What Are COMCHEKs?

COMCHEKS are extremely popular in how auto transport brokers pay carriers in the auto transport industry. However, most of the general public may not be aware of what COMCHEKs actually are or the benefits that they can offer. The following guide will provide a nice overview:

How Do They Work?

A COMCHEK is a type of payment used by auto transport brokers (or any freight broker) to pay carriers. They can be considered similar to standard checks, yet with some significant differences. In addition to paying contract carriers, COMCHEKs can be used to:

• Purchase fuel
• Pay key vendors
• Provide advances
• Act as emergency payments

The company that provides COMCHEKs is COMDATA. They provide COMCHEKs as an Express Code for a set amount. They are usually between 14 and 18 numbers and can be redeemed by those who receive them in the following ways:

• Cashed at truck stops
• Deposited into a bank

To redeem a COMCHEK, the person must have a physical COMCHEK blank, which looks just like a regular check, that he or she has to fill out. The location has to accept COMCHEKs at a truck stop and may charge a processing fee.

At a bank, the person who wants to cash the COMCHEK has to call a number provided by COMDATA to get a unique authorization number. Otherwise, the check will bounce, meaning you must pay fees.

You can visit //www.gocomchek.com/gocomchek/assets/app/index.html for information about locations that accept it, and call: (800) 266-3282 to obtain an authorization number.

COMDATA Cards

Besides using COMCHEKs, a trucking company would be able to open an account with COMDATA so that they can issue their own personalized COMCHEKs directly to their employees. These can be in the form of actual physical cards that would be just like a debit or ATM card.

Positives and Negatives of COMCHEKs

As with anything, there are both positives and negatives, and COMCHEKs are no different. Some of the positives to using COMCHEKs are:

• Truck operators do not have to carry large amounts of cash or credit cards on them, which can improve their own safety and prevent any loss of money from occurring;
• Allows truck operators to receive their payment at a much faster rate, as well as helps their cash flow while on their route;
• Allows truck operators to have their own COMDATA accounts to deposit their COMCHEKs directly into.

There are three main negatives to COMCHEKs, though, which are:

• Not at all places currently accept them;
• They do have processing fees that increase the higher the payment amounts are;
• Calling and receiving the unique authorization number to deposit them into a bank can be cumbersome.

There's a reason why COMCHEKs are extremely popular. Remember to visit:

http://www.comdata.com to learn more.