Delivery exception handling
Late, damaged, held, and misrouted shipments worked to resolution inside your systems rather than logged for someone else to pick up.
Industry support
Business Process Outsourcing supports carriers, freight brokers, and third-party logistics providers with the contact that arrives when a shipment does not go to plan — exceptions, rescheduling, dispatch coordination, and status escalation.
Discuss this industry
What we support
Outsourced logistics support for carriers, brokers, and 3PLs covering delivery exceptions, dispatch coordination, and shipment status.
Late, damaged, held, and misrouted shipments worked to resolution inside your systems rather than logged for someone else to pick up.
Coordinate schedule changes, appointment times, and delivery windows between dispatch, drivers, and receivers.
Answer status enquiries against live system data and escalate anything outside documented tolerances.
Freight moves through the night; coverage matches when exceptions actually arise rather than when offices open.
Capture and route customs, paperwork, and compliance queries without interpreting them.
Rate enquiries, booking requests, and account administration handled against documented workflows.
Capture the detail a claim requires at first contact so the process downstream does not stall on missing information.
Absorb the pre-holiday shipping peak without carrying the headcount through the rest of the year.
Report exceptions by root cause so the recurring ones can be removed rather than repeatedly handled.
Logistics and Transportation support
Routine tracking is increasingly self-served, so what actually reaches an agent is the shipment that is late, damaged, held, or misrouted. That makes the average logistics call harder than it used to be, and a programme sized against total volume rather than exception volume will be staffed and trained incorrectly.
The variable that decides whether the programme helps is resolution authority. An agent who can only log an exception adds a step without solving anything; one who can authorise a reship, a credit, or a redelivery removes work from your team and effort from your customer. Freight also moves overnight, so coverage is matched to when problems surface rather than to office hours.
The support areas handed over first, in the order most teams add them.
Scope is confirmed with you before launch. Start with one area and add the rest as coverage settles.
Built around demand
Start with the support areas you need most, then expand hours, channels, or scope as customer demand changes.
Go deeper
Free consultation
Tell us the logistics and transportation work that is consuming your team's time and we will map the coverage, team size, and reporting it needs.
FAQ
Common questions about outsourcing logistics and transportation support.
Agents handle the contact that arrives when a shipment goes off plan: late, damaged, held, or misrouted freight, delivery rescheduling, appointment changes, status questions against your live data, booking requests, and first-contact claims intake. Whether they resolve or merely log depends on the authority you grant, such as approving a redelivery or a credit within a set limit. Carrier selection, rate negotiation, claims decisions, and customs interpretation stay with your operations and compliance staff. Customs and documentation questions are captured and routed without the agent interpreting them.
Agents need to see what your own staff see to answer accurately: your transportation management system, tracking and visibility tools, order or warehouse systems where relevant, and your customer communication channels. Examples include platforms such as McLeod, MercuryGate, or a carrier portal, but we work in whatever you run. Access is role-based, limited to the scoped tasks, and owned by you. We apply controlled access and confidentiality practices. If agents are expected to fix exceptions, their permissions must allow the action, such as rescheduling a delivery, or they will only be able to take messages.
Yes. Freight moves at night and on weekends, and our teams operate around the clock every day of the year, so coverage can be matched to when exceptions actually surface. For peak season you share forecast volumes and we plan added capacity ahead of the pre-holiday period, then scale back afterward. Overnight scope is usually defined more tightly than daytime scope, with a clear list of what agents may resolve and an on-call contact for problems such as a refused delivery or a breakdown. Hours and surge plans are agreed during scoping.
Agents act as a communication layer between dispatch, drivers, and receivers. They confirm and change delivery appointments, relay schedule updates, collect check-call information, chase proof of delivery, and notify customers of delays using your templates. They do not assign loads, make hours-of-service decisions, or direct a driver on safety matters; those stay with your dispatchers. Safety incidents and accidents go straight to your designated contact, and anyone in immediate danger is told to call 911. The handoff rules are mapped by your project manager before launch.
The aim of claims intake is to collect everything at first contact so the claim does not stall later. Agents record the shipment reference, what was lost or damaged, delivery receipt notations, photos, packaging details, and the value claimed, using the checklist you provide, then open the claim in your system and give the customer the next steps in your approved wording. They do not accept or deny liability or promise a payout. Deadlines and documentation requirements for claims come from your contracts and counsel, and we build them into the script.
Training is built from your real exceptions. After discovery, your project manager maps the most frequent problem types, the systems involved, and the tolerances that separate a routine delay from an escalation. Agents learn your terminology, service levels by customer, accessorial rules they may need to explain, and the actions they are authorized to take. Key accounts with special handling get their own notes. After launch, exceptions are reported by cause, which shows both where agents need more training and where recurring problems could be removed from your operation altogether.
Look for a provider that sizes the program against exception volume, not total shipment volume, since routine tracking is mostly self-served. Ask how much resolution authority they are prepared to operate with and how they control it. Ask how overnight coverage is supervised, how script changes reach every shift, and whether reporting shows root causes. Ask who your project manager will be and how often you will review performance. We have provided outsourced teams since 2000, and we would expect a pilot on one customer group or one shift before a full rollout.
It is the wrong decision if you are not willing to give outside agents any authority to fix problems. A team that can only log exceptions adds a step for your customer and saves your staff nothing. It also struggles when shipment data in your systems is unreliable, because agents will pass on bad information with confidence. High-touch accounts that expect a named representative who knows their freight are usually better kept in-house. Outsourcing fits where exception volume is steady or seasonal, the rules can be written down, and coverage gaps exist overnight.
Related industries