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What you’ll do

Add every Vendor — an account you send dispatches to, instead of assigning your own Driver. That covers brokers, outside haulers, and Owner-Operators (O&Os).

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Before you start

  • A vendor list with company name, address, primary contact name, email, and mobile phone.
  • Decide which vendors are O&Os — an O&O is a Vendor with a single Driver, dispatched directly as a Shared Driver.
  • Vendor addresses are required if you want them to appear on PDF settlement statements.

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Walkthrough

1

Create the account

Open Settings → Vendors and click Create Account. The Account Type is set to Vendor. If the vendor already runs Tread, use Connect instead — see Connected Ecosystem.The Create Account dialog with account details and the primary account contact
2

Enter account details

Fill in the Account Name, address, and — if you export to accounting — the External ID and Accounting ID. Accuracy matters here: this data prints on settlement statements and exports to accounting.
3

Set the Company Type

Pick Broker, Contractor, Hauler, Owner Operator, or Producer. Pick Owner Operator for a single-Driver vendor you dispatch directly — the form says it plainly: “Select O&O to direct dispatch.” Two Vendor Settings live here too: restrict the vendor’s equipment options for dispatch, and allow the vendor to split jobs.Account Configuration with Account Type Vendor, Company Type Owner Operator, and the Vendor Settings toggles
4

Add the Primary Account Contact

Enter the contact’s name and pick an Invite Type (Email or SMS). If the account is connected, this contact is invited to Tread as a User — use a real email or mobile number.
5

Share equipment they'll use

From Equipment, share each truck the vendor runs to their company. They see it, you keep ownership.

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Verify

Settings → Vendors lists every hauler with its compliance status. Open one — the account shows the contact you entered, and any shared equipment appears under their fleet.

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Common mistakes

Adding subhauler drivers as drivers on your own roster. Drivers who work for a vendor belong on the vendor’s company, not yours. If you add them as your drivers, dispatch boards mis-attribute hours and settlements pay the wrong party.
Can’t find a company under Vendors? Check Customers. A company you both buy from and sell to is one record with two roles, Customer and Vendor. If it only has the Customer role, it won’t appear under Vendors. You can’t add the second role yourself. Contact Tread support and ask them to add it. See Connected Ecosystem.
Vendor adoption takes about four weeks. Set expectations early and stay firm on the requirement.