55% of Trucking-Transport Firms Say Accounts Payable Innovation Is Important

The great digital shift demands that trucking-transport firms update and modernize their accounts payable processes.

Simply put, the paper-based and manual AP processes that have been stubbornly entrenched in transport and logistics have introduced pain points that are exacerbated with swelling payments volumes.

In the report “AP Automation: Transportation Companies Innovate To Drive Growth,” a collaboration between PYMNTS and Routable, we found that 55% of transportation companies see innovating AP platforms as an important goals.

The benefits of streamlining and improving those processes are readily apparent: 61% of transportation companies with automated AP processes report being highly satisfied with those platforms.

And as for the increasing volumes: 71% of the transport firms tracked say they process an average of at least 1,000 payables each month, and 72% of those businesses expect their payables to rise by 11% or more over the next three years.

There’s also recognition that improving AP functionality can improve relationships up and down supply chains.

As shown in the chart below, about 25% of transport firms say that the inability to pay vendors in the latter’s preferred methods remains a significant challenge, with nearly 14% stating that that lack of ability remains the most significant payments-related problem. Nearly 12% of the companies surveyed said they had to grapple with an inability to get invoices approved for payments in the first place.