Dear Broker:

[chica123]

Dear Broker;
We appreciate your business, first of all. We are honest and hard working. We only accept work that we know we can do and do according to the needs of your customer. We don't take a load and then go and change terms, etc. But please, if you have a pre-booked appointment for either pick up or delivery, don't give us the load and pretend it is not needed. If there is an appointment booked for a certain time and you ask what time we can load, if that does not correspond to the time we requested, please tell us. Don't just send us in and make us wait. If we don't know there is an appointment or are told the appointment is miraculously for the same time we requested, we are going to put the planning and effort into getting there for that time. If we are running late, which is unusual, we will call you personally and keep in touch with you. When we get there and are told we are 8 hours late and the driver will have to wait to be fit in..sometimes 4, 5, 6 hours, that hurts us. We lose the whole rest of the day. Please tell us these details, especially when we go out of our way to ask you and confirm with you. This has happened over and over again this year, despite me making the effort to avoid this situation. How can companies retain good drivers when this scenario gets played over and over again? If I was in the brokers shoes, I would be upfront and say the appointment is a XX o'clock. You can take your chances and you might have to wait, but that is the scheduled appointment. Thanks guys for letting me vent today! Chica

 

[Freight Broker]

Well said.. it boils down to being professional and treating carriers with respect.

 

[TRKINSURE]

Well put.

 

[markhamboy]

As a broker you are right, we should be on the same page. We need to respect each other.

 

[27426]

I don't understand this either. the only way to look good as a broker is to set the carrier up for success. We add value in lots of ways, but trucking operations isn't one of them.

 

[Jim L]

Dear Broker;
In addition to the previous note mentioned above regarding appointment times; please advise us specifically that the shipper/receiver requires certain equipment and/or has specific rules about their location. Having the same page and a half of requirements at the end of your carrier confirmation covering every possible scenario that may present itself in our industry isn't specific and shouldn't be used to cover your @ss.
When the shipper requires safety boots that cover ankles, it should be noted in the details of the shipper just above or below the product quantity and description - not on the last page of your confirmation. Or if the shipper requires pressure bars instead of load bars, that too should be specifically noted. Or if an orange vest is mandatory and the orange, high visibility t-shirt is not acceptable - I don't want to be back charged again after the fact for the fine if my driver shows up with his orange high visibility t-shirt, nobody says anything at the time and the $1,000.00 fine gets ripped off my next load just because it was noted that a high visibility vest was required on the last page of your confirmation.

 

[Freight Broker]

All good points.. and some of them flow back to the shippers and receivers who often enough have no clue about their own operations. Today have truck sitting in Rochester, NY because THREE people at receiver told me they were open and good to go for receiving today. But guess what.. are they open today? NOPE!. Unfortunately the shippers' mistakes and oversights flow through us and on to the carrier.. happens too often.

 

[Jim L]

All good points.. and some of them flow back to the shippers and receivers who often enough have no clue about their own operations. Today have truck sitting in Rochester, NY because THREE people at receiver told me they were open and good to go for receiving today. But guess what.. are they open today? NOPE!. Unfortunately the shippers' mistakes and oversights flow through us and on to the carrier.. happens too often.

We are all a victim of poor communication - we can only deal with the information that is given to us and hope that it is correct.

When it is not correct, you have to charge them accordingly and have no reservations about it. If the carrier has to sit the weekend because the receiver said that they were open, charge them for 3 days and none of this $150/day business. A truck, trailer and driver should be compensated a whole lot more than $150 per diem plus whatever hassle the broker should have to endure to make this work.
If you do not charge accordingly there will be no value it trying to avoid errors in communication in the future. Someone higher up needs to say 'We can't let that happen again - get the information correct'.

 

[Freight Broker]

Absolutely.. I'm charging for the lost day but not holding my breath about getting paid. Shipper says I should bill the receiver.. so I'm going to do what I always do: send out an invoice to both parties. I might not get anything, but in the past when I've done this I'd sometimes (rarely) have both parties send me a check. Many moons ago.. long before this industry turned me into a jaded dick.. I would have sent one of those checks back.. not anymore.. I will happily take them both. Of course, will pay the carrier regardless..

 

[TransAction]

I agree with all the comments here. I am curious however that with today's technology, particularly in the TMS sector, do the trucking co's databases keep track of shipper / receiver locations requirements and do they note these sort of things within their own TMS systems in order to help avoid these issues? On the same hand, do the brokers out there feel their TMS systems track all this pertinent data on locations requirements and present this data atomically on their load sheets and bol's on all future shipments to these locations? I am interested in hearing from all brokers and carriers whether or not they feel their TMS systems are helping in these areas.

 

[Freight Broker]

I keep track via notes on any shipper or receiver we deal with. It doesn't take long (if you deal with primarily one industry) to figure out who the bad players are, and we simply avoid doing business with them. I'll work with anyone who has the occasional issue because we all run into difficulty occasionally... but for people who chronically abuse me and my carrier base... they're dead to me.

 

[Jim L]

I agree with all the comments here. I am curious however that with today's technology, particularly in the TMS sector, do the trucking co's databases keep track of shipper / receiver locations requirements and do they note these sort of things within their own TMS systems in order to help avoid these issues? On the same hand, do the brokers out there feel their TMS systems track all this pertinent data on locations requirements and present this data atomically on their load sheets and bol's on all future shipments to these locations? I am interested in hearing from all brokers and carriers whether or not they feel their TMS systems are helping in these areas.

Yes, we keep track of shipper and receiver requirements but way too often either the rules change, enforcement increases, or we are told way too late. The biggest problem is going into the location for the first time and we have no experience to note. There is definitely a loss of communicated issues when there are middle persons involved. Not on purpose I hope but because everyone in the middle just assumes that the next person knows.

 

[chica123]

Yes, we keep track. I am referring to going to new locations. If the shipper is going to load us on a "work in" basis, I would like to know this ahead of time. This way, I can politely pass on the load or take my chances. But I would like that to be my call. I don't want to be tricked into going and then find out when the driver arrives.
Thanks!