Skip to content 
Independent transportation companies have two huge advantages over the behemoths that dominate the industry: They are more nimble and, often, less expensive. Unlike most industries where economies of scale can give the big guys an advantage, the sunk costs of the bigger players in transportation require them to charge more to cover the expense of maintaining excess capacity.
Where the large carriers’ size does help them is in back-office operations. Their customers tend to be contracted shippers tied into shared systems that speed the processing of bills of lading, proofs of delivery, and the resulting invoices. Smaller carriers and often the shippers they serve tend not to be on a shared electronic platform.
As a result, there can be a lot more manual reconciliation of orders, deliveries, and invoices in the independent transportation world. Fortunately, back-office operations don’t always have to be conducted in the back office. They can be done anywhere. And where you do them can yield lower costs and a more competitive business model.
How Back Office Operations Can Slow Cash Flow
While the time crunch of a tight delivery schedule can be a source of stress, a cash crunch from invoices going out too slowly is even worse. A company’s billing process can fall behind for any number of reasons:
- Manual processes: Time-consuming manual processes lead to errors and delays.
- Overwhelmed teams: Back-office staff have to spend too much time on repetitive tasks.
- Scaling challenges: The team can’t keep up with spikes in demand for capacity.
- Talent gaps: Finding and retaining qualified back-office staff in transportation is tough.
Software will only help so much. If shippers are submitting orders in a variety of forms and drivers are submitting their paperwork in the way that works best for them, the processing, data entry, and reconciliation are always going to be slow going. Every minute spent on these tasks means the invoice goes out that much later.
If qualified and motivated staff are hard to find, you might consider business process outsourcing (BPO). BPOs are set up to fill specific roles in a company’s operations. A BPO that handles back office operations for transportation is staffed by experts in that industry and function. Because they handle multiple clients, they have established workflows and best practices that maximize efficiency and accuracy.
Key Remote Back-Office Roles in Transportation Operations
A BPO can provide assistance or complete outsourcing for a range of transportation’s back-office functions:
- Reconciliation: Matching BOL details to PODs and contracted amounts, plus accessorials, surcharges, tolls, etc.
- Freight billing and invoicing: Generating and processing invoices, managing payments
- Claims processing: Handling and resolving damage or loss claims efficiently
- Data entry and management: Maintaining accurate records and databases
- Compliance and documentation: Ensuring adherence to regulations and managing necessary paperwork
- Customer service: Providing timely and effective support to clients
Given the scope of responsibilities and the expertise required to fulfill them, additional resources may be required even for a top-notch in-house team. BPOs are also usually structured to scale services as required during peak demand.
The Power of Remote Back-Office Support for Transportation
In addition to speeding operations, a remote BPO offers a number of other business advantages for smaller and independent transportation operations:
- Reduced costs: Remote BPOs tend to be located in regions where the cost of doing business is lower
- Scale with ease: BPOs’ larger staffs enable flexible support for spikes in demand.
- Access top talent: Global and nearshore BPOs can attract highly educated and motivated personnel.
- Superior technology resources: BPOs can amortize the expense of advanced systems across many clients.
- Enhanced reporting: A BPO’s skilled professionals and advanced systems can deliver superior data analysis and insights to help transportation companies better understand the financials of their business and identify opportunities for greater profitability.
Looked at this way, remote back-office operations are not a band-aid for workflow challenges but an opportunity to actually improve a transportation company’s processes and bottom line.
Simplify Your Operations with Solvo’s Remote Back Office Operations
Solvo is a global BPO provider offering nearshore solutions for clients in a range of industries, including back-office support with a segment devoted to transportation companies.
Nearshore provisioning means more advanced language skills, more convenient time differentials, and a closer cultural fit with client companies. Solvo takes this a step further by dedicating teams to specific clients, mirroring clients’ in-house operations, and providing ongoing training and supervision, creating a remote virtual department of the client’s company.
Solvo’s expertise in the transportation and logistics industry enables clients in that sector to quickly achieve maximum productivity. This also helps ensure compliance with state and federal regulations and requirements specific to the industry.
Speed up your back-office operations, get invoices out faster, and give your business the acceleration it needs. Contact Solvo for a consultation to get the remote help you’ve been looking for.
