Qualification management in logistics describes the legal procedures and paperwork between carriers and forwarders. Forwarders must comply with EU regulations in logistics. That’s why they have to prove and be certain that all of their logistics partners (carriers and transport companies) comply with the laws and regulations. Generally forwarders require potential carriers to submit so-called qualification documents. These include EU licenses, insurance certificates or minimum wage declaration and so on. Each forwarder may require additional documents such as confirmation that all drivers are legally employed.
What are common challenges of managing qualifications?
1. Manual, time-consuming and error-prone
Dispatchers have to manually review qualification documents, which takes time and may often lead to human error.
2. No single place to store supplier compliance data
Even if all dispatchers of the forwarding company have agreed to store documents in a shared drive or internal database, these storage places have limited ability to manage these documents
3. Complicated change request process
If a dispatcher notices a typo or some missing information in a carrier’s qualification application, a dispatcher has to send an email or make a call to the transportation company to implement changes.
4. Balancing between fast order processing and compliance
Time is money in logistics, and the faster a dispatcher awards an order to a transportation company, the faster the forwarding company will grow. However, it is not always possible to qualify carriers fast enough, so orders may be awarded to only partially qualified transportation companies. Finally, this may lead to compliance issues inside the company.
How can the digitalization of the qualification process help?
Managing qualifications digitally benefits both carriers and forwarders. Carriers can store their licenses and necessary documents in the cloud and easily send them to forwarders when necessary. Forwarders can manage all of their supplier qualifications from a single place and also onboard new subcontractors with a simple qualification workflow and store their qualification documents on TrustedTrucks too.
Still, there are common solutions such as GoogleDrive or Microsoft OneDrive or any other cloud drives, they do not provide management capabilities and only serve as a place of storage.
How to manage qualifications on TrustedTrucks?
The platform allows users to upload qualification documents in a secure way that only permitted parties can access. The data belongs to it’s owner and only they decide with whom to share it.
Carriers on TrustedTrucks can upload their company information and qualification documents and share this information with the forwarding companies they’ve selected. Carriers can also send documents via a secured outbound link to forwarders outside of the TrustedTrucks platform. This makes the qualification process easier and faster.
Forwarders on TrustedTrucks can receive qualification documents from multiple carriers. Users can view a dashboard with qualified carriers and make sure they are working only with licensed subcontractors.
What are additional advantages of managing qualifications on TrustedTrucks?
1. All in one place
All qualification documents are in one place and secured from data leaks.
2. Expiration notifications
Users receive notifications of expiring documents so that all the parties are up to date.
3. Quick change requests
Users may request additional documents or request changes to re-submit qualification data.
4. Change history
Users can always view the history starting from submitting qualification and ending by approval.
How will your company benefit from managing qualifications on TrustedTrucks?
As a forwarding company you need to comply with government regulations and work only with qualified carriers. You have to verify all the information and licenses of a carrier before awarding a transportation order. By doing so on TrustedTrucks, you will use a single place to manage carrier qualifications. Dispatchers will save time on manual qualification and will process orders faster. The Compliance department will be happy as you always have proof that you are working with qualified carriers, thus, reducing your risk and insurance premiums too. Additionally, your forwarding company will have access to a pool of qualified carriers and you can start collaborating with them.
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