Shipper delivery notices and credit review reminders

How the Logistics pack tells a shipper two days before a delivery and reminds staff before a spot quote expires or a credit review is due.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 4 min read · For Logistics businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya

Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.

A truck arrives at a warehouse and nobody is expecting it. The receiving bay is full, the forklift driver has gone home, and the load waits outside until morning. The driver's hours are lost, the next collection is late, and the shipper wants to know why its customer is complaining. One message a couple of days earlier would have prevented all of it.

Freight offices are full of moments like that: a delivery nobody was told about, a spot quote that lapsed while the shipper was still deciding, a credit limit that has not been looked at since the account was opened. The Logistics & freight pack in Achekam's Industry CRM handles three of them with reminders. One goes to the shipper; two go to your own staff. This article explains each and the rules that govern them.

One notice for shippers, two reminders for staff

The first is customer-facing, and that makes it subject to stricter rules, described below. The other two are internal prompts for your team to act.

Two days before a delivery

The pack can tell a shipper 2 days before a delivery is expected. That is enough time for the shipper to warn its customer, book a receiving slot, free up a bay or arrange for someone to sign the proof of delivery, and close enough to the day that it will not be forgotten.

The notice is only as good as the expected delivery date on the shipment. If a border delay pushes the date back, update the shipment before the notice goes, or the shipper will warn its customer about a truck that is not coming.

Because this notice goes to customers, three rules apply to it:

• It stays off until a workspace administrator switches it on. Nothing goes to shippers just because the pack was activated.
• It is sent at most once. If the delivery date moves after the notice has gone, do not count on a second, corrected notice. A dispatcher should phone or e-mail the shipper with the new date.
• A daily cap limits how many are sent. That keeps the volume of e-mail going out in the business's name in check on a heavy dispatch day.

When a spot quote is about to expire

Spot quotes in the pack carry a validity date. When a quote is about to expire, the pack reminds staff.

Treat the reminder as a prompt to call, not to resend the same price. The questions are short: has the shipper decided, does the load still need moving, and do the carriers' buy rates behind the quote still stand? If fuel or capacity has moved, re-price before expiry rather than honouring a stale number or springing a new one on the shipper afterwards. If the shipper has gone quiet, let the quote lapse deliberately and note why, if you know. A pattern of lapsed quotes on one lane often says more about your pricing than any single lost booking. How those quotes are built and approved is covered in spot quotes with a margin approval rule.

When a credit review is due

Credit limits set during onboarding need revisiting. When a shipper's credit review falls due, the pack reminds staff. ACCA's article on accounts receivable management explains how a business monitors what its customers owe with an aged analysis, which gives each review its starting point.

A good review takes the shipper's account as it is now, not as it was on the day it opened:

1. How has the shipper paid since the last review: on terms, or drifting later?
2. What is its full exposure today, including loads in transit, unbilled loads and disbursements?
3. Has its volume grown beyond what the limit was sized for?
4. Have there been disputes over deliveries or recharges?

The outcome can be to keep the limit, raise it, lower it, or shorten the terms. Record the decision and the reason, and if the terms change, have them signed again as described in shipper credit applications and signed terms.

E-mail and in-app only

The Industry CRM's reminders go by e-mail and in-app. There is no SMS and no WhatsApp.

For your staff, that means the quote and credit reminders arrive in their inbox and in Achekam, so checking both belongs in the morning routine of the sales desk and the credit controller.

For shippers, the delivery notice arrives by e-mail. Make sure each shipper account has the address of the person who actually plans receiving, not just the accounts department. Where a shipper's site relies on phone calls or messaging, keep your dispatcher's own call in the routine for the deliveries that matter most.

Getting the notices right

Before an administrator switches the shipper notice on:

• check that expected delivery dates are being kept up to date on shipments;
• confirm each shipper's notice address with the shipper;
• read the wording of the notice as a shipper would read it;
• decide who phones the shipper when a date moves after the notice has gone.

Once it is on, ask a few regular shippers whether the notices help and whether the wording works for them. Reminders do not move freight. People do. But a well-timed notice means the truck is expected, the bay is clear and someone is there to sign, which is where a clean proof of delivery begins; see shipments leg by leg to signed proof of delivery.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.