Automating inter-branch settlement in LTL groupage carrying

In LTL groupage carrying (ambar nakliyeciliği), a single shipment usually reaches its destination through the work of several branches. The origin branch that accepts the freight, the transfer hub that runs the line, the destination branch that makes the final delivery and sometimes an intermediate carrier all expect a share of the same freight charge. Payment is not collected at a single point either: for prepaid shipments the origin branch collects, while for consignee-paid shipments the delivering branch does. This structure makes the question of “who owes whom, and how much” unavoidable at the end of every month.

What really makes settlement difficult is that the rules are either not written down or depend on individual people. Share rates can differ by line, by branch and even by customer; some agents work with a fixed amount, others with a percentage. When the rules live in Excel files or in the accountant’s memory, the same calculation is redone every month, differences are chased by email and phone, and trust between branches wears away over time.

The first step toward automation is to separate the settlement items clearly. The revenue-share percentage (pay yüzdesi) determines what portion of the freight charge belongs to which branch. The ambar havalesi (inter-branch remittance) is the obligation of a branch that has collected money on behalf of another, such as the charge on a consignee-paid shipment, to pass it on to the party entitled to it. Ara nakliye (intermediate haulage) is the fee paid to a third party for carrying goods to a point off the line, and it is usually deducted from the freight charge before sharing. If these three items are not tracked separately, the balance may look right, but no one can explain which shipment it came from.

The second step is to tie settlement to the moment of the transaction instead of leaving it to month-end. As soon as an acceptance slip is issued, loaded onto a waybill and delivered, it should be clear how much each branch is owed or owes. Month-end reconciliation then stops being a calculation exercise and becomes a step in which ready-made balances are simply checked and approved. Cancellations, returns and price corrections are processed as reversing entries on the same record, with no separate adjustment spreadsheet.

The third step is transparency. Every branch should be able to see its own account balance broken down by shipment and point to a disputed item by slip number. At head office, the receivables and payables summary per branch, overdue inter-branch remittances and line-level profitability should all be visible in one place. What ends the argument is not deciding who is right, but everyone looking at the same data.

Kargon™ is built around exactly this structure. When an acceptance slip is issued, the chain of origin, destination, transfer and hub branches is recorded on the slip, and the freight charge is automatically distributed among the branches according to the defined revenue-share percentages and the inter-branch remittance and intermediate haulage rules. Consignee-paid collections are reflected in the relevant branch’s account the moment they enter the cash register on the assignment (zimmet) and delivery screen.

As a result, branches see their up-to-date balances without waiting for month-end, and head office closes the reconciliation in a single report with the shipment breakdown attached. Settlement rules are defined once and then applied the same way to every slip; when they need to change, the change is taught to the system rather than to individual people.

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