How we check every firm
Nobody posts or quotes here until a person has been through their paperwork. Every step below is one we actually carry out, and the thresholds are the ones the product enforces.
Before a firm can trade
- They tell us who they are. Company name and number, the address they work from, and somebody we can ring.
- We ask for what their vehicles oblige. A goods vehicle operator licence if anything they run is over 3.5 tonnes, or tows above it. Under that weight the law does not require one, so we do not ask for one. Goods in transit cover from anybody carrying.
- A person reads it. Every application, by hand. If something is missing we say what, in writing, because nobody can fix a blank.
- The documents are checked separately. A firm can be approved and still not bookable: until the certificates have been read, they are listed rather than verified, and a poster cannot book them.
- Cover is checked every day after that. We warn a firm 30, 7, 1 days before their insurance runs out. If it lapses they stay on the board and cannot be booked until current cover is on file.
It is slower than a sign up button. That is the point, and it is why a load on this board is worth the diesel.
What the levels mean
Points come from finished work: loads completed, proof of delivery in quickly, deliveries confirmed promptly, reviews from the other side. A level is earned by the firm, so it does not reset when a planner leaves.
- Bronze0 to 199Sees a load when it reaches the open board
- Silver200 to 449Sees a matching load 5 minutes early
- Gold450 to 749Sees a matching load 15 minutes early
- Platinum750 and upSees a matching load 30 minutes early
When two firms fall out
Either side can raise it on the load. The other is told straight away and gets to answer before anybody here looks at it, and what each of them writes is shown to the other.
We then go on the proof of delivery, the messages and the load as it was posted, and we say who we find for and why. Both of them get that in writing.
We hold none of the money for a load, so a ruling cannot move it. What it does is record whether the amount stands as owed between them or comes off the record here, and it goes on the account of whoever it was found against.
One argument never costs somebody their business. 3 upheld findings against the same firm puts a hold on taking new work while somebody here goes through it with them. Anything they already have booked still runs, because stranding a load punishes the other party.
None of this affects anybody's legal rights against the other party. The full wording is in the terms.
Report a firm
If a firm on here has behaved badly, tell us. It reaches a person, and we would rather hear it than read about it in a group chat.
If it is about a specific job you are on, raise it on that load instead. That way the other side is told and gets to answer, which is what makes a ruling worth anything.
Applying takes about three minutes and usually comes back the same working day. Apply to join, or email help@haulageboard.com and it reaches a person.