3rd party transportation service providers serve the needs of many thousands of carriers operating millions of trucks across the trucking industry in North America. While there are many 3rd party transportation service providers available in the market, not all stand by the same sets of principals of integrity, honesty and professionalism. For that reason, it is important to thoroughly evaluate any service provider before utilizing their compliance services and expertise. A diligent evaluation can be performed by reviewing their customer testimonials, online reviews and through word of mouth. You may also look to select a provider that is part of your local trucking association or other professional associations such as NATSA (North American Transportation Services Association). This can help ensure that you will receive high end, cost saving compliance assistance.
In this article, with the help of the NATSA, we have summarized the kind of value you can expect to receive from a high-quality service provider such as TransReport Services Inc. Read below to learn of all the benefits to utilizing a 3rd party transportation service provider!
Background
Service Bureaus serve every motor carrier industry segment including for-hire, private, oil field, exempt, hazmat, tanker, refrigerated, utility, farm, military, entertainment, lumber, tow, repair and many more. Collectively and individually, Service Bureaus work with ALL jurisdictions to perform many thousands of IFTA and IRP transactions every day.
Service Bureaus are an effective channel between carriers and government that enhances regulatory compliance, carrier profitability, jurisdiction efficiency and the fullest use of our freeways, highways and roadways throughout North America.
A reputable Service Bureau should provide value to you by:
- Eliminating the need for you to gain the expertise required to manage compliance tasks yourself or maintain a staff that can efficiently and correctly register equipment, renew equipment, accurately report fuel taxes and maintain the record keeping requirements.
- Service Bureaus have the expertise to be your resource, know what needs to be done, who to call and address most any compliance need in a time is of the essence manner.
- Workflows developed to service many carriers allow Service Bureaus to complete and submit jurisdiction processes faster and more accurately resulting in a faster turnaround at a cheaper cost.
- Service Bureaus possess the expertise to streamline fleet management, especially for carriers with fleets based in multiple jurisdictions, addressing the uniqueness of jurisdictional commercial, apportioned and other registration processes.
- Service Bureaus maintain the technology, hardware, software and the bandwidth required to efficiently comply with IFTA and IRP jurisdictional electronic processes.
- Service Bureaus can act as a compliance clearing house allowing you to write one check to accomplish multiple jurisdiction compliance transactions, greatly simplifying the accounting process.
- Service Bureaus provide education to carriers supporting such causes as base state requirements, fleet consolidation, IFTA reporting consolidation, record keeping requirements, reporting deadlines and more.
- Service Bureaus provide you with the comfort and relief of knowing their IFTA and registration processes are being managed expertly, accurately, efficiently, and in many cases with a guarantee of error free work.
- Most Service Bureaus provide expertise and services well beyond IFTA and IRP that enhance the value for a carrier to outsource compliance tasks. Expertise and services such as jurisdiction by jurisdiction titling, lease agreements, audit support, over dimension permits, UCR, FMCSA Authority, jurisdiction permit renewals, HazMat permits, driver training, driver log auditing, driver qualification files, maintenance files, ad valorem tax reporting, fuel tax refunds, company policy creation, mock audits, electronic distance data management and more.
A reputable Service Bureau will not:
- Allow a carrier to use their address as a physical location to meet base state requirements.
- Knowingly misrepresent carrier data to lessen fees or taxes.
If you are considering hiring outside your organization for compliance expertise, give us a call. One of our experts would be happy to customize a compliance plan that helps remove stress, improve compliance and save you money. Contact us today!