Damaged Freight

M

Mark H.

New Member
2
Morning All

Question about damaged freight and a claim. Here is the backstory.

- Full Load - GTA to NY - Dry Van
- Freight was loaded by shipper. Driver has the right to inspect the shipment once loaded but freight was stacked and cant access the front or all 4 sides of the freight to ensure no damages.
- Trailer was sealed at the shipper, and broken upon delivery
- When offloading, 2 skids near the front of the trailer had a total of 8 boxes damaged. Shrink wrap ripped off from left to right the length of the skid
- Freight claim is minimal, but they are stating "shifting during transit" as the cause. Which, based on pictures and location of skids, would be near impossible.

So who is at fault?

As mentioend, im not worried about the freight claim, its minimal, but more worried about the precedent it sets going forward and would like to find a way to ensure we arent blamed for something similar down the road where the freight claim is higher.

Let me know your thoughts
Thanks
Mark
 
P

PackRat

Site Supporter
20
Hi Mark,

If the product was stacked from the shipper and all the facts from above are true, then the claim would be denied based on the goods not being packaged properly for transport. This includes the shipper's responsibility to ensure packaging can withstand the trip from shipper to consignee especially if they stacked goods on top of one another. Usually just explaining this to the customer is sufficient. It's a shipper's issue.
PR
 
loaders

loaders

Site Supporter
30
All freight must be loaded and packaged in a condition that allows it to withstand the normal/standard rigours of over the road travel. In other words, no one would floor load loose eggs, or transport the Mona Lisa in a paper bag. It has been my experience that ripped shrink wrap, or torn bags is usually the result of shoddy loading practices such as rubbing the side wall of the trailer and catching an exposed rivet, or dropping the skid and tearing an overhanging bag on the skid ahead. It is your decision to pay the claim and keep the peace with your customer, but it should be brought to their attention that the damage was caused by the shipper, not a “load shifting” situation.
 
Michael Ludwig

Michael Ludwig

Well-Known Member
20
loaders said:
no one would floor load loose eggs
Click to expand...
I would almost bet that some dumbass somewhere along the line tried to ship a load of eggs like they were watermelons ... by stacking them on a bed of straw ... LOL

@Mark H. ... Loader is 110% right ... that was caused by a lazy forklift driver using your trailer wall as a guide instead of his own eyeballs.
The only thing that matters here is this; was your driver afforded the opportunity to witness the loading procedure?
If he was not, the claim is not yours.
If he was, you might as well pay it and get it over with.
 
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