What we send you
- Certificate of insurance. It comes directly from our insurance agent, not from us — that is what makes it worth anything to your risk team.
- W-9, for your accounts payable file.
- Our authority details. USDOT 2395323, active and in our name since 2012. You can pull the same record yourself from the FMCSA database in about a minute, and we would rather you did.
- Your carrier packet, signed. Whatever your setup form and agreement require.
If something on your list is missing from that set, ask. There is no document a legitimate carrier should be reluctant to produce.
What we need back
- The physical addresses of pickup and delivery — not the billing address, which is frequently a different building in a different state.
- Contact names and direct numbers at both ends. A main switchboard at 4am is the same as no number at all.
- Your rate confirmation or tender, and how you want invoices submitted.
- Payment terms in writing, so nobody is surprised at day 45.
The details that actually delay a first load
Documents rarely hold anything up. What holds things up is facility detail that everyone assumed the other side knew.
- Real receiving hours, including whether the dock closes for lunch.
- Who books the appointment — you, us, or a portal we have to be invited into.
- Where the driver checks in, and whether that is the same gate as the trucks entrance on the map.
- Whether a lumper is expected, and who is paying for it.
- Site requirements: photo ID, safety vest, closed shoes, no phones on the dock. Every one of these has turned a driver around somewhere.
Five lines on a rate confirmation prevent most of it.
Where to send what
So nobody has to guess which inbox:
- Carrier packet, COI, W-9, safety questions — [email protected]
- Lanes, capacity, anything about a load in motion — [email protected]
- Invoices and payment — [email protected]
All three are staffed by people at the same address in East Dundee. Nothing routes through a call centre.