $0.
Yes, done properly. RemitRight's SMS collection is built for Canadian rules: consent-based outreach, honest sender identification, and a one-word STOP opt-out honoured immediately, in line with CASL. You can review every conversation.
Related reading
Upload the invoice, and the AI starts the conversation. Free for your shop, forever — the carrier pays a small fee only if they choose to split. You keep 100% of what you're owed.