Templates and records · SQAS2022

Transport subcontractor evaluation for SQAS

To the chemical shipper, a subcontracted truck carries the name of the haulier it hired. SQAS requires it to be controlled as rigorously as the company’s own fleet.

In one sentence

The transport subcontractor evaluation sets the criteria for selecting the hauliers work is subcontracted to —their own SQAS report, certificates, fleet, training—, tracks their performance with incident and service data and decides whether they remain approved, because the contracting of services area of the SQAS Core questionnaire assesses how the company controls subcontracted services and its contractors.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Type of information: Mandatory record Contracting of services area of the Core questionnaire
Who fills it in: Transport office and quality The transport office supplies service and incident data; quality decides on approval
When: At onboarding and periodically An annual re-evaluation is usual, plus another after any serious incident
How long it is kept: At least the assessment cycle SQAS sets no retention periods; the report is valid for three years and the assessor reviews the evidence for that period. Where a legal period applies, such as those in the ADR, that one prevails.

What the standard requires

What SQAS2022 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The SQAS guidelines devote one of the three areas of the Core questionnaire to the contracting of services: how the company controls the standard of subcontracted services and of its contractors. In multi-site companies, subcontractor selection and evaluation must be centralised so that a single assessment covers them all.

The Transport Service module is also designed for operators who subcontract traction and drivers, such as freight forwarders or integrated logistics providers; for them, this evaluation is the heart of the system.

Asking for the subcontractor’s SQAS report is good practice, but not enough on its own: you have to track their performance on your own services and act if it slips.

Read it in context: Quality and subcontractor management, in the SQAS2022 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Subcontractor, services and type of goods carried
Selection criteria and evidence: SQAS report and score, certificates, insurance
Fleet and assigned drivers, with their ADR training
Requirements passed on: loading, emergency and customer procedures
Performance indicators: incidents, complaints, punctuality
Audits or inspections carried out
Decision: approved, approved with conditions, removed
Actions and next re-evaluation

Example

Example: annual re-evaluation of a subcontracted haulier

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Subcontractor	Cisternas Bidasoa (fictitious company) · 6 tankers · classes 3 and 8
SQAS report	Transport Service valid until 2027 · published improvement plan reviewed
Drivers	9 drivers with a valid ADR certificate; customer QX training evidenced for 7
Services in 2025	412 trips
Incidents	2 minor incidents during unloading and 1 complaint about a delay
Inspection	4 vehicle inspections at loading: one with outdated instructions in writing
Decision	Approved with conditions: train the remaining 2 drivers in customer QX’s procedures before assigning them
Next re-evaluation	March 2027

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

The subcontractor’s SQAS report is requested and their performance is never looked at again.
The subcontractor’s drivers lack the training required by the customers where they unload.
Subcontractor incidents go unrecorded because “they are not ours”.
Emergency and customer procedures are never passed on to the subcontractor.
Each branch evaluates in its own way, with no common criteria.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Transport subcontractors are evaluated from the supplier portal, with a questionnaire, evidence and your own criteria.
2Incidents, punctuality and service quality become a score without separate calculations.
3The expiry dates of each subcontractor’s certificates and insurance trigger an alert before they lapse.
4Quality indicators for subcontracted services are tracked on the dashboard.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Is a subcontractor with an SQAS report already evaluated?

The report is very useful evidence at selection, but SQAS asks how the company controls its subcontractors on its own services: incidents, complaints, inspections and a periodic decision.

What if I subcontract the entire fleet?

The Transport Service module also applies to companies with no vehicles or drivers of their own. In that case, evaluating and controlling subcontractors carries the most weight in the result.

Do subcontractors have to be audited?

Not always. Inspections at loading, behaviour observations and incident tracking may be enough for low-risk ones; for the main ones, a periodic audit greatly strengthens the evidence.

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Keep exploring

Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

SQAS/ESAD Guidelines Cefic · September 2024
SQAS — Safety & Quality Assessment for Sustainability: Core and Transport Service questionnaires Cefic · Revised questionnaires in force since 1 January 2022