New Business Onboarding

What is it? Who does it affect? Why is it important?

New business onboarding is the process that we have created to better align our many departments, drivers and our customers, in order to provide the high level of service that we are committed to. This process continues to change and improve as we develop better procedures and communication. New business can range from increased volume on current business, new origin and destination pairings with a current customer, as well as starting business with an entirely new customer. As the needs of our customers grow and change, we are currently developing a Process Map to better transmit the flow of information between departments and minimize the risk of omitting any important data or steps.

If you are part of our teams in Customer Service and Operation Planning, or especially a Driver, it is easy to understand that managing new business will directly affect your daily routines. Customer Service must process the orders accurately for Operations to do their role effectively; Operations then plans the Drivers to be at the right place at the right time, and the Driver must have all of the relevant information to ensure that they meet the service requirements. It is fairly easy to realize that if one of these teams does not communicate the requirements properly, the Drivers may not be able to be successful for our customers.

What many people do not realize is that starting new business also affects many other departments indirectly. Our Customs Team needs to have the relevant information to ensure that there are no issues with crossing the border, Traffic and Pricing need to have all of the details to ensure that the agreed upon rates are contracted correctly, and Invoicing needs to know what is required to properly process and submit the invoices in order to get paid quickly and accurately. What if we are shipping on a route that we have never done before? Are there any concerns that our Safety & Risk team needs to look into? Do we have preferred fueling stations or truck stops that our Fuel Analysts need to advise our drivers to utilize for this new route? When looking at all of these different aspects, you can more clearly understand that new business can affect every department within our company, whether directly or indirectly.

Improved alignment between our internal teams and with the customer is the main goal of this process. It is important that we all know our roles and understand customer requirements to be successful. Through thorough preliminary work, we are prepared to succeed in providing the service that the customer expects from us. If we can all work together to do it right the first time, it not only prevents many frustrations, it more importantly shows our customers that we take pride in Going the Distance for them.

John Cristo

Business Development Executive