Necessary Documentation For Hauliers and Parties With Goods To Move

The haulage industry has, for several decades now, been one of the most profitable in Western society. And when some thought is put into the matter, the success of this field is not at all hard to explain: after all, most people will have goods to move at one point or another, so providing a service which will enable them to do so in an easy and hassle-free manner was bound to be met with success.

Out of all the existing types of haulage, it would also be hard to argue against road haulage being the most widespread and popular. The advent of motorcars and rapidly expanding road systems the world over has made the transportation of goods by road very much the ‘default’, decisively supplanting the old-time former king of transportation - water. Nowadays, it is virtually impossible to find a situation where an individual or institution with goods to move is not having them shipped by land at some point. Aside from extreme cases in which other means of transportation are required, road haulage has become the standard by which all other forms are measured.

Still, as simple as it is, road haulage does bring about the necessity for a series of rules and procedures. Whether the goods in question are being shipped internationally or within UK borders, drivers are required to follow an established protocol in order to avoid irregular situations. One of the most important parts of this policy is documentation, the finer points of which are detailed below.

The CMR

The most important part of the procedure binding hauliers, whether in the UK or abroad, is the acquisition of the proper documentation. International haulage requires a number of additional certificates and papers, but for the purposes of this article we shall only be considering the most basic and mandatory ones.

Among these, arguably the most important is the CMR, the standard contract of carriage signed between the driver and the party with goods to move. It serves to confirm that the carrier received the load, and that there is a contract between the carrier and the individual or company that needs the load hauled. Unlike a bill of lading, for instance, this document does not serve as a title or declaration, but simply as a statement that the contract was celebrated. Signing a CMR does, however, entitle the client to a degree of insurance.

In general, there will be four copies of a CMR: one for the haulier, one for the client, one for administrative purposes, and a fourth that will travel with the load all the way to its final destination.

The FCR and the FCT

The other important document to possess when transporting cargo nationally or internationally is the forwarders’ certificate of receipt, or FCR. In similar fashion to the CMR, an FCR serves to indicate that the forwarding company has irrevocably accepted the goods to move, and agreed to deliver them to their destination. A close relative of this document, the forwarders’ certificate of transport (FCT) adds to this by making the destination for collection negotiable, while on the FCR it is definitive and unchangeable.Both these documents can help speed up payment for the loads, as the haulier can simply present one of them in order to obtain their wage.

These are, then, the two almost indispensable documents for hauliers to possess when carrying out a contract. As noted above, there are others that are important to have in certain situations, but it is these two that will open the most doors for haulage professionals on the course of their work.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the world's largest neutral trading hub for goods to move in the express freight exchange industry. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.