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Managing Customers

Customers are the brokers and shippers who give you loads. Every shipment in the system is tied to a customer, so setting them up correctly keeps your dispatch, billing, and paperwork running smoothly.

Overview

A customer record stores everything you need to work with a broker or shipper: their legal name, authority numbers, contact people, billing preferences, and POD requirements. Once a customer is in the system, you can book shipments against them and track the full history from one place.

Getting There

  1. Click Customers in the top navigation bar.
  2. Click Customers in the dropdown menu.

You will see the customer list showing each customer's name, MC#, address, phone, email, primary contact, credit limit, and POD requirement.

How It Works

Customer Types

Every customer is one of two types:

  • Broker -- A third-party company that arranges freight on behalf of shippers. Brokers are required to have a USDOT number on file.
  • Shipper -- The company that actually owns the goods being transported. Shippers do not require a USDOT number.

The type defaults to Broker when you create a new customer. You can change it using the Type dropdown.

Creating a New Customer

  1. From the customer list, click New.
  2. Fill in the required fields at the top of the form:
  3. Legal Company Name (required) -- The customer's legal company name.
  4. Type (required) -- Choose Broker or Shipper.
  5. Email (required) -- Main email address for the company.
  6. Fill in the optional identification and contact fields:
  7. Doing Business As -- Their trade name, if different from the legal name.
  8. Docket/MC # -- The customer's FMCSA Motor Carrier number. Used to verify broker authority.
  9. USDOT # -- The customer's US Department of Transportation number. Required for brokers (see note below).
  10. Phone and Fax -- Main phone and fax numbers for the company.
  11. Fill in the General Information tab:
  12. Business Address (required) -- The customer's primary business address.
  13. Country -- The customer's country of origin.
  14. Tax ID (EIN) -- Employer Identification Number (visible to admins only).
  15. Set up billing details under the Billing section (see below).
  16. Add at least one contact under the Contacts tab (see below).
  17. Click Save (or the system saves automatically when you navigate away).

Tip: Phone and fax numbers must follow the format +1 555-123-4567 (country code, space, then digits with dashes). This validation applies to the customer phone, billing contact phone, and also to phone and fax numbers on contacts and addresses.

Note: The system will not let you save a broker without a USDOT number. If you get an error, either fill in the DOT number or change the type to Shipper.

Note: Each MC number must be unique. The system strips formatting (dashes, spaces, leading zeros) when checking for duplicates, so "MC-123456" and "123456" are treated as the same number.

Marking a Customer as Preferred

Check the Preferred box on the customer form to flag high-value or priority customers. Preferred customers may get first consideration when trucks become available.

POD Requirement Settings

Under the General Information tab in the Billing section, the POD Requirement field controls what proof of delivery this customer expects:

Setting What It Means
Requires Originals You must mail physical signed delivery documents to the customer.
Copy OK A scanned copy or emailed photo of the signed documents is acceptable.
Not Required The customer does not need proof of delivery paperwork.

Set this when you create the customer so your drivers and office staff know what to collect at delivery.

Billing Settings

The Billing section on the General Information tab has several fields that affect how you invoice this customer:

  • Enable Factoring -- Turn this on if invoices for this customer go to a factoring company for faster payment.
  • Pay Terms -- The agreed payment timeline (for example, "Net 30" or "Quick Pay 2%").
  • Currency -- Defaults to USD.
  • Credit Limit -- The maximum outstanding invoice balance. Review this before booking new loads.
  • Billing Address -- Where to send invoices, if different from the business address.
  • Billing Contact Phone and Billing Contact Email -- Direct line for accounts receivable questions.
  • Billing Notes -- Special instructions for your billing team, such as required invoice formats, portal submission details, or PO number requirements.

Managing Contacts

Every customer must have at least one contact person on file. The system enforces this -- if you try to save a customer without any contacts, you will get a validation error ("At least one contact is required."). Contacts are the people at the customer's company you actually talk to -- dispatchers, account managers, operations staff.

To add a contact:

  1. Open the customer form.
  2. Click the Contacts tab.
  3. Click Add a line in the contacts table.
  4. Fill in the contact details:
  5. First Name and Last Name (required).
  6. Title -- Their job role, such as "Dispatch Manager" or "Accounts Payable."
  7. Primary Contact -- Check this box for the main point of contact. Only one contact per customer can be primary; setting a new one automatically clears the previous one.
  8. Phone and Email (email is required).
  9. Optionally, click into the contact row to open the full form and add:
  10. Extension -- Phone extension number.
  11. Fax -- Fax number.
  12. Branch City and Branch State -- Where this contact's office is located.

The primary contact's name appears on the customer list view so dispatchers can quickly see who to call.

Load Requirements

The Requirements tab lets you store standing instructions that apply to all loads for this customer. For example:

  • "Air ride required"
  • "No team drivers"
  • "Driver must have TWIC card"

These notes are visible when dispatchers are booking shipments, so they know the customer's expectations before assigning a truck.

Documents

The Documents tab lets you upload and organize files related to the customer. All documents uploaded from this tab are automatically categorized as Other. To add a document, click Add a line in the table, enter a name, and use the file field to upload your file.

Addresses

The Addresses tab stores the customer's physical and mailing addresses. Each address requires a Nickname, Full Address, and Phone number. Each address can be flagged as physical, mailing, and/or primary. An address can have any combination of these flags -- for example, a single address can be physical, mailing, and primary at the same time.

The primary address feeds the main phone and email shown on the customer list.

Each address also has a Verified status. Use the Toggle Verify button on an address to mark it as verified (or unverified). Verified addresses show a green checkmark in the address list. Verification confirms the address has been validated via USPS or Google Maps -- unverified addresses may cause delivery issues.

Viewing a Customer's Shipment History

On any customer form, look at the top-right area for the Shipments button. The number on the button shows how many shipments are tied to this customer.

  1. Open the customer form.
  2. Click the Shipments button.
  3. You will see a filtered list of all shipments for that customer.

This is the fastest way to pull up a customer's load history without leaving their record.

Searching and Filtering Customers

The customer list has a search bar at the top with several built-in filters:

  • Search by name, MC#, phone, email, or DBA by typing in the search box.
  • Preferred -- Show only preferred customers.
  • Brokers / Shippers -- Filter by customer type.
  • Has MC Number -- Show only customers with an MC number on file.
  • Active / Archived -- Toggle between current and archived customers. Active customers are shown by default.
  • Group by Type -- Group the list by Broker vs. Shipper.

Archiving a Customer

If you stop working with a customer, you can archive them instead of deleting:

  1. Open the customer form.
  2. Click the Action menu (gear icon) at the top.
  3. Select Archive.

Archived customers disappear from the default list but are not deleted. Their shipment history is preserved. To see archived customers, use the Archived filter in the search bar.

Tips & Common Questions

Q: I'm trying to save a new customer and getting an error about a DOT number. What do I do? If the customer type is set to Broker, the USDOT number is required. Either enter the DOT number or change the type to Shipper if the customer is not a broker.

Q: Can I have two customers with the same MC number? No. The system enforces unique MC numbers. It ignores formatting differences -- "MC-123456" and "123456" are treated as the same number. If you get a duplicate error, search for the existing customer by MC number.

Q: What happens to shipments when I archive a customer? Nothing changes. Existing shipments stay linked to the customer and remain visible in reports. You just will not be able to create new shipments for an archived customer.

Q: How do I change the primary contact? Open the Contacts tab and check the Primary Contact box on the new contact. The system automatically unchecks the previous primary contact.

  • Managing Shipments -- How to create and manage shipments for your customers.
  • Invoices -- Billing and invoicing tied to customer settings.
  • Documents -- Uploading and organizing customer paperwork.