Encountered a carrier on the way (6)
I believe the answer is:
method
'the way' is the definition.
(method is a kind of way)
'encountered a carrier on' is the wordplay.
'encountered' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter').
'a carrier' becomes 'hod' (I've seen this before).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'met'+'hod'='METHOD'
(Other definitions for method that I've seen before include "particular procedure" , "Procedure; manner" , "Way of proceeding" , "Manner, technique" , "Kind of technique, may be present in madness" .)