The problems of running a trucking company like Buchanan seem obvious. Flat tires, poor weather, mechanical breakdowns, but there is more to it. Misplaced BOLs, a late email, an incorrect invoice, miscommunication, and even fraud. These are the realities of complications in our industry, and it is here where procedural breakdowns have the potential to take root and grow into more than just inconvenience. Trucking as an industry is slow to change. Our drivers are people, our carriers often use their own family members as employees, plant receivers, and shippers. The Buchanan family is more than just our drivers: our hardworking sales team, and our diligent truckers. Today, I want to shine a light on my department: Administration. What does the administrative department do? Well, yes, we do paperwork. But more accurately, we handle the people side of paperwork.
First, let’s look at the process paperwork goes through when it comes to Buchanan’s Administrative Department. First, the paperwork -BOLs, invoices, rate confirmations, weight tickets, etc. - will be reviewed by our billers. What is a BOL? A BOL refers to a Bill of Lading, which is a legal agreement for the shipping of goods and products. Most loads we run require a signed BOL for it to be accepted and billed. If these BOLs are determined to be incorrect or missing, those loads will be handed off to our Unbilled Team, who will reach out to the carrier and shipper for the correct documents if the load is older than thirty days. It is easy to write off these carriers as just being slow or inattentive, but we must remember that carriers are delivering potentially dozens of loads a week and it is easy for mistakes to happen. It is up to us to stay in contact with them and work with them.
Within this part of the process, we also have our Carrier Portal Team, who not only upload documents sent to our Carrier Portal email but who also help carriers when they call in for assistance with the Carrier Portal website. Our Carrier Portal website is our website just for carriers to upload load documents, such as BOLs, invoices, and rate confirmations. It is very easy and quick to use, especially with help from our Carrier Portal Team, whose responsibilities include getting them set up with the website and walking them through using the Carrier Portal. Next in the process is the settlements team, who not only upload and review the carrier invoices but also handle calls from our carriers and factoring companies about payments. It is important to understand that we cannot just accept rates based on our own documents, we need invoices from our carriers. These invoices essentially act as bills from the carrier to us. This way there is sure mutual agreement between all parties on payment. All throughout this process, we do our best to stay in touch with the load’s account manager and broker to be sure we consider the unique circumstances of each load.
It all sounds so easy in theory: drivers turn in their documents - BOLs, invoices, signed rate confirmations, etc.- and those documents are, in turn, sent in, processed, and filed. However, this is where Buchanan’s administration department really shines. What sets us apart is the level of care we bring to this process, the little touch of humanity. We don’t just process paperwork mindlessly, we examine paperwork, and, most importantly, work with our carriers. Paperwork is often considered a dull, repetitive task better left to AI and automation, but this ignores the very human side of this process, sorting it, reviewing, and examining it, affects departments, companies, and drivers.
