Damaged goods, you find out about it later. But you want to know about it already at unloading?
Your cargo, worth hundreds of thousands of euros, reached the recipient. A month later, you find out it was damaged. You don’t know when, you don’t know how, you have no way to react. Now imagine you knew about it at the moment of unloading. And you could act immediately. Welcome to the world of the FreightON e-CMR platform.
In the industry, every minute has its price, and a delay in detecting problems can lead to losses of thousands. One of the biggest challenges for carriers, shippers, and forwarders is the lack of immediate access to information about the condition of goods at the time of unloading. The digital consignment note is the answer to this problem.
“The foil was cut” – but when did it happen?
❌ Traditional CMR is an artifact from the last decade. Filled out manually, illegibly signed, and circulates for weeks – often in an envelope opened by someone in the back office. Sometimes the sender only learns about damaged goods when the documents return – which can take weeks. During this time, evidence (camera recordings, presence of witnesses) may no longer exist.
Something was written in the documents – but what?
❌ In a paper CMR, someone scribbled something by hand. In French or German, sometimes completely illegibly. Only after scanning the document is someone from logistics administration able to understand the barely legible note: “damaged packaging”. But the carrier is gone, the warehouse worker also knows nothing. And monitoring? – the recording was deleted. And now you have a problem. The client filed a complaint, and you have nothing – no evidence, no chance to react.
e-CMR is the solution to these problems. The digital consignment note, as the only solution, allows entering notes such as “cut foil”, “incomplete” or “damaged” directly during unloading. This information is immediately available to the sender, who can react instantly – stop the driver, call an expert, report the case to the insurer.
OTIF, contracts, and reputation
Do you know what really determines whether a client will extend cooperation with you, the forwarder? Not the price, not the quality of the service, but whether you deliver the cargo on time (On-Time) and complete (In-Full).
❌ With paper, you have no proof that the cargo arrived on time and the goods were not damaged during transport. With e-CMR, you have an accurate report, automatically generated in the system.
Benefits for all participants in the supply chain
Using e-CMR is particularly useful for freight forwarding companies. Although at first glance it forces faster settlements, e-CMR provides access to real-time data. This makes it possible to create OTIF (On Time In Full) reports, which becomes a key KPI in tenders. Well-used data can determine the extension of a contract with a manufacturer.
Load offerers also benefit. In case of problems, they receive an immediate alert. This allows controlling the situation before the damage becomes irreversible. It also means greater security – an electronic signature or SMS code used by the recipient ensures that the goods go to the right person.
For the carrier, e-CMR means eliminating the costs of printing and sending documents to the client. There is no need to scan, sort, or store them – everything is done digitally. Moreover, the system neutralizes the risk of driver errors when issuing documents.
Digital security and compliance
Although there are no uniform legal regulations at the pan-European level, e-CMR is already legal and used in 35 countries today. In Poland, although roadside control can be a challenge, a digital document is completely acceptable within the company. e-CMR available on the FreightON platform is already integrated with the authorization process and complies with tax and legal requirements.
Book an e-CMR demo and see how it works in practice, before someone writes “cut foil” again, and you can’t do anything about it.