The Keys to Working with Transport and Logistics Subcontractors: Traceability and Responsibilities

12/08/2026
11:33

reading time : 2 min

Lucie Monnot

Content Marketing Manager

In the industrial and retail sectors, an increasing number of companies are outsourcing their downstream logistics to service providers, which may themselves use subcontractors. What conditions need to be met for this model to work as effectively as possible for the contracting company, its service providers and the people whose satisfaction is vital: end customers?

Outsourcing transport operations has been an established trend since the early 2000s, and it continues to accelerate. In the current environment, companies are increasingly seeking to refocus on their core business and reduce costs.

By entrusting all or part of their deliveries to one or more service providers, companies avoid the direct management responsibilities and costs associated with an activity that is becoming increasingly demanding in terms of staffing, vehicle fleets and execution quality.

Different needs and models for transport subcontracting

The needs and motivations of companies that outsource transport and delivery to end customers, whether businesses or private individuals, are extremely varied.

Some companies outsource all their deliveries, including installation services associated with their products. Others use a carrier occasionally or periodically to handle a peak in deliveries that their in-house transport department cannot manage.

Some companies seek a service provider to cover geographical areas that they cannot serve efficiently themselves due to a lack of local presence, insufficient volumes or unsuitable vehicles.

In response to this diversity of needs, the range of services offered by logistics providers has expanded considerably. Today, it covers everything from “simple” delivery to the end customer to the complete management of logistics operations, including:

Leaving the factory.
Deconsolidation and dispatching.
Warehousing.
Inventory management.
Last-mile delivery.
Customer-site installation.
Returns management.

Only major logistics providers are able to offer this type of comprehensive service, often relying on their own networks of partners. This allows them to provide their customers with full geographical coverage and all types of services and vehicle categories, including refrigerated trucks, vehicles for valuable, fragile or sensitive goods, electric vehicles and cargo bikes.

The contract between a contracting company and a service provider may therefore conceal several levels of subcontracting, making it difficult to establish responsibility in the event of failed deliveries, lost parcels or theft.

This is why information sharing between the different parties is so important. All parties must also adopt best practices and use tools that guarantee effective and sustainable collaboration for everyone involved.

Traceability: the number one challenge in logistics subcontracting

Whatever the logistics provider and type of contract selected, outsourcing the transport and delivery of products requires the contracting company to maintain control over parcel and product traceability, as well as the traceability of actions carried out by the different parties at every stage of the service.

The company must be able to know where each parcel is at any time until it has been handed over to its legitimate recipient. This is typically achieved through a delivery application that allows products to be scanned.

In practical terms, achieving end-to-end traceability, from the warehouse to the delivery point, requires an operator to scan the product barcode at every movement. This includes all handling points and vehicle changes that may occur before the actual delivery.

Each time the barcode is scanned, the application associates a time and geographical coordinates with the parcel.

This timestamp and geolocation data is essential for retracing the parcel’s journey and, where necessary, locating it if it was left behind by the driver at the start of the route or misdirected at one of the stages, for example, by being loaded onto the wrong truck.

Systematically scanning parcels at the beginning of a delivery route may seem restrictive to some service providers. This is particularly true of independent carriers handling last-mile deliveries for e-commerce websites.

Whether they work directly for the contracting company or through a platform connecting carriers and shippers, these carriers have every reason to support traceability by using their customer’s or platform’s mobile delivery application, or by equipping themselves with their own solution.

Automatically collected and easy to share, timestamp and geolocation data generated by a delivery application such as Nomadia Delivery allows delivery drivers to:

Prove that the parcels entrusted to them were collected and delivered on time to the correct addresses.
In the event of a failed delivery, prove that the parcel was presented at the stated address but could not be handed over because the recipient was absent, or was refused because of an address error. This evidence can help them avoid financial penalties.
Strengthen customer trust by demonstrating the quality of their work and thereby securing the contracts and assignments they receive.

Key features for end-customer satisfaction

Equipping yourself with an application genuinely designed for delivery, whether you are a contracting company or a transport provider, is becoming essential for delivering the level of service expected by end customers.

More than ever, end customers base their satisfaction on the reliability of the information they receive about their order delivery. They are no longer satisfied with a date and a relatively broad time window. On the agreed delivery day, they want to know the exact time when their delivery will arrive.

This arrival time cannot be provided reliably without an application that allows the parties involved in the delivery process to share all the location and travel-time data required to calculate an increasingly accurate ETA, or estimated time of arrival.

With Nomadia Delivery’s “Approaching arrival” feature, you can also allow end customers to track the delivery vehicle’s approach in real time on their computer or smartphone.

Widely appreciated by customers of major e-commerce websites, this feature is also valued by drivers. When customers are notified that the vehicle is approaching, drivers are more likely to find someone available to receive the delivery when they arrive.

A well-designed mobile delivery application also gives drivers access to all the information and tools they may need during their route through a single interface. These include customer contact details, the sequence of stops, signature capture, digital delivery notes and missed-delivery notifications by SMS or email.

Optimized and environmentally responsible routes

Parcel traceability, data sharing and end-customer information are essential to the successful execution of routes assigned to a subcontractor. However, those routes must also be realistic and achievable.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. At a customer’s request or to fill their capacity plan, carriers may accept unrealistic commitments or have them imposed on them.

This can result in routes with too many delivery points, excessive distances and, ultimately, extended working hours for drivers, creating potential risks to their safety. These “impossible” routes inevitably lead to failed deliveries and rescheduled deliveries, which do little to satisfy the end customer.

Using route planning and optimization software allows both parties, subcontractors and contracting companies, to agree on reasonable contracts that take shipment volumes and delivery-time commitments into account.

It also enables them to agree on optimized routes in terms of:

Distance traveled.
Travel time.
Number of delivery points.
Delivery sequencing.

By considering all these criteria, our optimization solution, TourSolver, maximizes the number of deliveries that can be completed during a single route while minimizing kilometers traveled and reducing CO₂ emissions.

Whether route plans are created by the contracting company or the subcontractor, both parties have access to the same data. They can also easily compare executed routes with planned routes for monitoring and continuous improvement purposes.

With Nomadia Delivery and TourSolver, contracting companies and subcontractors finally have the tools to manage their transport and delivery operations end to end, while respecting each party’s operational, financial and CSR requirements.

Are you a contracting company or a transport and delivery provider working with your own fleet or independent drivers? Contact one of our experts to learn more about how Nomadia Delivery and TourSolver can support you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ – The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Nomadia

Why Choose Nomadia?

As France’s leading publisher of Smart Mobility SaaS solutions, Nomadia supports more than 175,000 field professionals every day. Our solutions are easy to use, quick to deploy, and deliver significant and immediate return on investment.

Drawing on the expertise of both a software publisher-integrator and a consulting firm, Nomadia’s teams provide tailored support, from data consulting to the deployment of mobile devices. Finally, our technical support team is available 24/7 to assist you.

Who Are Nomadia Solutions Designed For?

Nomadia solutions support the digital transformation of all mobile professionals: field sales representatives, delivery drivers, technicians, auditors, healthcare workers, inspectors, service providers, security patrol officers, experts, and more.

Whether for SMEs or large enterprises, our solutions adapt to businesses of all sizes and across all industries.

How Much Does It Cost?

Nomadia Delivery offers transparent and flexible pricing, which primarily depends on the number of users (for example, planners and dispatchers) rather than a fixed cost per parcel.

Thanks to this model, you can control your delivery costs based on the number of resources (users) involved in route management, providing great flexibility to adjust your subscription according to the size of your fleet and your operational needs.

Is It Compatible with My Current ERP System?

Yes! Nomadia Delivery has been designed to integrate quickly and easily into your existing environment thanks to our powerful and secure APIs. Our solution is compatible with most ERP systems on the market. API integration enables the automatic synchronization of your transport orders, customer orders, and customer information, ensuring smooth and error-free delivery tracking. The solution also offers user-friendly import capabilities with data validation controls, as well as export options in multiple customizable formats.

Is It Suitable for Our Delivery Volume?

Yes, Nomadia Delivery is ideal for companies that manage a high volume of deliveries and want to optimize their routes, create balanced territories for their drivers, and ensure precise tracking of every parcel. Nomadia Delivery adapts to fleets of all sizes!

Can Multiple Warehouses or Depots Be Managed?

Yes, our solution allows you to manage multiple warehouses or depots. It centralizes data and optimizes routes or service operations for each of them.

Is There a Limit to the Number of Stops in Route Optimizations?

No, there is no strict limit to the number of stops in route optimizations. Our solution can handle large volumes of stops and quickly calculate optimized routes.

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