How Should a Freight Broker Vet Subcontract Hauliers?

Confirm the company you are actually contracting with

Record the legal trading name, company number where applicable, registered or trading address, VAT status, transport contact and accounts contact. Bank-detail changes should be independently verified rather than accepted from an unexpected email.

Record the relevant operator licence details

For hire-and-reward road haulage, the forwarding desk should understand the operator licence authority under which the carrier is working. The carrier record should include licence number, type and operating base information as part of approval.

Match cover to the movement

Record relevant motor and Goods in Transit information, policy limits and expiry dates. The goods value on the load enquiry helps identify whether the available cover is appropriate. Specialist goods may require additional checks.

Know the fleet and preferred lanes

A strong carrier database records vehicle types, equipment, operating base, regular destinations, return areas and service history. That is more useful than emailing every load to every operator.

Control onward subcontracting

Unapproved double brokering makes it harder to know who has the freight and what insurance applies. A carrier instruction should prohibit onward subcontracting unless written approval has been given in advance.

Questions about this topic