How do you post a transport order online? Describe the transport so a carrier can accept it without calling you back: what you ship, from where, to where, when, at what rate and on what payment term.
You post a transport order in five steps:
- Gather the route and dates: addresses, time windows, a contact at the loading dock.
- Describe the goods and the vehicle you need.
- Enter the net rate, the currency and the payment term.
- Choose a channel: your own carrier base, a transport platform, a forwarder, your own TMS or ONYX.
- Ask the carrier for a written confirmation that it accepts the order.
How a transport order differs from a CMR consignment note
A transport order is your contract with the carrier, and the CMR consignment note is a document that travels with the goods. The CMR Convention (1956 text) applies to road carriage for reward when loading and unloading are in two different countries and at least one of them is a party to it (art. 1).
The Convention lists the particulars the note must contain (art. 6(1)) and adds that a missing note does not affect the validity of the contract of carriage (art. 4). Neither the CMR Convention nor Polish law sets a fixed form or closed list of fields for the order, so you agree its content with the carrier.
If your contract is governed by another country’s law, check that country’s rules. This article is general information, not legal advice, and describes the law as of 29 October 2026.
What to prepare before you post an order
Gather the details in the order you make decisions. When you add the transport order, you then have everything at hand.
| What to prepare | What you enter | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Route and dates | Full addresses, loading and unloading time windows, a contact at the loading dock. | The carrier plans the truck and the driver’s working time on them. |
| Goods | Type, gross weight, number of pallets or LDM, dimensions, load securing. | They decide the vehicle type and how the goods are loaded. |
| Vehicle | Articulated truck with a semi-trailer or reefer, ADR, equipment you need. | A truck arrives that can take your goods. |
| Rate and payment | Net amount, currency, payment term and what it runs from. | The carrier knows the terms before accepting the order. |
| Documents | CMR consignment note, customs documents, pallet exchange, return of paper. | Unloading does not wait for missing documents. |
| Contact and requirements | Your contact person, requirements for the carrier’s liability insurance. | You know who acts when something changes on the route. |
Our glossary of road transport terms explains LDM and ADR.
This is how an order could read on a route from Greater Poland to northern Italy. You fill in the details in square brackets yourself.
Sample order text (illustrative)
- Loading: [warehouse address] near Poznań, [date], time window [hours], dock contact [name, phone].
- Unloading: [consignee address] in northern Italy, [date], time window [hours], delivery slot booking [yes/no].
- Goods: [type of goods], [number] EUR pallets, gross weight [kg], non-ADR goods.
- Vehicle: articulated truck with a curtainsider semi-trailer.
- Rate: [net rate] EUR, [VAT treatment].
- Payment: [X] days from delivery of the invoice.
- Documents: CMR consignment note, pallet exchange [yes/no], return of documents [deadline].
- Terms: paid waiting time [rate] per day after [X] hours, carrier’s liability insurance with a sum insured of [amount], no transshipment or subcontracting.
- Contact: [person on your side, phone].
- Confirmation: the carrier confirms acceptance of the order in writing.
Route and dates
Give full loading and unloading addresses, not just the city. Add time windows and a person who answers the phone at the loading dock.
On a long route, for example from Greater Poland to Germany or Italy, delays often come from unloading windows. If the consignee requires a booked delivery slot, say so in the order.
Goods and vehicle
Describe the goods precisely: type, gross weight, number of pallets or loading metres, dimensions and how the load is secured. For dangerous goods give the ADR class, and for temperature-controlled goods the temperature range.
These details tell you which vehicle to book. Full pallet loads to France usually go on an articulated truck with a semi-trailer, and chilled food in a reefer.
The same details later go into the CMR consignment note. Under art. 6(1) of the Convention, the note includes the description of the goods, the number of packages and the gross weight, among other particulars.
Rate and payment
Enter the net amount, the currency and the VAT treatment. Add the payment term and what it runs from: delivery of the invoice or receipt of the full set of documents.
Disputes often start with the payment term. Agree it before the carrier accepts the order.
If your contract is governed by Polish law, a payment term between businesses as a rule may not exceed 60 days from delivery of the invoice. A longer term must be expressly agreed and must not be grossly unfair to the carrier (art. 7(2) of the Polish Act on counteracting excessive delays in commercial transactions, Polish text).
When a large enterprise pays a micro, small or medium-sized carrier, 60 days is the limit with no exceptions (art. 7(2a)). Under another country’s law, check its own rules on payment terms.
This 60-day limit runs from delivery of the invoice, even if your order counts the term from receipt of documents.
Also set out the extra terms: paid waiting time, order cancellation and contractual penalties. Both sides then calculate them the same way.
Documents and contact
State which documents travel with the goods: the CMR consignment note, and for exports outside the EU also the customs documents. The sender attaches the documents needed for customs to the consignment note or places them at the carrier’s disposal (art. 11(1) CMR).
Agree pallet exchange and when the documents come back after unloading. Name the person on your side who answers the phone during the transport.
Requirements for the carrier
If you require carrier’s liability insurance (called OCP in Poland) with a set sum insured, write it into the order terms. Do the same for a ban on transshipment or subcontracting, if you need one.
Our guide on how to find a carrier and book road freight explains how to check a Polish carrier in public registers and what to look for in its policy.
Where to post a transport order online
You have the details ready, but where do you post them? You have five channels, and each asks something different of you.
| Where | How it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Your own carrier base, phone and email | You send the order to carriers you know, in an email or as PDF. | On a new route the base may be too small. You collect confirmations yourself. |
| Freight exchanges and transport platforms | You post an offer, carriers respond and you pick a company. | Comparing offers and checking companies usually takes time. |
| Forwarder | The forwarder finds a truck and follows the transport. | You sign the order with the forwarder, not directly with the carrier. |
| Your own TMS or ERP | You generate the order in your system and send it to a carrier. | You need to have that carrier before you send the order. |
| Order direct in ONYX | You add an order and the system picks a verified carrier. | Loading in Poland. More countries are being added. |
On platforms this is often called posting a load online. Trans.eu, for example, says a company goes through verification before it can post loads on its exchange (Trans.eu page on transport orders, in Polish).
In every channel, the order holds the same details. You prepare them once, using the table above.
How these channels look from the carrier’s side is covered in our guide on how to find truck loads for international carriers.
Posting an order direct in ONYX
If you ship your own goods, as a manufacturer, distributor or trading company, you can add the order directly in ONYX. This is how transport orders for shippers in ONYX work:
- You add the order. In your ONYX shipper account or through the API, for example from your ERP.
- You describe the transport. You use the details prepared from the table.
- You set the maximum rate. The system may find a carrier for less, never for more.
- The system picks the best vehicle for the order. The carrier sees the payment term before accepting or declining the order.
- You follow the transport live. GPS position and ETA until unloading.
If the carrier declines, the order goes back to the system. The system then picks the next vehicle from the pool of all companies.
You connect with a verified carrier with no forwarder and no commission. The carrier receives the full amount you pay for the transport.
You settle with the carrier directly or through ONYX. ONYX charges no fee in either mode.
Verification in ONYX does not replace your order terms. You set the liability insurance requirement and its sum yourself, as with any carrier.
Orders are already in the system, with loading in Poland. We keep adding more countries and regions.
Common mistakes when posting an order
- No unloading time window, or no word on delivery slot booking.
- A payment term without saying what it runs from.
- No terms on pallet exchange.
- Goods described too vaguely, for example without gross weight and number of pallets.
- Terms agreed only by phone.
Ask the carrier for a written confirmation that it accepts the order. Both sides then have the same record of what was agreed.
You now have the details and know where to post them. If your goods load in Poland, you can add the order in ONYX right away.
