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Carrier Setup

A carrier is any trucking company you work with -- including your own company. Every truck and driver in the system belongs to a carrier, so setting up carriers is the first step before you can dispatch loads.

Overview

Carriers go through a lifecycle from onboarding to active hauling. The system tracks their compliance documents, insurance, payment info, and equipment so you always know who is ready to take a load.

Getting There

From the main menu, click Carriers in the top navigation bar, then click Carriers in the dropdown. The list opens filtered to Active carriers by default.

How It Works

Carrier Statuses

Every carrier has a lifecycle status that controls whether they can receive loads:

Status What It Means
Pending New carrier, still being onboarded. Cannot be dispatched yet.
Active Fully set up and cleared to haul loads.
On Probation Under performance review. Can still haul, but flagged for extra oversight.
Inactive Temporarily removed from active service.
Suspended Blocked from all operations.

The status bar at the top of each carrier record shows where they are in this process. Carriers start as Pending and must pass validation checks before you can activate them.

Note: The On Probation, Suspended, and Inactive statuses do not have dedicated buttons on the carrier form. These states are set manually by editing the status field directly (typically by an admin). The Activate button moves a Pending carrier to Active, and the Deactivate button moves an Active carrier back to Pending -- it does not set the carrier to Inactive.

Creating a New Carrier

  1. Open Carriers > Carriers and click New.
  2. Enter the Carrier Name at the top of the form. This is the legal company name.
  3. If the carrier operates under a different name, type it in the Doing Business As (DBA) field just below the name.
  4. Fill in the identification fields on the left side:
  5. Docket/MC # -- the FMCSA Motor Carrier number (required for interstate carriers)
  6. USDOT # -- the Department of Transportation registration number
  7. SCAC Code -- the 2-4 letter Standard Carrier Alpha Code used on BOLs
  8. Fill in the contact fields on the right side:
  9. Phone Number (format: +1 555-123-4567)
  10. Email
  11. Click Save.

The General Information Tab

After saving, open the General Information tab to complete the carrier profile:

  • DUNS # -- Dun & Bradstreet number for credit verification
  • Tax ID (EIN) -- Employer Identification Number for 1099 reporting (visible only to admins)
  • Needs 1099 -- Check this if the carrier should receive a 1099-NEC at year-end
  • Mailing Address -- Required for activation
  • Hiring Drivers -- Informational flag that shows a badge in the carrier list
  • On Probation -- Flags the carrier for additional oversight

Uploading Compliance Documents

In the same tab, you can upload two key documents:

  • W-9 Form -- Click the upload area under W-9 Form to attach the carrier's W-9
  • MC Certificate -- Click the upload area under MC Certificate to attach their authority certificate

Adding the Company Owner

Scroll down in the General Information tab to find the Company Owner section.

  1. Click Create Owner.
  2. Fill in the owner's details:
  3. First Name and Last Name
  4. Date of Birth
  5. Email and Phone
  6. Operates as Driver -- Check this if the owner also drives. When enabled, the system automatically creates a linked driver record in Pending status using the owner's name, phone, email, and date of birth. The owner must have at least a first name, last name, and phone number for the driver to be created.
  7. Needs 1099 -- Check if the owner personally needs a 1099
  8. Physical Address and Mailing Address
  9. Click Save.

An owner is required before you can activate the carrier.

Adding Insurance Policies

Still on the General Information tab, scroll to the Insurance section. Insurance is entered directly in an inline table.

  1. Click Add a line in the insurance table.
  2. Select the Type: Liability, Cargo, General Liability, Workers' Compensation, or Physical Damage.
  3. Enter the Insurance Company name and Policy Number.
  4. Enter the Coverage Amount in dollars.
  5. Set the Effective Date and Expiration Date.
  6. Click away from the row to save it.

The system automatically marks policies as Expired when their expiration date passes and shows a Days Until Expiry countdown.

Important: Only one active (non-expired) Cargo policy and one active Liability policy are allowed per carrier. To replace an expired policy, add a new row with the updated dates.

You can also upload supporting documents (certificate of insurance) by opening the insurance row and using the Documents upload area.

Pay-To and Remit-To Defaults

The carrier record has convenience fields that auto-fill as you enter basic information during onboarding:

  • Pay to the Order of -- auto-fills from the Carrier Name when the name is first entered
  • Remit To -- auto-fills from the Carrier Name when the name is first entered
  • Remittance Email -- auto-fills from the carrier's Email when a valid email is entered
  • Remittance Address -- auto-fills from the Mailing Address when an address is entered

These fields provide default values for settlements. They only auto-fill when the fields are empty, so manually entered values are never overwritten. You can edit them at any time.

Setting Up Payment Details

Open the Payment tab to manage how you pay this carrier.

  1. Click Add Payment Details.
  2. A pop-up asks you to select the payment type (ACH, check, wire, etc.). Choose one and click Create.
  3. The system creates a payment detail card and opens the detail form. Fill in:
  4. Pay to the Order of -- enter the payee name here
  5. Payment Terms -- net days or other terms
  6. Remit To, Remittance Email, Remittance Address -- where to send payment notices
  7. Type-Specific Details -- fields that change based on the payment type (for example, routing number and account number for ACH)
  8. Is Default -- Check this to make it the default payment method
  9. Upload a voided check or other supporting document in the Documents section at the bottom.
  10. Close the form to return to the carrier.

Payment details appear as cards on the Payment tab. The default method is marked with a blue Default badge.

Carry-over Balance

If a settlement does not fully cover all deductions (for example, the service pay is less than the total deductions), the unpaid portion is stored as the carrier's Carry-over Balance. This amount carries forward and is applied to the next settlement automatically. The carry-over balance is visible at the top of the Recurring Deductions tab when it is greater than zero.

Activating a Carrier

Once you have completed all required information, click the Activate button in the header bar. The system checks that:

  • Email is filled in
  • Mailing Address is filled in
  • An Owner exists with first name, last name, and phone
  • At least one Payment Detail exists, with a default set and a "Pay to the Order of" value
  • Non-expired Cargo and Liability insurance policies exist (unless insurance checking is disabled -- see note below)

If anything is missing, you will see an error listing exactly what needs to be fixed. Once all checks pass, the status changes to Active and the Active Since date is set to today.

Tip: By default, the system requires valid Cargo and Liability insurance before a carrier can be activated. If your operation does not track insurance at the carrier level, an admin can disable this check by setting the system parameter tms.require_insurance_for_activation to False under Settings > Technical > System Parameters.

To move an active carrier back to Pending, click Deactivate.

Configuring Payment Types

Payment types (ACH, Check, Wire Transfer, etc.) define how carriers can be paid and what custom fields each type requires. Admins manage payment types from the Settings menu.

  1. Go to Settings > Payment Types.
  2. You will see the list of available payment types. Each type has:
  3. Name -- The label shown when adding payment details to a carrier (e.g., "ACH", "Wire Transfer")
  4. Code -- Maps to a settlement payment method. Built-in codes include ACH, Cash, Check, Wire Transfer, QuickPay, Factoring, Fuel Advance, and Other
  5. Sequence -- Controls the display order. Drag the handle icon to reorder types
  6. Click a type to open its detail form. Below the name and code, the Custom Fields section lets you define additional fields specific to that payment type. For example, an ACH type might have fields for routing number and account number, while a Check type might have a check address field.
  7. Click New to create a custom payment type. Use the code "Other" for types that do not map to a built-in settlement method.

When a user adds payment details to a carrier, the pop-up shows the available types. After selecting a type, the corresponding custom fields appear on the payment detail form.

The "Is Company" Flag

One carrier in the system should represent your own company. This is set with the Is Company flag (visible as a "Company Carrier" ribbon on the form). Only one carrier can have this flag at a time.

When a carrier is marked as your company: - All trucks belonging to that carrier are automatically marked as Company Owned - This helps you distinguish your own fleet from external carrier equipment

Other Carrier Tabs

The carrier form has the following tabs, shown in order:

Tab What's There
General Information Carrier details, compliance documents, company owner, and insurance (covered in detail above).
Payment Payment detail cards and the Add Payment Details button (covered in the Setting Up Payment Details section above).
Recurring Deductions All recurring deductions linked to this carrier, including carrier-level, truck-level, and driver-level deductions. Also shows the Carry-over Balance if there is an unpaid deduction balance carried forward from a previous settlement. This tab appears when the settlements module is configured.
Contacts People at the carrier company -- dispatchers, accounting contacts, etc. Each has a name, title, phone, and email. One contact can be marked as primary.
Drivers Read-only list of all drivers linked to this carrier. Click a driver to open their full record.
Documents All uploaded files in one place -- W-9s, MC certificates, insurance docs, voided checks, and anything else. You can also upload files directly here.
Equipment Read-only list of all trucks belonging to this carrier, showing truck number, plate, type, make, model, year, and availability status.

Smart Buttons

At the top of the carrier form, you will see count buttons that appear when the carrier has related records:

  • Drivers (number) -- Click to see all drivers for this carrier
  • Equipment (number) -- Click to see all trucks for this carrier
  • Settlements (number) -- Click to see all settlements for this carrier (appears once settlements exist)

Searching and Filtering

The carrier list includes a search bar and filter panel to help you find carriers quickly.

Search fields: Type in the search bar to search across carrier name, MC#, DOT#, main phone, main email, and owner name.

Quick filters:

Filter What It Shows
Hiring Drivers Carriers with the "Hiring Drivers" flag enabled
On Probation Carriers with the "On Probation" flag enabled
Active Carriers in Active status (applied by default)
Pending Carriers in Pending status
Inactive Carriers in Inactive status
Suspended Carriers in Suspended status
Company Carrier The carrier marked as your own company
Archived Carriers that have been archived

Group by: You can group the carrier list by Status to see carriers organized by their lifecycle state.

Address Verification

Address records (used on both carriers and customers) have a Verified flag that indicates whether the address has been confirmed as valid. When viewing an address record, click the Toggle Verify button to manually mark or unmark the address as verified. Verified addresses display a green checkmark in address lists.

This is currently a manual process. A future update may integrate with address validation services like Google Maps or USPS for automatic verification.

Expiration Report

To see all upcoming and past-due expirations across all carriers, drivers, and trucks:

  1. Go to Carriers > Expiration Report.
  2. The list shows every expiring item -- insurance policies, driver licenses, medical cards, truck registrations, and inspections.
  3. Items are color-coded: red for Expired, yellow for Upcoming.
  4. Use the filters at the top to narrow by type (Carrier, Driver, Truck), status (Expired, Upcoming), or category.
  5. Click the link icon next to any row to jump directly to the related record.

Tips & Common Questions

Q: I entered the MC number but got a duplicate error. What's wrong? The system strips formatting when checking for duplicates. "MC-123456" and "123456" are treated as the same number. Check if another carrier already has that MC number (they may be archived -- use the Archived filter in the search bar to find them).

Q: Can I have more than one cargo insurance policy on a carrier? No. Only one non-expired Cargo policy and one non-expired Liability policy are allowed at a time. When a policy expires, add a new one with updated dates. Expired policies stay in the history for your records.

Q: What does "Needs 1099" actually do? It flags the carrier for year-end tax reporting. When checked, the carrier will be included when you generate 1099-NEC forms for payments exceeding the IRS threshold.

Q: How do I find carriers with expiring documents quickly? Use the Expiration Report under Carriers > Expiration Report. Filter by Upcoming to see what is about to expire, or Expired to find things that already need attention.