Ensuring Compliance in Fulfillment: Navigating Industry Regulations

Compliance is vital in the fulfillment industry. Noncompliance can be punished with considerably hefty fines and may affect your business with future partners and clients. However, how do you make sure you’re compliant within the fulfillment industry? Industry regulations set guidelines and safety standards, which vary depending on your state. Regulations might change with time or temporarily change for emergencies or natural disasters. Here’s your guide for ensuring fulfillment compliance and navigating industry regulations.

Ensuring Compliance in Fulfillment: Navigating Industry Regulations

Know What Industry Regulations Are

The first step to total compliance is knowing what industry regulations are. Update yourself on local logistics laws, especially those related to your order fulfillment type.

Direct logistics laws are applicable, but you should also look for any surrounding laws that may impact fulfillment to maintain compliance. For example, parking laws may result in fines while attempting a delivery.

All laws that impact how deliveries happen could be potentially significant. However, most company owners or managers aren’t compliance experts or legal professionals. They don’t have to be… That’s what lawyers are for.

If you aren’t sure how to approach industry regulations, an expert lawyer is the right approach to avoid legal issues.

Watch for Immediate Changes

Laws are always subject to changes. Industry regulations might have evolved since you last checked it. Stay informed and watch for changes. Ensure you’ve read the most updated version of relevant laws and regulations.

Approaching compliance requirements and regulations with a lawyer’s help can keep you from being tied up in red tape and confusing paperwork. Speak to a legal professional who knows the law if you’d like to track immediate, potentially essential changes.

Laws can evolve but might also be temporarily changed for disasters or emergencies.

Ask Your Insurer

Insurers know which laws may impact their clients’ insurance, which can sometimes branch out into compliance laws. Speaking to your lawyer about specific issues. Your insurer should be able to update you on any serious or immediate legal changes or regulatory requirements.

Compliance is vital for insurance companies who would rather avoid frivolous claims and difficulty. If your lawyer doesn’t answer any questions, your insurance company might.

Navigating Industry Regulations To Avoid Fines for Noncompliance

Noncompliance can result in fines, especially where the responsibility falls on the company to ensure they’ve checked. As a fulfillment provider, you must ensure you are legally compliant for your business to operate.

Using “I didn’t know!” doesn’t exempt companies from paying for noncompliance. Repeated offenses can:

  • Affect your overall trust rating
  • Cause you to lose future clients
  • Result in reputational damage

When cases proceed to court, it’s on the person paying the fine to have known what compliance means.

Specific By-State Laws

Compliance has general federal rules but also gets governed by more specific ones likely to differ from one state to another. Companies should remain aware of these state laws—and always remember that laws and responsibilities might change once they’ve gone over state lines.

Laws will apply where items are being stored, but laws also apply at the start and end destination. This is a lot to think about for any logistics provider or shipping company, so seeking professional legal help is advised.

Knowing specific by-state laws is another good reason to consult a lawyer rather than risking a potential oversight. Remember: fines for noncompliance can be hefty.

Is My Company Compliant With Industry Regulations?

Compliance management systems ensure a company stays updated and follows laws, regulations, and standards. A risk assessment acknowledges potential risks and mitigates risks.

Compliance should be checked often and with a checklist of laws that may apply when in transit. A commitment to follow regulations fosters a culture of compliance, which protects a company’s reputation, helps people make better decisions, and helps avoid regulatory penalties.

Any laws that may apply to items in transit (such as what may be transported) will apply—and laws governing rules of the road (speeding and license/registration) should also be considered.

For the best possible results, companies should be compliant in every way.

Every law that applies to shipping or logistics will apply to you and the subsequent orders your company ships. Laws might also branch into compliance in the countries where items are being sent to—international compliance laws also apply for international shipping.

Consumer laws matter and can affect any fulfillment company. Excessive returns or issues affect companies on every possible level, including operational efficiency. Even here, noncompliance from a shipping operator can be fined.

MAI Fulfillment | 3PL Warehouse Chicago, Illinois

Warehouse | Cross Docking | Fulfillment | Kitting | Inbound/Outbound Voice | Freight Broker

Established in 1981, MAI is a privately-held 3PL company in Chicago specializing in warehousing, fulfillment, and omnichannel contact services. As an experienced outsourced provider, we provide value-added solutions designed to help companies build and maintain relationships with their customers.

The MAI business model offers clients the efficiency and convenience of dealing with a single accountable resource for a wide range of services. MAI areas of specialization include:

  • Custom B2B and B2C warehouse/fulfillment solutions
  • Omni-channel contact center services
  • Technology support

A wide range of service offerings, strategic problem-solving skills, and experience make MAI a valued partner to a broad range of Fortune 500 companies. “Quality” is more than just a word here – it’s the foundation of how we conduct business and an integral part of the processes and metrics we use to deliver value to our clients every day.

Contact MAI today to learn more!

Scroll to Top