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How 24/7 Transport Monitoring Works?
A Day at the Euro24 Control Tower
Published: August 24, 2026
24/7 transport monitoring is a dedicated operational department that tracks the status of every order at every stage of the route and implements solutions before any delay reaches the customer. At Euro24, this role is performed by the Control Tower – a monitoring team working in a three-shift system for 8,760 hours a year, including nights, weekends, and holidays. In 2025 alone, it managed 31,752 road transport orders across 43 countries and over 30 million driven kilometers.
The core principle behind the Control Tower is simple. If anything happens on the route that could shift the delivery deadline – a vehicle breakdown, a roadside inspection, a road closure, or an extended unloading time – the client learns about it directly from us. In the exact same message, they receive two key pieces of information: the new, realistic ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) and the specific corrective actions already put in motion to keep the schedule on track.
Oskar, Transport Monitoring Specialist at Euro24, explains what a day looks like when all of this is happening:
„The biggest part of this job isn’t responding to a problem – it’s catching it before it even happens. »
Why Transport Monitoring Determines On-Time Delivery?
In the TSL industry, the « 360 freight forwarder » model is still popular – a single person responsible for an order from A to Z: from taking the inquiry and quoting, through finding a vehicle and tracking the route, to completing documentation and final billing. Such a freight forwarder is often available in the evenings and on weekends because they value the client relationship. They will answer the phone at 22:00, check the GPS status on Sunday morning, or even reply while on holiday (read more about the role of a freight forwarder).
This system seems to work – but only as long as that single person is physically available.
The system breaks down during sick leave, holidays, a parallel and equally urgent order, or simply when the forwarder is asleep. It stops working for good when, after two years of working with « the phone under the pillow », the forwarder changes companies and takes all the knowledge about your shipments with them.
Anyone working in logistics knows that transport doesn’t care about office hours or holiday schedules. A breakdown happens at 2:40 AM, customs documents appear at the port at 19:30, and unloading falls on Saturday at 7:00 AM. Downtime costs are by no means symbolic. In JIT (Just-in-Time) deliveries, a component delayed by two hours stops the entire assembly line. In JIS (Just-in-Sequence), it is not just the hour that matters, but also the precise sequence of pallet placement. Meanwhile, in the AOG (Aircraft on Ground) sector, grounding a plane until a spare part arrives generates losses running into tens of thousands of euros for every single hour.
That is why at Euro24 we separated freight forwarding from dispatch (monitoring). The Control Tower operates as a fully autonomous Monitoring Department. The freight forwarder agrees on terms with the client, organizes transport, and enters the order into the system. From that exact second, route supervision is taken over by a separate team that monitors the cargo 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
| QUALITY DIMENSION | « 360 FREIGHT FORWARDER » MODEL | FREIGHT FORWARDING + CONTROL TOWER (Euro24) |
|---|---|---|
| Who monitors the route at night? | The same freight forwarder who managed the order during the day (if they answer the phone) | Monitoring Specialist on the night shift, at their desk |
| What does availability depend on? | The commitment of a specific individual | Shift schedule: three shifts across 365 days |
| What happens in case of sick leave or leaving the company? | Knowledge about the order / client leaves together with the person | Matters formally handed over at the start of every shift |
| How does the client learn about a problem? | Usually notices it themselves or gets a call from the recipient | Receives a call or email from Euro24, along with a ready solution |
| Response to a breakdown at 2:40 AM | Depends on whether anyone answers the phone | Procedure and escalation path to higher-level decision makers; 24/7/365 shift duty including holidays |
| On-time delivery accountability | Usually evaluated based on the final result | On-time delivery KPI – an actual metric, not just a declaration |
This division has one more consequence that is rarely discussed in the industry. A freight forwarder who answers calls at 23:00 for two years eventually stops doing so, leaves, burns out, or starts filtering what is truly urgent. Separating these roles is therefore not just a convenience for the client. It is a prerequisite for keeping the people managing your orders in the company three years down the line.
What Happens on a Single Shift? Euro24 Control Tower Task List
« There are no two days alike. In the morning you know what’s on your list, but you don’t know what will get added to it by eleven o’clock, » says Oskar.
When asked what he does during an 8-hour shift, Oskar points to specific operations, as these constitute the core value the client actually pays for:
Status and GPS position tracking – every active order has control points: placement, loading, border crossing, rest stop, unloading. The route is checked multiple times a day, and the frequency depends on the client and cargo type.
Detecting disruptions and recalculating ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) – traffic jams, detours, closed road sections. The new arrival time is calculated immediately, not after the driver is already late
Continuous contact with the driver – confirming start after rest time, inquiring about arrival, reporting faults. The monitoring specialist is the first number the driver calls in any situation.
Customs clearance and border formalities – especially on routes to the UK, where post-Brexit additions include GMR (Goods Movement Reference) and ENS (Entry Summary Declaration). Documents can arrive when the driver is already standing at the port – and then one person on shift sets everything else aside.
Ferry crossings, tunnels, bridges, and vignettes – bookings, notifications, confirmations, and toll payments handled by Euro24, not the driver.
Correcting documentation errors – missing stamp on the CMR consignment note, misentered loading reference number, quantity discrepancies. Caught en route, it costs minutes. Caught after unloading, it costs weeks in billing settlements.
Handling breakdowns – organizing a replacement vehicle, transshipment, rerouting, contacting the recipient, and shifting the time window.
Updating the client – even when everything is going according to plan. Status updates are sent via email or SMS, in the format and frequency agreed with the client. This is not a reaction to a problem, but the default operating mode.
If it is the client who has to call with the question: « What is happening with my shipment? », it means monitoring reacted too slowly. Information always originates from us and immediately includes a proposal for a ready-made solution.
Few people realize that outside standard office hours, it is the Control Tower team that takes and quotes new transport orders. A fast quote sent on Friday at 7:30 PM or on a Sunday morning is not the result of a forwarder’s private activity after hours, but a permanent standard resulting from a full operational shift at the desk.
On-Time Delivery Guarantee in Cooperation with Carriers
Key Criteria for Transport Monitoring?
At Euro24, access to the GPS signal is one of the key criteria when selecting a carrier. The requirement to share location gives us two things: the ability to react immediately and the certainty that the carrier is not carrying unauthorized additional loads without the client’s knowledge.
How Do We Spot Delays Before They Even Happen?
The Control Tower operational principle is simple yet effective. Let’s look at an example:
- Loading takes place at 20:00, and unloading (after driving 600 km) is scheduled for 8:00 AM. Taking into account driver work-time regulations, the vehicle should report at the gate around 5:00 AM.
- At 2:00 AM, the GPS system shows only 250 kilometers covered and a 3-hour stop.
In the documentation, this is not a delay yet, but in reality, a problem is just being created. One intervention call at 2:00 AM solves a situation that could no longer be saved at 7:30 AM.
Data Verification and the Principle of Limited Trust
Declarations coming from carriers can sometimes be overly optimistic. Outdated photos of traffic jams, faults omitted from reports, or refueling in places where the vehicle never was – these are situations our specialists encounter on a daily basis. Therefore, meticulous verification of field data does not stem from a lack of trust, but from professionalism.
If a subcontractor does not have GPS telematics, a direct verification procedure is implemented: mandatory phone calls at designated times, verification of kilometers, and confirmations from rest locations. The tools may differ, but the principle remains unchanged – delivery safety is decided by the fact that at 3:00 AM, someone is watching over your cargo.
Three Shifts, One Continuity – How Shift Handovers Work in the Control Tower
A day in the Control Tower is divided into morning, afternoon, and night shifts. Most of the routine daily workload falls on the morning shift; around 8:00 AM, warehouses and customs offices open, resulting in a concentration of loadings, unloadings, and customs clearances in a single timeframe. Tasks are divided by process stage: part of the team oversees loadings, part manages unloadings, and one team member acts in a support capacity, stepping in wherever the workload is currently highest. Roles are deliberately rotated so that no one gets stuck permanently in a single section of the process.
Every shift ends with a handover of open issues, provided in a dual format: a written record – order number plus a concise description of the situation – followed by a live, point-by-point walkthrough within the system. The outgoing shift member ensures that the incoming colleague shares the exact same understanding, rather than just passively listening. Without this, three shifts would operate on three separate pictures of the situation. Priorities follow a clear hierarchy: an order for a major contract client with multiple interconnected shipments takes precedence over a single delivery, as a delay there would trigger a cascade of subsequent issues.
There is also an escalation path, and this is what distinguishes true shift duty from improvisation. Certain decisions deliberately do not belong to the night shift Control Tower employee, as they involve driver work-time regulations, penalties, costs, or how to communicate an issue to the client. In such cases, the freight forwarder, department manager, or – in extreme cases – the Chief Operating Officer is woken up. The person at the desk at 3:00 AM is never left alone with a decision they should not be making single-handedly.
Within the team, there is also an unwritten rule that exists in no official document:
„If you see that someone has a heavier workload, you simply take over their topic. Nobody wrote this down anywhere, but everyone does it. »
For the client, this means one thing: the matter does not wait for a specific individual. It waits for the department. The order is managed by the entire system and team, ensuring operational continuity is maintained at all times.
When a situation goes beyond procedure
The Human Factor
Procedures and instructions cover most typical events. The rest are unpredictable situations – ones that no onboarding process can fully describe. It is precisely at these moments that it becomes clearest why the presence of an experienced transport monitoring specialist on the night shift is absolutely crucial.
Real Route Challenges and Response Procedures
- Slashed tarpaulin on critical cargo: During the transport of a high-value aircraft engine, a slashed tarpaulin was discovered in a parking area. Nothing was missing – cargo of this weight cannot be taken without heavy equipment. However, the reaction does not end with relief: the transport monitoring employee immediately orders full photographic documentation, verifies the completeness of the vehicle set, and performs a formal assessment of whether the vehicle can safely continue the route.
- Intervention by foreign authorities: A vehicle stopped by the police in Spain simply means a risk of delay for the client. For a Control Tower employee, it means hours of intensive coordination with local authorities, the carrier, and the recipient. International service requires fluent English and smooth cooperation with foreign Euro24 branches – in Irun, London, or Hanover – which significantly cuts response time.
- Exceeding weight limits: The declaration in the order indicates one value, while the scale at the checkpoint shows another. In such situations, local road regulations leave no room for negotiation. The Control Tower’s role is to swiftly organize a solution within a few hours: arranging a second truck, executing transshipment, and correcting transport documentation.
- Managing emotions and relational crisis: A complaint regarding a driver’s behavior requires diplomacy. Faced with two conflicting versions of events, the transport monitoring specialist acts neutrally and factually. An emotionally charged situation is resolved through a calm conversation, ending with appreciation from the client for the professionalism shown.
Communication Culture Based on Empathy
« The driver has been driving for over a dozen hours, at night, and is tired. Raising your voice won’t achieve anything here. A calm conversation works, sometimes a joke. You have to react appropriately to the person you are speaking with – you talk differently to a driver at 3 AM, differently to a carrier, and differently to a client. » – says Oskar.
Such an attitude does not stem purely from intuition. At Euro24, we know that effective communication under pressure is a hard skill, which is why our team undergoes a dedicated series of training sessions covering empathy, communication, and emotional management in crisis situations. We learn how to de-escalate tension, listen actively, and build a dialogue based on respect – regardless of whether on the other end of the line there is a tired driver on the highway or a logistics manager stressed about a delay.
This systematic approach perfectly explains the results of our customer satisfaction surveys, where high personal culture and the team’s way of conducting dialogue were rated highest among all metrics. A high standard of service is not a matter of coincidence or a rulebook entry – it is the result of continuous development of people who, at three in the morning, choose factual solutions, composure, and partnership.
5 Errors That Generate Transport Delays – Checklist
Analyzing over 31,000 orders annually, we see clear, recurring patterns. Unplanned downtime rarely results from major disasters – most often, it stems from minor oversights during the information handover stage.
Here are the 5 most common errors that trigger a domino effect, which can easily be eliminated on the ordering party’s side:
- Providing contact details solely for the sales representative
If there is no decision-maker on the client’s side after 16:00, key agreements regarding detours or emergency transshipment wait until morning.
Recommendation: Always specify contact details in the order for an operational person available during afternoon and night hours. - Verbal agreements regarding time windows
A statement made during a phone call that does not make it into the official order practically does not exist – especially during shift changes at a logistics center.
Recommendation: Enter all time-specific agreements directly into the transport documentation. - Reference numbers hidden in fine print
Order documentation in PDF format can be extensive, and the reference number required at loading takes up a single line. Without providing it at the gate, the driver will not be allowed onto the site.
Recommendation: Clearly highlight reference numbers and recipient documentation requirements. - Providing weight and dimensions « by rule of thumb » Declaring an estimated weight frequently ends in vehicle overloading, a fine, and mandatory downtime for transshipment.
Recommendation: Spending a few minutes to accurately weigh the goods protects against losing several hours on the route. - Waiting until morning to report changes
When the production schedule changes on Friday at 19:00, there is no point in waiting until Monday morning. At Euro24, we are on duty around the clock – a request received on Friday evening allows us to react immediately, and we standardly prepare express transport quotes within 15-30 minutes.
Artificial Intelligence as Support, Not a Replacement for Humans
Euro24’s approach to automation is free from marketing hype – we focus on tangible operational benefits.
Oskar nie zaczynając pracę w Euro24 nie posiał doświadczenia ani wykształcenia w branży TSL. Przez cztery lata uczył języka angielskiego, od dzieci, prze młodzież, dorosłych po seniorów. Do Euro24 trafił z polecenia, świadomie i z własnych pobudek zmieniając branżę. Zasad rynku TSL uczył się w praktyce, podczas intensywnego wdrożenia.
Reguł Incoterms czy procedur celnych można nauczyć się w parę tygodni. Umiejętności sprawnego poprowadzenia rozmów z pięcioma różnymi rozmówcami w ciągu jednej godziny, już nie. To doskonale pokazuje, jak w Euro24 definiujemy kluczowe kompetencje miękkie.
« AI is definitely a plus. I would like to see even more repetitive processes automated – especially in the area of communication and system integrations. » – Oskar
The onboarding process for a new employee in the transport monitoring department at Euro24 relies on strict supervision:
- orking with an internal trainer: A new employee does not take over key routes from day one.
- Tailoring tasks to the onboarding stage: They first observe and analyze processes before starting to operate independently.
- Double verification: All agreements sent out to clients and carriers are checked before sending.
Over time, traits emerge that cannot be passed on in training: decisiveness under time pressure, the ability to make immediate decisions without analytical paralysis, and a sense of humor that can defuse even the most tense situation on the route. (See how to start working in TSL).
Artificial Intelligence as Support, Not a Replacement for Humans
Euro24’s approach to automation is free from marketing hype – we focus on tangible operational benefits.
« AI is definitely a plus. I would like to see even more repetitive processes automated – especially in the area of communication and system integrations. » – Oskar
Technology develops at Euro24 where it brings measurable time savings:
- Digitization of customs documents: Multi-page import declarations, whose manual analysis used to take over an hour, are processed by artificial intelligence tools within tens of seconds.
- Tariff classification: Automatic generation of HS codes during customs clearances eliminates the risk of typos.
Why Won’t an Algorithm Replace a Human in the Control Tower?
An algorithm can easily recalculate a new ETA or detect a vehicle’s deviation from its route. However, it will not call a carrier whose driver has been stopped during a roadside inspection abroad. Nor will it make an autonomous decision on whether it is safer at 2:40 AM to wait for a mobile repair service or to immediately dispatch a replacement vehicle. This decision – and full responsibility for it – always remains with the huma
Work Hygiene as a Guarantee of Team Alertness
The quality of service in the Control Tower is determined by one more staffing element: our specialists work within strictly defined timeframes and do not perform on-call duties from home after their shift ends. As a result, at 3:00 AM your shipment is looked after by a specialist who has just started work with full concentration – not someone completing their sixteenth consecutive hour on call.
24/7 transport monitoring is in practice the elimination of risk before it translates into financial losses and production downtime. The separation of operational roles, continuous coverage across three shifts, and proactive communication mean you don’t have to ask what is happening with your cargo – you know it before a doubt even arises.
By placing your route under the 24-hour care of a dedicated team, you gain not only continuous control over the cargo and a realistic ETA, but above all, peace of mind. Because regardless of whether it is Friday at 19:30, Sunday morning, or the middle of the night, your shipment is in the hands of well-rested specialists for whom on-time delivery is a metric, not just a declaration.
Author: Euro24 Team
Transport Monitoring
Transport monitoring at Euro24 is an advanced logistics service that provides full control over the execution of international freight. Thanks to a dedicated Control Tower department available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, clients receive real-time updates on their cargo status at every stage of transport. The service includes the verification of shipping documentation, vehicle location tracking, and immediate response in the event of unforeseen situations, such as breakdowns or delays.
FAQ
A Control Tower dispatch specialist on the night shift. The department operates on a three-shift system 365 days a year – it is not an on-call phone or a redirect to a private number.
No. The freight forwarder remains the manager of your cargo – the SPOC (single point of contact) model. The Control Tower does not replace this relationship; it simply takes over route supervision outside standard business hours and in situations requiring immediate action.
No. Transport status updates are sent via email or SMS even when everything is going according to plan, in the format agreed with the client. In the event of an incident affecting on-time delivery, contact originates from Euro24 – and already includes information about what actions have been set in motion.
Yes – and this is the main part of the department’s work. Sharing GPS data is one of the carrier selection criteria. Where location tracking is not available, the route is verified through direct contact with the driver at the same control points as with our own fleet.
The transport monitoring specialist is the driver’s first point of contact. In parallel, several actions are initiated: organizing a replacement vehicle or transshipment, notifying the client and recipient, and establishing a new time window. For decisions with major consequences, an escalation path applies – including at night.
The same department. Documents, GMR, and ENS are processed on an ongoing basis, including when they arrive in the middle of the night and the vehicle is already waiting at the port.
Standard quoting time is 15-30 minutes; however, during evenings, weekends, and holidays – outside freight forwarding working hours – quotes are prepared by Control Tower staff. Due to limited access to subcontractors during these hours/days or for inquiries requiring further clarification, the response time may be extended.
