Carrier onboarding is a critical but often painful process. Too slow, and you miss capacity when you need it. Too fast, and you risk compliance issues. This playbook shows you how to automate the process without cutting corners.

The Onboarding Workflow

A complete carrier onboarding process covers:

1. Initial application — Collect carrier information
2. Authority verification — Check MC/DOT against FMCSA
3. Insurance validation — Verify coverage meets requirements
4. Safety scoring — Review CSA scores and inspection history
5. Agreement signing — Execute broker-carrier agreement
6. System setup — Create carrier profile, set up payment

Automating Verification

Convoya can automate the tedious verification steps that slow down onboarding:

• FMCSA lookup — Automatic authority and insurance verification
• Safety score monitoring — Ongoing alerts for score changes
• Insurance certificate parsing — Extract coverage details from uploaded COIs
• Document collection — Automated reminders for missing paperwork

Setting Up the Workflow

Step 1: Create Application Form

Use Convoya's form builder to create a carrier application that collects MC number, insurance information, and banking details.

Step 2: Configure Auto-Verification

Set up automatic checks that run when the application is submitted. Flag any issues for manual review.

Step 3: Set Up Approval Routing

Route clean applications for quick approval. Flag edge cases for compliance team review.

Measuring Success

Track these metrics to ensure your onboarding is effective:

• Time to first shipment — How quickly can a new carrier haul for you?
• Application completion rate — Are carriers finishing the process?
• Compliance issues caught — How many problems are you preventing?