Why we onboard carriers and freight forwarders the way we do

Freight Base is a marketplace. The contract for a load sits between the customer and the carrier or freight forwarder they appoint. That only works if the account quoting, or posting work for other people to carry, is the business it claims to be. Onboarding is how we check that before the account goes live.

People who need goods moved can create an account and post a job. The checks below are for carriers and freight forwarders, because other businesses rely on them.

Try the marketplace before you pay

Creating an account is free. You then have access to the trial area, so you can see how jobs, quotes, and the rest of the platform fit together. The screening fee and the compliance pack come when you decide to go live.

We keep that order on purpose. You should be able to judge the product before you pay for a check or gather insurance certificates. The step-by-step guide covers what happens after you apply. This article is about why those steps exist.

The screening fee pays for an identity check

Carriers and freight forwarders pay a one-off screening fee, currently £9.99, when they are ready to go live. That fee starts identity verification with Veriff, our identity-check partner. It is not a subscription, and it is not a charge for posting a job.

A promo code can waive the £9.99 fee. It cannot waive the check. You still have to pass Veriff.

For carriers, the card used for the screening fee is the card later used for membership. Membership is free for the first two months and then £19.99 a month, with no cancellation fee. A 3.5% commission applies to jobs secured through the platform and is billed separately. Freight forwarders do not pay a subscription or a commission to post jobs. Both still complete identity verification and the compliance pack. Pricing details also sit in the FAQs.

Identity comes before the paperwork

Veriff confirms the person opening the account. We do that before the compliance questions because a folder of documents is only useful if it belongs to the person who sent it. Checking the person first stops someone onboarding a company under a borrowed name.

For a limited company, that same identity check covers the director. The registered office is already on the public record at Companies House, which we look up from the company number. So the checklist does not ask for a second director ID, and it does not ask you to retype the registered office.

The checklist follows the business

After identity, you tell us whether you are a sole trader or partnership, or a limited company. Carriers and freight forwarders then see different lists. A generic form would either ask a freight forwarder for a driving licence or let a haulier skip hire-and-reward insurance. Neither is useful.

Required items have to be submitted before the pack can be reviewed. Optional items are there when they apply to the work you do. Leaving an optional item blank does not block onboarding.

Sole trader and partnership carriers

If you trade in your own name, we need your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference so the business can be tied to an HMRC record. The HMRC registration letter itself is optional. Motor insurance on a hire-and-reward basis is required, because private motor cover is not enough for paid haulage. Public liability is required. Goods in transit cover is optional at this step.

A driving licence can be added so we can check entitlement, points, and endorsements. It is optional, and it is only on the sole trader carrier list. Proof of address, a V5C, an MOT, road tax, a Driver CPC, and an ADR certificate are the same: upload them when they apply.

Limited company carriers

A limited company gives its Companies House number instead of a UTR. We use that number to identify the company. The certificate of incorporation is optional. Hire-and-reward motor insurance, public liability, and goods in transit or freight forwarder liability are all required, because the company is quoting to carry other people’s goods.

Carriers also give the bank account used for membership and commission. VAT is asked for only if the company is registered.

Freight forwarders

A freight forwarder is arranging carriage, so the list does not ask for a driving licence or motor insurance. It does ask for freight forwarder liability, shown on the checklist as goods in transit cover. Public liability and, for limited companies, employers’ liability can be added and are optional. Sole traders give a UTR. Limited companies give a Companies House number.

An EORI number is there for forwarders who move goods across the border. It does not block an account that only works inside the UK. Limited companies that are VAT registered add their VAT number.

An operator licence is not a condition of joining

An operator licence applies when you run goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Plenty of carriers on a marketplace never need one. The field stays on the compliance page so you can add a number in the usual format, such as OB1234567, and we can check that format. Leaving it blank does not block onboarding or quoting. Using a vehicle that needs a licence, before one is issued, can lead to prosecution and the vehicle being impounded. The penalties section sets out that consequence.

What the pack is actually for

• Right to work, so the person operating the account can work in the UK. British and Irish citizens can use a passport. Non-UK nationals can use a Home Office share code. Employing someone without that right can mean a civil penalty or a criminal prosecution. The amounts are in the penalties section.
• A statement of fact. You tell us whether you, a partner, or a director has been disqualified, made insolvent, convicted of a non-motoring criminal offence, prosecuted under health and safety law, or had a county court judgment for debt.
• Insurance that matches the work, as in the table above. A later job can also require a goods-in-transit limit. If your cover is below that limit, you cannot quote on that job.
• A business record we can check: Companies House for a limited company, a UTR for a sole trader.
• The agreement for your account type, the platform terms, the privacy notice, and the data-protection acknowledgement. You confirm you have read them. We do not ask you to upload a signed scan of a document you have just accepted on screen.

The penalties these checks are there to avoid

Several items in the pack exist because getting them wrong can mean a fine, a refused insurance claim, or a vehicle taken off the road. The review confirms what the account holder has shown us. The legal duty, and any penalty, stays with the business that employs the person, drives the vehicle, or holds the policy.

Right to work

Right to work is required for every carrier and freight forwarder. The person operating the account has to be allowed to work in the UK. British and Irish citizens can use a passport. Non-UK nationals can use a Home Office share code.

An employer who knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, that someone did not have the right to work in the UK can be sent to prison for up to five years and given an unlimited fine. Where the employer has not carried out the correct checks, the Home Office can issue a civil penalty of up to £45,000 for each worker on a first breach, and up to £60,000 for each worker on a repeat breach within three years. Immigration Enforcement can also publish the business’s details. A statutory excuse against that civil penalty comes from the employer’s own prescribed right-to-work checks. Freight Base checks the person opening the account. A carrier or freight forwarder who employs other people still makes those checks itself.

Hire-and-reward motor insurance

It is illegal to drive a vehicle on a road or in a public place without at least third-party insurance, and the policy has to cover the way the vehicle is being used. Private motor cover does not cover carrying goods for payment. A carrier who moves goods for hire and reward on a policy that excludes that work is driving without the correct insurance. The police can issue a fixed penalty of £300 and 6 points. If the case goes to court, the court can impose an unlimited fine and a driving ban, and the vehicle can be seized. Hire-and-reward motor insurance is required for carriers for that reason. The freight forwarder checklist is for businesses arranging carriage, so it does not ask for motor insurance.

An operator licence, when the vehicle needs one

Carrying goods in a vehicle over 3.5 tonnes without the operator’s licence that vehicle needs is illegal. The operator can be prosecuted, and the vehicle can be impounded and scrapped after 21 days unless an appeal to the traffic commissioner succeeds. Asking for the number is how a business that already holds a licence records it. Many carriers never need one, so a blank field still does not block onboarding or quoting, and a blank field is not a finding that the business is exempt.

When the policy has to respond

Public liability, and goods in transit or freight forwarder liability, are a different kind of protection. There is no roadside fixed penalty of the kind that applies to uninsured driving. The risk is a refused claim. If the cover does not match the work, the insurer can decline to pay, and the business on the load is left with the loss. A job can also require a goods-in-transit limit. Cover below that limit means the carrier cannot quote on that job.

A person reviews the pack before you go live

When every required item is in, the pack comes to our team. We aim to review applications within 1–3 business days. If something is rejected, you get the reason and upload it again. Progress on the checklist counts the upload, so the page can show the pack as submitted while it is still being read.

Carriers cannot quote until identity verification is complete and the required pack has been approved. While it is with the team, quoting stays closed. A half-finished account should not be winning loads. Freight forwarders use the same style of check, then post work for carriers to quote on.

The transport contract stays with the businesses on the load

Passing onboarding means the account has been through identity verification and the compliance review for its business type. A completed pack records what the account holder showed us. The right-to-work duty, any driving offence, and any insurance claim stay with that business. Freight Base still runs the marketplace. It is the carrier, the freight forwarder, or the insurer only where we agree that in writing.

Customers should still read the quote, the vehicle, the insurance limit, and the reviews before they appoint someone. Carriers should still read the job. The checks exist so the marketplace starts from identified businesses with the right cover, and so you can see why we ask for each part of the pack, including the fines and refused claims above.