The platform provides you with many tools to help you manage your loads efficiently. You can use them to monitor the load's progress, view the carrier's route and contact them directly. By going fully digital with the Exchange's smart features, you can offer your customer full visibility and instant updates on the progress of a load.
IN THIS ARTICLE
- How to monitor a load in progress
- How to contact the carrier transporting your load
- How to view the POD of a completed load
- How to raise and send an invoice for a completed load on desktop view (Premium feature)
- How to raise and send an invoice for a completed load on the mobile app (Premium feature)
- What to do if something is incorrect on an invoice (Premium feature)
- How to edit an invoice on desktop view and mobile app (Premium feature)
- How to raise a supplementary invoice
How to monitor a load in progress
Keeping an eye on a load’s progress doesn’t need to be time-consuming. Our tools, specifically the Freight Vision app and Diary tab, are designed to help you monitor load progress with ease.
It’s crucial to have transparency and accountability from your carrier while they’re delivering your load, so you can keep your customer informed if they ask for updates. Let’s have a look at how you can do that.
Monitoring a load’s progress on the desktop view:
Step 1) Click on the 'Diary' tab.
Step 2) Search for the load in progress. To find it faster you can click on the 'In Progress' tab.
Step 3) There are two ways you can see the progress of a load via desktop view:
1. Driver status updates
There are four status updates that a carrier will provide during their booking:
- On my way to pick up
- On-site (Pickup)
- Loaded
- On-site (Delivery)
If the carrier is being tracked by the Exchange using the CX Driver app, they'll update their status each time they complete a step in the booking.
If your carrier is working for a transport company only using integrated vehicle tracking (Telematics) instead of the Driver app, then the dispatcher or person in control of quoting on loads and accepting bookings will need to manually update the statuses based on where their vehicles are. The drivers of those vehicles will most likely be in contact with them at all times, so they’ll know when to update the statuses.
When the load is completed, you should see a green ‘Leave Feedback’ button and a timestamp for when the load was delivered.
2. GPS Tracking or Telematics
When booking a carrier, they’ll either be using the CX Driver app or Telematics provider integrated with the Exchange, meaning you'll always have a real-time view of their progress.
It’s very easy to view the carrier's location. Click on the yellow 'Track' button, and a window will appear with a map showing the position of your carrier and the route they've taken.
Your carrier is represented by a location marker. They'll appear on the map as unavailable (red) because they’re still completing your load.
If you click on the location marker, you can see the carrier’s vehicle details, contact information and current location by postcode.
How to track a load’s progress using the Freight Vision app:
You can use the Freight Vision app to optimise visibility of your loads in progress, all in one place. Freight Vision is available for download from Google Play and the App Store.
How to track a load’s progress using the ‘Bookings in Progress’ tab:
This section will always appear by default after logging into the app.
It shows you:
- How many loads are currently in progress;
- Whether your loads in progress are being tracked or not;
- The progress of loads being completed – the app will automatically refresh the feed as the carrier updates the load status.
The colour-coded boxes help you monitor all load progress in a few seconds.
The blue box indicates the total number of allocated loads.
The green box shows you all the loads that are ‘On Time’. The yellow box represents loads running behind the ETA, and the red box shows loads that are running late.
The grey box displays allocated loads that are not being tracked or that haven’t yet been started.
The colour of the box reflects the load’s current status, so if your load is ‘On Time’, the load status will appear with a green line. If your load is running ‘Late’ then the load status will appear in red.
If you click on a load within this section, the app will bring up the booking details along with the carrier’s contact information if you need to communicate with them.
You can also view the carrier’s current live location and the route they’ve taken, provided their tracking is turned on.
Once a load is delivered, it will still be visible on the map but will be labelled as ‘Delivered’.
How to contact the carrier transporting your load
It's easy to keep in touch with the carrier completing your load. Communication is key and leads to good feedback which, in turn, builds your reputation on the Exchange. It's important to keep your carrier updated with any additional information or requests made by your customer.
If you need to contact the carrier you can find their details using the Diary on the desktop view:
Step 1) Click on 'Diary' from the top menu bar.
Step 2) Find the load in progress that you’d like to enquire about.
Step 3) You'll find their main contact number at the bottom right.
If you can't reach the member over the phone, proceed to step 4.
Step 4) Click on the phone number to expand their profile details and a window will appear. Click on the 'Member Details' tab, where you can find their primary or secondary contact number (if they’ve provided one) and any email addresses too.
How to view the POD for a completed load
Once the carrier has successfully delivered the load, they'll submit the ePOD using the form built into the app. You can then find it in the Diary tab on desktop view.
If you’ve asked your carrier to provide you with a hard copy POD, they would use the app to upload a photograph of the signed hard copy POD, which will also be visible in the same location you’d find the ePOD in the app.
Once your carrier collects the POD, the load poster will receive an alert via email from alerts_cx@transportexchangegroup.com, to let them know that a POD was uploaded.
The email will contain information such as the load ID, so you know which POD is complete and who received the delivered goods.
Example:
How to view the signed POD:
Step 1) Click on the 'Diary' tab from the top menu bar.
Step 2) Click 'Completed' from the menu to view all completed loads. The page will show your loads, sorted by most recent to least recent. If you still can't find the load you're looking for, then try using the search panel to the left of the screen to narrow down your search results.
Step 3) Click 'POD' on the load you want to review.
Step 4) Now you will be able to see the POD including information on what was delivered, who signed for the goods, along with their signature and if any attachments, like an image of the load's condition, were included.
To view the POD, click on 'View'. A copy of the PDF will automatically download to your computer. If it doesn't download automatically, you can right-click on the PDF and click 'Save as' and it will save onto your computer.
If you want to send the POD to a colleague or customer, click 'Email POD', then enter the email address and click 'Ok'.
How to raise and send an invoice for a completed load on desktop view (Premium feature)
If you have a freight forwarder premium subscription, operating vehicles and subcontractors, that means you’ll be quoting on loads as well as posting them. It’s important to know how to raise an invoice for a completed load. You can do this either on desktop view or mobile app.
How to raise an invoice for a completed load on desktop view:
Step 1) Click on the 'Diary' tab from the top menu bar. 
Step 2) Search for the completed load you'd like to invoice for.
You should see the option to create an invoice for the load like the example above.
The page should be showing 'Leave Feedback' in green and not any of the booking statuses like the example below.
If you don't see the option to create an invoice, first check that your POD was uploaded successfully, and the final status update should be 'Delivered/POD'.
Step 3) Click on the button that says, 'Create Invoice'.
Step 4) Check that all the details are correct and click 'Save' at the bottom of the page.
Step 5) Click on the 'Return to Diary' button in the top right-hand corner of the box, and that will take you back to the Diary.
Step 6) The 'Create Invoice' button should now have changed to 'View Invoice' - this means the invoice has successfully been created.
How to send an invoice for a completed load on desktop view:
Step 1) Click on the 'Diary' tab from the top menu bar.
Step 2) Find the completed load you're sending an invoice for.
Step 3) Click the button that says, 'View Invoice'.
Step 4) You'll see the 'Email' icon in the yellow bar near the top of the page. Click it and you'll be taken to the email invoice page.
Step 5) The fields will be auto completed with the email addresses you and the load poster have supplied, although you can change the email addresses in the boxes. If you need to add any additional information to your invoice email, type it out in the message box as if it were a regular email and click the green 'Email' button to send.
Or, if you prefer, you can download a PDF copy by clicking 'Export to PDF' and attach it to an email on Outlook or Gmail, for example.
If you receive your invoice at the email address you typed in the ‘Email a copy to’ field, then the other member will have received their copy.
We don’t recommend sending your invoices by post because mail can go missing but if it’s required, we suggest sending it by recorded delivery as proof you sent an invoice.
How to raise and send an invoice for a completed load on the mobile app (Premium feature)
How to raise an invoice for a completed load on the app:
After you've successfully captured the load recipient's eSignature and generated the POD, you can go ahead and create the invoice.
Step 1) Tap 'Create Invoice'.
Step 2) Check all details on the invoice are correct.
If you need to add extra items to the invoice like congestion or waiting charges, tap on 'Add item' to do so.
Step 3) Tap 'Save' when you're happy with your invoice.
How to send an invoice on the app:
Step 1) Tap on 'Accounting'.
Step 2) Use the search filters provided to find the invoice you want to send.
Step 3) Once you've found the right invoice, tap on the 'Email' icon.
Step 4) Check that all the information is correct and add a message for your customer.
Step 5) Once you're happy with everything, tap 'Email' to send the invoice to your customer.
What to do if something is incorrect on an invoice (Premium feature)
If you noticed that something is incorrect on an invoice, you can easily fix this.
Important note: you can only fix invoices on the desktop view.
In this first example, we’ll show you how to update your bank details.
Step 1) Click on the 'Accounting' tab from the top menu bar.
Step 2) You should see the following instruction: 'Add your bank details to your invoices', click here.
Step 3) Complete the fields with the correct banking information.
Step 4) If you're using a finance provider to factor your invoices, check the box that says, 'We use an invoice finance provider'. If you'd like to factor every invoice raised on the Exchange by default, check the box that says, 'Make Invoice Finance the default option for new invoices.
Step 5) Enter your factoring company's details. Click 'Save' when done.
In this next example, we’ll show you how to update your business information.
Step 1) Click on the main drop-down button in the top right corner of the platform.
Step 2) Click on 'Company Profile' to continue.
Step 3) This is where you can edit your company's contact information like address, booking footer and delivery note details.
How to edit an invoice on desktop view and mobile app (Premium feature)
You'd need to edit an invoice if additional charges have arisen during a booking like handballing, 2-man services, or if you made a mistake somewhere.
How to edit an invoice on desktop view:
Step 1) Click on the 'Accounting' tab.
Step 2) Click on, 'View my Invoices'.
Step 3) You can use the search filters provided to find your invoice. Once you've located the right one, click on the 'edit' icon next to the invoice ID.
Step 4) Make your adjustments and click 'Save' when you're finished.
Please note if the invoice appears with a padlock, you won't be able to make further edits as it means either:
- The invoice you're viewing has been submitted to your VAT return.
- The invoice you're viewing has been approved by your customer for payment.
If you've forgotten to add additional items to a booking, you will need to raise a supplementary invoice.
How to edit an invoice on the mobile app:
If you've purchased the CX Fleet as a bolt-on to your subscription, you can also make edits to invoices via Mobile.
Step 1) Tap on the main drop-down menu.
Step 2) Tap on 'Accounting'.
Step 3) Use the search filters provided to find the invoice you want to edit.
Step 4) Once you've found the right invoice, tap on the 'edit' icon.
Step 5) Make your desired changes, including any additional items you need to charge for.
Step 6) Check that all the information is correct, and you haven't forgotten anything, then tap 'Save'.
How to raise a supplementary invoice
Step 1) Locate the invoice you require and click the edit button in the 'Actions' column.
Remember you aren't editing the invoice as you no longer can.
Step 2) Click 'Raise a Supplementary Invoice for this order'.
The supplementary invoice will have the same invoice number as the original but will have a suffix attached to the end of the number, for example, "Invoice 101865-100-A".
The first time you raise a supplementary invoice, you'll be able to adjust the suffix to suit your preferences.
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