Onboarding a carrier in one afternoon

By Rosa Delgado · 2026-09-03 · Industry

A new carrier can have every document on file and still lack the right arrival instructions. In the Hull desk's recent review of carrier onboarding, the useful question was which decision the next shift could make with the information already available. We started with a small group of routine journeys rather than changing the entire weekly plan.

Confirm the dispatch contact, vehicle restrictions and first collection window before arranging a small initial load. The duty planner owns the initial entry, while the receiving shift confirms the handover. Any correction stays beside the original reference so that the office and the yard can work from the same account of the journey.

Review that first handover together, including the evidence required for payment, before increasing the weekly allocation. We keep a short exception note for each sampled job, with a clear date and an owner. This makes the review a practical conversation about tomorrow's work instead of an argument over whose spreadsheet was most recently updated.

The change is ready to keep only after two full handovers work without extra explanation. Rosa Delgado recommends reviewing the routine after a quiet week as well as a busy one: a process that depends on one experienced dispatcher being present will not survive an ordinary holiday rota.

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