Best Practices in Carrier Compliance Management

When people think Convoy, they think technology, data, and insights that result in lower cost and better service.

Yet, at the end of the day, no matter how incredible our tech is, we are providing trucking as a service. When shippers hire us, they trust that the driver showing up at their facility is going to be timely, professional, safe and compliant.

In an industry where approaches to risk management vary widely, we pride ourselves on the performance, quality and compliance of our network of tens of thousands of carriers that we give our shipping customers access to.

We differentiate ourselves from the nation’s most prominent brokers and asset carriers by setting higher standards for our carriers, and by using a data-driven process (enabled by our technology platform) to manage adherence to our rigorous standards. By automating the process, we take out human biases and errors, which can sometimes – even with the best intentions – let unqualified carriers back on the road.

But don’t take my word for it, the proof is in the pudding:

• Our network of carriers significantly outperforms the industry average AND the average of the top 25 national asset based carriers in both predictive crash ratings (using FMCSA methodology) and a backward looking comparison of actual crashes.
• 100% carrier compliance at the time of assignment.
• 96% of carriers who go through Convoy’s performance management process improve their on-the-job performance through expectation setting and education programs, and transparent carrier scorecards.
• Our claims incidence rate is more than an order of magnitude lower than reported industry averages.
• On shipper scorecards, Convoy consistently ranks in the top 10% of our shipper’s transportation providers, including among asset carriers.

How do we achieve these results?

Convoy differentiates itself in the transportation industry by setting higher safety standards than most and by using technology and a data driven process to manage compliance in real time.

Let’s dive into some of the details of two important categories to give you a look under the hood.

Safety

Convoy uses the most up-to-date carrier safety data through integrations with multiple carrier monitoring services. Our safety requirements and proprietary systems are designed to select carriers who prioritize safety, and to automatically block access to Convoy’s platform for those who don’t.

For instance, through our integration with Saferwatch Convoy validates that safety (and authority) requirements are met before allowing a carrier to haul loads. An example of some of these requirements are:

• Convoy does not work with carriers who have a “Conditional” or “Unsatisfactory” rating.
• Convoy prohibits carriers with two or more equivalent BASIC violations in the categories of Vehicle Maintenance, Unsafe Driving or Hours of Service from hauling Convoy loads.

Ongoing Compliance Monitoring

Convoy uses a fully automated and proactive compliance service. Through integration with industry-leading carrier monitoring services like Saferwatch, RMIS, and TIA’s Watchdog service, among others, Convoy collects data to provide real time compliance assessments based on our compliance standards. This allows us to do things such as:

• Differentiate between carriers who are compliant for interstate or Intrastate and offer jobs accordingly
• Identify carriers instantly who are non-compliant with any of our safety, operating authority, or insurance requirements.
• Automate the pre-offer check, which prevents Convoy from offering loads to carriers who don’t meet our safety requirements.
• Show the carrier compliance status to Convoy operations teams in the Convoy internal dashboard
• Automatically block a carrier from doing loads whose insurance is expired or will expire prior to receiving an updated certificate of insurance.

In addition to the requirements above, we also built redundancies into the system.

Qualitative proof

While data is the foundation of our system, we also measure the strength of our carrier network through qualitative customer feedback. We’ve seen this come to life in two ways:

Audits and evaluations

Many of Convoy’s customers are safety obsessed. These shippers stand out for not only building a strong safety culture of their own, but for mandating the same level of diligence from their transportation providers. And as anyone who has worked with one of these companies knows, they have comprehensive audit and evaluation processes.

My favorite example is when one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world conducted a full onsite audit of Convoy’s risk management programs and policies. At its conclusion, we received the highest possible score for a broker. The auditor stated “Convoy is head and shoulders above any broker I have ever assessed.” We intend to keep our reputation and will continue to innovate in this space.

Sharing our best practices and expertise

Convoy is recognized as an expert in managing carrier compliance and quality, and we receive requests for guidance from customers on how they can improve their own programs.

Recently one of the largest national retailers ascertained that Convoy’s process for vetting carriers and managing ongoing compliance was significantly more advanced than their own, and requested a consultation and guidance about how they could improve their carrier vetting process.

We believe the entire transportation industry should have access equally high, data-driven standards and the highest quality carriers. That is our intent by sharing our methodology here.

This article is the latest in Convoy’s Compliance Matters series on transportation risk in the supply chain. In part one we identified compliance risks and discussed why shippers should care about them. In part two we covered the most important compliance and safety questions to assess your freight broker and 3PL partners.

The information provided by Convoy, Inc. is for general informational purposes only. The author does not in any way guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, validity, or reliability of any information and will not be held responsible for the information provided herein.  The information presented is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS PAGE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.