Checking a hired truck before loading: a gate checklist for shippers

Manufacturers, warehouses and 3PLs load trucks they do not own every day. Many of these "market vehicles" come through brokers, with a driver nobody at the gate has met. If the truck's insurance has lapsed or its permit does not cover the route, the cargo is effectively uninsured on the road, and the shipper carries the risk. Gate staff usually check papers by eye, if at all. Here is a checklist that works.

What to check before loading

Why papers alone are not enough

The documents the driver hands over may be photocopies, old versions, or simply someone else's. A photocopied insurance policy can look perfect and have been cancelled last month. The only reliable check is against the government record: the vehicle's record on VAHAN and the licence record on SARATHI, read through authorised channels.

This does not need the broker's cooperation. The vehicle number and the driver's licence number are enough to look up the records. Gate staff should not have to wait for a broker to send papers.

How to run the check at the gate

1. Note the vehicle number from the plate, not from the paperwork, and the driver's licence number from the licence itself.
2. Look up both records. Check each item on the list above against the trip dates and route.
3. Compare the chassis number on the RC with the record. A mismatch is a stop.
4. Record the result with the time, the person who checked, and a photograph of the truck and the plate.
5. If everything is valid, load. If anything is not, hold the truck and tell the broker why.

When something is wrong

Decide the rules in advance so gate staff are not left to argue with a driver:

• Insurance lapsed or not found: do not load. There is no fix at the gate.
• Permit does not cover the route: do not load for that route. The broker can send another truck.
• Fitness or PUC expired: do not load. The truck can be held on the road with your cargo on it.
• Licence class wrong or licence expired: a different driver, or a different truck.
• Chassis mismatch: do not load, and report it to the broker in writing.

Make these rules part of your contract with brokers, so a rejected truck is the broker's problem, not a negotiation at the gate.

Keep a record

Every check should leave a record: which vehicle, which driver, what was valid, who checked and when. If something goes wrong on the road, you can show that the truck was checked against the government record before loading. Over time, the records also show which brokers send trucks with problems.

A record-based check takes less time than reading a folder of photocopies. Most of the waiting at a gate is spent on papers that are hard to read, missing pages and calls to the broker. A lookup by vehicle and licence number replaces most of that with a yes or a no, and a short list of what is wrong when the answer is no.

Where PRACHSO fits

PRACHSO's Gate Check lets gate staff enter a vehicle number and a licence number and see within seconds whether the insurance, permit, fitness, PUC and licence are valid, read from VAHAN and SARATHI through authorised channels. Each check is recorded with the time and the result. It is priced per check, so shippers pay only for the trucks they verify. See the shippers and 3PLs page for how sites use it.