Steplane › Booking and carrier process
Updated 18 October 2026 · Steplane is built by a logistics process specialist with over 13 years in logistics, including at some of the biggest freight forwarders in the world.
Short answer: the booking and carrier process runs from the customer confirming the order to the job being handed to billing, in nine steps: order confirmation, order entry, carrier selection and rate check, booking confirmation, transport documents, pickup confirmation, tracking and exceptions, proof of delivery, and hand-off to billing. Give each step one owner and name the record it leaves. The most important checks are the buy rate against the quote, extras logged the same day, and proof of delivery before the job closes.
The free Steplane check maps how this works in your company today and shows where money leaks.
A complete example for a small freight forwarder that uses subcontracted carriers. If you run your own trucks, step 3 becomes "plan truck and driver" and steps 6 and 8 are owned by your drivers.
| # | Step | Owner | Starts when | Record kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer confirms the order | Customer | Quote accepted | Written acceptance quoting the quote number, cargo, dates and addresses |
| 2 | Order entry | Operations | Acceptance received | Job record with the accepted quote attached |
| 3 | Carrier selection and rate check | Operations | Job opened | Carrier chosen, buy rate checked against the sell rate in the quote |
| 4 | Booking confirmation to carrier | Operations | Carrier agrees rate and dates | Signed transport order: rate, pickup and delivery windows, vehicle, extras terms |
| 5 | Transport documents | Operations | Booking confirmed | CMR (EU road) or bill of lading (US), plus any customs or dangerous goods papers |
| 6 | Pickup confirmation | Drivers or carrier | Vehicle at loading place | Pickup time, loaded quantity and seal number confirmed to operations |
| 7 | Tracking and exceptions | Operations | Goods in transit | Status updates to customer; delays, waiting time and extra stops logged the same day with proof |
| 8 | Proof of delivery | Drivers or carrier | Goods delivered | Signed CMR or delivery receipt, photo if damaged, received within 24 hours |
| 9 | Hand-off to billing | Operations | Proof of delivery received | Job closed in operations, extras log and POD passed to billing |
Copy this into Word or Excel and change it to match how your company works.
| Europe (road) | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Main transport document | CMR consignment note | Bill of lading (BOL) |
| Carrier checks before booking | Transport licence, CMR insurance, VAT number, vehicle and driver details | USDOT and MC numbers, operating authority, certificate of insurance |
| Proof of delivery | Signed and stamped CMR copy | Signed BOL or delivery receipt |
| Units and paperwork | Metric, A4, VAT on invoices | Pounds and inches, Letter, sales tax where it applies |
The steps, owners and records are the same on both sides. Only the documents and checks change.
Auditors look for the same things this process produces: a documented procedure, a named owner for each step, and records that show the steps happened, such as the transport order, the CMR or bill of lading, the proof of delivery and the carrier checks. Steplane gives you that structure as a starting point. The certification body or customs authority makes the final assessment.
It is everything between the customer accepting a quote and the job being handed to billing: entering the order, choosing and booking a carrier, preparing transport documents, confirming pickup, tracking the shipment and collecting proof of delivery.
One role, usually operations. Sales owns the quote, operations owns the booking and the carrier, billing owns the invoice. When sales and operations both book carriers, rates and extras get lost between them.
The agreed rate, pickup and delivery addresses and windows, cargo details, vehicle type, reference numbers, the documents the driver must bring back, and how waiting time, extra stops and cancellations are paid.
Check the buy rate against the sell rate before confirming, log extras the same day with proof, and do not close a job without proof of delivery. Most of the money is lost in those three places.
The bill of lading replaces the CMR, and before booking a carrier you check its USDOT and MC numbers, operating authority and insurance certificate. The steps, owners and records stay the same.
Set a target, for example within 24 hours of delivery, and make it a step with an owner. The invoice cannot go out until billing has the POD, so every day of delay is a day later you get paid.
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