E.G. Gray Transportation Ltd.
- Thread starter TRUCKMAN
- Start date
30
Truckman,
Do a forum search on this company - I believe there is a negative history trail regarding this outfit.
Good Luck
Do a forum search on this company - I believe there is a negative history trail regarding this outfit.
Good Luck
30
2
How many days are you at Truckman? I think Gray is usually at around 40-45 days like most carriers. I've never heard of them not paying a carrier and inquiring on an invoice is pretty painless in my experience.
10
Thanks to all who responded.
The amazing thing is how some in the trucking business are content (happy?) to accept 45 or 53 days waiting to be paid when the terms are 30 days.......maybe they are able to tell their drivers, fuel suppliers, etc. to wait the 45 or 53 days for payment....but we don't have that luxury.
The amazing thing is how some in the trucking business are content (happy?) to accept 45 or 53 days waiting to be paid when the terms are 30 days.......maybe they are able to tell their drivers, fuel suppliers, etc. to wait the 45 or 53 days for payment....but we don't have that luxury.
10
In Canada it's pretty much a norm to be paid in 50 days unlike in the states where it's 20 days. Either you accept it or start doing some reefer COD work...
Good for you! It's obvious you have the working capital resources to finance your receivables for 50 days as the "norm". We can't afford that, and our customers who don't abide by our terms get their credit cut off. The whole industry suffers when when what's wrong becomes accepted as the norm.
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I think the first question that needs to be asked is how fast do you pay your bills? If you pay your bills in 50 days guess what you cannot ask anyone to pay faster. Truckman I agree with you if you let it be the norm then it is, we have some customers that are 60 days on a regular basis but we added in 2% on the price so they really don't win in the long run. As far as people we do the odd load for we expect them to pay in 30 days as we pay our bills in 30 days and if they don't we do not need their business.
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A lot of people subscribe to the "40 is the new 30" thing simply because you factor in the mail service and the odd time that an owner lets a pile of cheques sit on their desk for part of the day. 30 days from date of billing versus 30 days from date of receipt is part of the problem too. Many companies don't get the idea of how terms work. If you are doing the work, the customer is supposed to pay per your terms, not the other way around. You don't pay a plumber when you feel like it after they did the work and trucking isn't much different. However, if you accept work from a broker or carrier and they have terms that are different from your own, you have to emphasize that you're the one performing the service and it's according to your terms. Putting freight on the truck would imply acceptance of your credit terms because you allow it. Since a lot of work is done on a contract basis, it's usually one-sided (in favour of the person who wrote the contract and rarely the person signing it) so you have to decide how much risk is involved if they don't abide by the terms of credit. If one asks the question: am I okay with doing one load for $500 if I don't see my money for 50 days? If it's yes, then you're ok with accepting some risk because cash flow isn't going to be affected. If you have a lot of invoices with one broker or carrier and they are using it as some kind of leverage because they know they can get away with it, they will. I've seen it happen. Gray is in the same struggle as everyone else so I don't see them wanting to create a bad image for themselves.
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Ahh.......it would be nice to live in such a perfect world where everyone pays their bills on time. However the real world is a little different. Customers will ask what your terms are, and then decide to pay within their terms. This isn't the end of the world as long as you can afford to wait. Some of the larger shippers don't pay for 60 or more days, but they do pay. As long as the pay schedule is regular and doesn't start to stretch-out over time. All companies receivables are made up of a combination of current, 30 days old, 60 days old and 90 days old, hopefully nothing older. The key is to keep the "average" age as low as possible with the 60 and 90 day stuff representing less than 5% each of the total receivables, or 0 if you can.
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TRUCKMAN please PM me & I will endeavour to get this sorted out on your behalf ASAP.
I will say this to the forum that we pay as quickly as possible, most times well ahead of being paid ourselves. Some time's the carrier is reason for hold up in not being paid no signed POD, damaged freight etc.. sometimes it just the volume of billing that needs to be processed. But in the end everyone wants to paid in as timely a fashion as posable & we are no different.
AS for the comment from AccountsReceivable@DRC. I did that forum search and could not find the negative history that you refer to & I don't feel your comment is warranted. Not a perfect carrier and when you have been business for 25 years your going to piss of a carrier, driver, O/O or customer or two. But overall we try to be good partner to the people we do business with and for.
I will say this to the forum that we pay as quickly as possible, most times well ahead of being paid ourselves. Some time's the carrier is reason for hold up in not being paid no signed POD, damaged freight etc.. sometimes it just the volume of billing that needs to be processed. But in the end everyone wants to paid in as timely a fashion as posable & we are no different.
AS for the comment from AccountsReceivable@DRC. I did that forum search and could not find the negative history that you refer to & I don't feel your comment is warranted. Not a perfect carrier and when you have been business for 25 years your going to piss of a carrier, driver, O/O or customer or two. But overall we try to be good partner to the people we do business with and for.
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Looks less like anything direct, more like a guilty by association.
http://www.insidetransport.com/rumor-mill/6563-e-g-gray.html
I've no comment on 'payment trends' for EG, however I'll offer the following:
1 load together this year (we contracted them), picked up and delivered on the correct days, strong communication, unlike most actually took the time at booking to confirm payment terms. I respect that!
Invoice and POD received at 12 days from delivery (this is faster than some, I'm still chasing pod's from Feb and March!!)... Funny how drivers sometimes lose them but consignee's always have them!
Happy Friday, keep well,
Mike
http://www.insidetransport.com/rumor-mill/6563-e-g-gray.html
I've no comment on 'payment trends' for EG, however I'll offer the following:
1 load together this year (we contracted them), picked up and delivered on the correct days, strong communication, unlike most actually took the time at booking to confirm payment terms. I respect that!
Invoice and POD received at 12 days from delivery (this is faster than some, I'm still chasing pod's from Feb and March!!)... Funny how drivers sometimes lose them but consignee's always have them!
Happy Friday, keep well,
Mike
30
I find that outside of produce, terms that customers pay on range. The ones that are 30 days are generally with strings attached -- like signed PODs sent with invoice to the freight payment services (most larger customners are using one) etc. There are others that initiate terms upon pick-up, but the terms are generally longer like N45 or N60, I know there are some that are longer but they're not getting credit here if that's the case.
As a broker, I think that part of the value it should be offering customers is quicker payment terms. I don't think it's acceptable to have the attitude 'I'll pay when I get paid'. If you can't finance it, then you shouldn't be in it.
I think it's a bit different when it's a company that is primarily a carrier, brokering out excess though. While they wouldn't necessarily go out and just screw the carrier partners over (after all, much of the time it's a reciprocal relationship), their commitment to paying carrier partners is lower on the totem pole than it is for an operation that is either all broker or more focused on brokerage. They have to be ... feeding the assets and the employees comes first.
Just my 2 cents ... E G Gray from what I remember a long time ago was always on the slow side with payments, but nobody thought they were getting screwed over by them. At the time when I was in operations on the asset side, I'd just give a company like that a relatively small limit so I didn't have more out there than we could stomach.
As a broker, I think that part of the value it should be offering customers is quicker payment terms. I don't think it's acceptable to have the attitude 'I'll pay when I get paid'. If you can't finance it, then you shouldn't be in it.
I think it's a bit different when it's a company that is primarily a carrier, brokering out excess though. While they wouldn't necessarily go out and just screw the carrier partners over (after all, much of the time it's a reciprocal relationship), their commitment to paying carrier partners is lower on the totem pole than it is for an operation that is either all broker or more focused on brokerage. They have to be ... feeding the assets and the employees comes first.
Just my 2 cents ... E G Gray from what I remember a long time ago was always on the slow side with payments, but nobody thought they were getting screwed over by them. At the time when I was in operations on the asset side, I'd just give a company like that a relatively small limit so I didn't have more out there than we could stomach.
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GrayMatter,
Your presence on this forum will now hopefully correct the payment issues Truckman is facing with your company.
As for the trail - I agree with MikeJr - "guilty by association" may be the underlying factor here regarding the negative history. I knew as soon as I saw the original post that there was some negativity associated with E.G. Gray. I left it up to members to go back and read the past information.
Truckman - please update us regarding your dealings with E.G. Gray and if your matter was resolved in a timely fashion.
How this matter is dealt with will hopefully put a more positive light on E.G. Gray going forward.
Thank you
1
Yes that "guilty by association" could be mis-construed as being a like carrier but nothing could be further from the truth. I will say the association was brief and we too were on the short end of stick in our association with him.
Thanks
Thanks
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Is anyone else owed monies which are overdue from E.G. Gray? There is never any improvement with this "outfit" - no matter the promises you're given.
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To remind everyone, E G Gray sold out some time ago to the Tanguays. They are the ones who were L E Walker and then the merger with Mackinnon ...
I don't know if things are any better or worse with them than with the original ownership though. But it sounds like not.
I don't know if things are any better or worse with them than with the original ownership though. But it sounds like not.
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I can't speak to the payments issue, but from a service standpoint they've a good job for me. No complaints.