Verify carrier documents before onboarding
New carriers submit authority, insurance, W-9 and payment details. The system reads each document, checks it against your onboarding rules and the public registry data you rely on, and presents a complete or incomplete file to your carrier team. Fits brokers who onboard carriers by chasing attachments.
Function: Operations · Industry: Logistics
Verify carrier documents before onboarding
6 steps
At a glance
- Trigger
- A carrier completes your onboarding form or emails its documents.
- Typical inputs
- Carrier packet: authority, W-9, insurance certificates, payment details
- Your carrier qualification policy
- Insurance minimums by cargo type
- Registry and safety-rating lookups you use
- Systems it usually connects to
- Gmail
- Google Drive
- McLeod
- DocuSign
- How the work splits
4 rules, 1 model, 1 person steps
How it runs, step by step
6 steps, each tagged by what does the work. Rules are fixed logic, a model reads or drafts, and a person decides.
- Rules Fixed logic in code
- Model AI reads or drafts, with a confidence score
- Person A named person decides
- 1
Read each document
ModelA model extracts legal name, DOT and MC numbers, insurance limits, effective and expiry dates and certificate holder.
- 2
Check against your policy
RulesCode verifies minimum coverage, expiry beyond a set window, name matches across documents and required forms present.
- 3
Look up the carrier record
RulesAuthority status and safety data are checked from the registry source you use, and the result is stored with a timestamp.
- 4
Request what is missing
RulesA specific request listing each gap is sent to the carrier, with reminders until the file is complete.
- 5
Approve the carrier
PersonA carrier manager reviews the completed file and approves, rejects or asks for more, including any judgment call on safety data.
- 6
Create the vendor record
RulesApproved carriers are created in the TMS and accounting with payment details confirmed by call-back.
Where people approve
The decisions that stay with your team, whatever the confidence score says.
- A carrier manager approves every new carrier.
- Bank details are verified by call-back before the first payment.
- Exceptions to insurance minimums need a named approver.
KPIs to track
What to measure, before and after. Targets come from your own baseline.
- 01Days from first contact to approved carrier
- 02Files complete on first submission
- 03Carriers onboarded with an expiring document within 30 days
- 04Fraud or identity flags raised per hundred applications
Questions about this workflow
Can it detect a forged certificate of insurance?
It can catch inconsistencies, such as mismatched names and dates or a layout that differs from the issuer's usual form. It cannot prove authenticity, so for new carriers we recommend verifying the policy with the agent listed on the certificate. That step stays with a person.
What happens when a document expires later?
A monitoring rule tracks expiry dates and asks the carrier for a renewal in advance. Loads can be blocked for carriers whose coverage has lapsed, if you want that control.
Which steps use rules, a model and a person?
Rules: check against your policy; look up the carrier record; request what is missing; create the vendor record. Model: read each document. Person: approve the carrier. Rules are fixed logic in code. A model reads or drafts and reports its confidence. A named person decides.
What do we need to start?
Typically: carrier packet: authority, W-9, insurance certificates, payment details; your carrier qualification policy; insurance minimums by cargo type; registry and safety-rating lookups you use. You also need read access to Gmail, Google Drive, McLeod and DocuSign, or the equivalents you use. A workflow audit measures your volumes and past cases first, then gives a fixed price for the build, so you can decide with real numbers.