I don't think having a thick skin is a viable solution to the issue, because nothing tells me that you are any different than the others. I can't find where, nor do I know of how, you distinguish your company from the others. You may very well be better than the rest, but how do I know that ???
I do not disagree that factoring has its place in the industry, however, when factoring companies operate with the same principles as the the guys selling coloured diamonds, or Steve's Towing for that matter, then your part of the industry needs to do some internal clean up.
As carriers and brokers we all have but one thing to offer ... our reputations. Anyone can buy a truck and call themselves a trucking company. Anyone can buy a fax machine and call themselves a broker. Put a leash on a dog, and you're a dog-walker. The difference between us and "anyone" is that we all have well earned, and hard fought for, reputations that no one, because of their lackadaisical invoicing efforts and suspect business practices, has the right to f*ck with.
In the meantime, I will still sell excess freight to outside carriers and when they ask me to pay their factoring company, I'll will continue to tell them "Forget it. I'll hire someone else." ... regardless of who the factoring company is.
Sadly, that's just the way it is.
