Most TMCs treat duty of care as a compliance cost: something to document, insure against and answer in the RFP appendix. That framing is out of date. For a TMC, duty of care is now a commercial question. It shapes which TMC a corporate client picks, which one it keeps at renewal, and how much of the client’s travel spend actually runs through the program.
And the part of the trip where most TMCs can’t back their answer is ground transportation.
If you want the supplier-vetting questions themselves, start with Duty of Care: What to Actually Ask a Ground Transportation Supplier. This post is about the business case.
1. Duty of Care Is Scored in the RFP
Corporate travel managers don’t carry duty of care alone. Their HR, security, legal and risk teams carry it with them, and they want to know how the TMC will help. So the duty-of-care section of an RFP keeps getting more specific:
- How do you locate and contact travelers during a disruption?
- How do you vet the suppliers you book on our behalf?
- What do you hold on file about them, and how current is it?
- Who is accountable when a booked supplier subcontracts the work?
Air and hotel have well-worn answers. Airlines are regulated and visible, and hotel programs come with contracts and audits. Ground is where answers drift into phrases like “trusted local partners” and “vetted network.” A client’s risk team reads those phrases as a gap the client will own.
The TMC that can answer the ground questions with evidence is giving the client something to defend. In a close evaluation, that’s a reason to pick you.
2. It Decides Renewals, Not Just Wins
Duty of care rarely loses an account during the RFP. It loses accounts after an incident.
When something goes wrong on a ground trip, the client’s first questions are narrow: who performed the trip, what was known about them, and when. If the TMC can produce the operator’s record, including insurance in force, licensing, airport permits and any third-party compliance audit, the conversation is about the incident. If it can’t, the conversation becomes about the TMC.
The record you keep before the trip is the record you’ll be judged on after it. That is a retention issue as much as a safety one.
3. Ground You Can’t Vouch For Is Ground You Can’t Sell
There’s a quieter cost, too. A TMC that can’t vouch for ground suppliers in a city has two options: book ground anyway and carry the exposure, or let travelers sort it out themselves. Most choose the second. Travelers land, open a rideshare app or call a local company, and the trip leaves the program.
That leakage costs the TMC on three lines at once:
- Revenue on ground bookings it never sees
- Reporting that travel managers keep asking for and can’t get
- Duty of care the TMC can’t deliver for trips it doesn’t know about
Verified supply changes the math. When you can show what’s on file for an operator before the trip, ground stops being a liability to avoid and becomes a line you can book, report and bill.
4. What “Evidence” Looks Like for Ground
A credible ground answer doesn’t require auditing every operator yourself. It requires knowing what’s verified, by whom, and how current it is.
- Who performs the trip. The operator taking the booking and the operator performing it may not be the same company.
- Authority and insurance in force. A certificate collected at onboarding says nothing about the day of travel.
- Third-party verification. An independent audit of driver qualification, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle maintenance and safety practices goes much further than a COI.
- A record you can produce later. What was known at the time of booking, in a form you can hand to a client.
Where GNet Connect Fits
GNet Connect is the B2B marketplace for ground transportation. Operator profiles hold the documents a TMC needs to answer the ground section of an RFP: insurance, licensing, airport permits and fleet details.
Operators can now also hold GNet Safety & Compliance Certification, an independent, investigative audit by Transportation Advisors. Certified operators carry a badge on their profile:
- Gold Badge — interstate carriers with federal operating authority, reviewed against FMCSA requirements
- Blue Badge — intrastate carriers operating under applicable state regulations
For a TMC, the workflow is simple:
- Search for operators by city or airport.
- Open a profile and review the documents on file and any certification badge.
- Send a partnership request to the operators that meet your program’s standard.
- Book through the GNet Platform, or through the tools you already use, with the supplier record in hand.
GNet doesn’t replace your booking tools or your supplier contracts. It gives you verified ground supply and the record behind it.
FAQs About Duty of Care for TMCs
Why does duty of care matter commercially for a TMC?
Corporate clients score duty of care in RFPs and weigh it at renewal. A TMC that can evidence how it vets suppliers, including ground, gives the client something to defend.
Why is ground transportation the weak point?
Ground licensing is local, suppliers vary by city, and trips are often subcontracted. Many TMCs can’t say who performed a ground trip or what was verified about them.
Is a certificate of insurance enough?
No. A COI confirms a policy existed when it was issued. It doesn’t show driver qualification, drug and alcohol compliance, maintenance or whether coverage is in force on the day of travel.
How does better ground vetting increase TMC revenue?
Ground you can’t vouch for tends to leak to rideshare apps and direct calls. When suppliers are verified, TMCs can book, report and bill ground instead of losing it.
What is GNet Safety & Compliance Certification?
An independent audit by Transportation Advisors covering authority and insurance, driver qualification, drug and alcohol, vehicles and maintenance, and hours of service. Certified operators show a Gold (interstate) or Blue (intrastate) badge on GNet Connect.
Does GNet replace our booking tools?
No. GNet works alongside the tools you already run.
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