Frequently asked questions

CARVO is a shipment management platform built for small and medium European importers. It provides a single dashboard to track shipments, manage documents, coordinate with freight forwarders and customs brokers, and calculate landed cost — replacing the spreadsheets, emails, and WhatsApp groups most import teams rely on today.

CARVO offers a free plan that includes up to 5 active shipments, 3 suppliers, and 3 AI document extractions per month. The Pro plan costs €49 per month and includes 3 team seats with unlimited shipments. The Team plan costs €99 per month with 10 seats, role-based access, audit trail, and API access. Annual plans are available at €499 and €999 respectively.

Most teams are up and running within 30 minutes. The onboarding wizard walks you through creating your first supplier, adding a shipment, and uploading a document. There is no implementation project, no consultant, and no training course required.

Yes. CARVO works alongside any freight forwarder. It does not require your forwarder to use specific software or change their processes. CARVO's document exchange feature lets you request and receive documents from any external party via email.

CARVO uses Supabase (PostgreSQL) with row-level security, encrypted storage, and EU-hosted infrastructure (Vercel CDG1, Paris). The platform is ICO registered (ZC101688) and GDPR compliant. All data is stored within the EU.

Yes. CARVO supports bulk import from Excel files. You can upload your existing shipment data, supplier list, and product catalogue to get started without re-entering everything manually.

Transport management systems like CargoWise and SAP TM are designed for large freight forwarders and enterprises. They cost €100,000 or more per year, require months of implementation, and are built for a different scale of operation. CARVO is built specifically for small and medium importers who need to get organised without an enterprise budget or IT team.

The free plan supports up to 5 active shipments. Pro and Team plans support unlimited shipments. CARVO is designed for teams managing between 5 and 200 shipments per month.

Yes. CARVO includes a live shipment map that shows animated routes for all in-transit shipments. You can click any route to see shipment details, ETAs, and status updates.

Yes. CARVO sends automated notifications for customs deadlines, missing documents, shipment status changes, and overdue document requests. You also receive a daily morning briefing summarising what needs attention. Notifications can be customised in Settings.

CARVO uses AI to automatically read data from uploaded documents such as purchase orders and commercial invoices. It extracts key fields — supplier details, product descriptions, quantities, prices, references — and maps them to your shipment, saving manual data entry.

CARVO supports all common import documents including commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, airway bills, certificates of origin, customs declarations, insurance certificates, and more. Documents can be uploaded as PDF, PNG, or JPEG.

CARVO includes 20 EU customs procedures covering the most common import scenarios, from standard free circulation to inward processing and customs warehousing. Each procedure includes a description and relevant documentation requirements.

Yes. CARVO provides compliance checklists for all 27 EU member states, with country-specific requirements for documentation, inspections, and regulatory approvals.

An EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number is a unique identifier required for any business importing goods into the EU. You must register for one before your first import. It is free to obtain and is issued by your national customs authority.

Yes. CARVO includes a landed cost engine with 5 allocation methods: by value, weight, volume, quantity, and equal split. It tracks all cost categories — product cost, freight, duty, insurance, handling — and calculates cost per unit automatically.

Landed cost is the total cost of getting a product from your supplier to your warehouse. It includes the product price, freight, insurance, customs duty, import VAT, brokerage fees, port handling, inland delivery, and any demurrage or detention charges.

Visit www.getcarvo.com and click "Start tracking." The free plan requires no credit card. You can upgrade to Pro or Team at any time.

Yes. The free plan has no time limit. You can manage up to 5 shipments, 3 suppliers, and 3 AI extractions per month for as long as you need. Many importers run CARVO alongside their existing spreadsheet during their first month before switching fully.