Wait time

[Ronfs1]

It seems to me these days receivers (and the shippers) are using our trailers more for storage than to move freight. We had a trailer at (insert large food receiver here) that was unloaded in the allotted two hours but was then made to wait another 3.45 hours as they piece counted. A sealed load no less. I think we still need to allow reasonable time for unload but the rates need to climb as the delay extends. $xx.xx after two hours and $xx.xx + $x.xx after 4 hours Any thoughts or comments?

 

[Jim L]

I have tried numerous times to get compensatory amounts for detention and it causes a lot of problems. If you are dealing with a direct shipper, its best to identify and record your dwell time and come back to them with a raised rate for service. This definitely will cause a discussion and the customer may get further involved once they know that the dwell time negatively affects their rates by $xxx.xx/load.
Unfortunately if you deal with a freight broker you better just pray that they have a good relationship with their customer and can pass on something to you but you're only going to get whatever value they think is fair which is anywhere from $10-$50/hr after 2-8 hrs of waiting (basically a dart throw).

 

[loaders]

We have recently become quite adamant about enforcing waiting time with our customers. We have put everyone on notice that any detention time charged by carriers will be billed to them. The waiting time that seems to cause the most pushback is one hour for LTL pick ups and/or deliveries, especially for flatbed or specialized equipment where we have a higher charge in place as opposed to dry van. I know, I know.....isn’t a dry van driver’s time worth the same as a flat bed driver’s? We do this strictly because the flatbed carriers demand it. We have lost a bit of business because some shippers either know their own unorganized shipping departments too well, or just get nervous when they see the potential for addition charges over and above the actual freight rate.

 

[Igor Galanter]

Actually, Ronsf1, I'm surprised you just encounter this problem now.. This type of behavior exist for loooong time.. The bigger the building- the longer the wait, unless it's a drop , but for a few days... ))
Good luck with that, eh..

 

[ralphthetrucker]

Why would they pay demurrage when you competition is lined up to haul it for less and wait for free. Only When there is a real driver shortage will things change for the better.

 

[TRKINSURE]

Why would they pay demurrage when you competition is lined up to haul it for less and wait for free. Only When there is a real driver shortage will things change for the better.

The driver shortage is here, try and find a driver and tell me I’m wrong. I think a lot of uneducated owners are signing up with the big shippers thinking they got it made, but at the end of the day - they’re running at a loss.... there are a ton of start up operations I’ve seen come and go just as quick because they don’t realize this.

Not that it’s anyone here... but that’s my 5 cents

 

[lowmiler88]

The only people we have problems with in regards to waiting time are load brokers, our direct customers (a lot of them multinationals) have no problem with waiting time as long as you follow their procedures which are pretty much the same as everyone else. 1 of the great things with ELD's is you have explicit proof and they know the drivers clock is running and can't be stopped. Don't be afraid to discuss waiting time when taking the load or working on a new customer it shows you know your stuff and you are a professional.

 

[Freight Broker]

Alot of shippers are cagey about paying wait time...some won't pay any, and so long as the loads are their I chalk that up to the cost of doing business with them when I occasionally have to pay a carrier. Their reasoning is that I don't pay them anything when the truck I send in is late for pickup or delivery. I see their rationale.. they too have paid staff and heavy machinery sitting idle when my truck doesn't arrive at the appointed time.

 

[Ronfs1]

Actually, Ronsf1, I'm surprised you just encounter this problem now.. This type of behavior exist for loooong time.. The bigger the building- the longer the wait, unless it's a drop , but for a few days... ))
Good luck with that, eh..

LOL I've been doing this for 40 years and not recently encountering this. What I have been doing is pushing back a bit on wait time charges and getting few results.

 

[Igor Galanter]

To justify any $XX in rate required statistics of previously PAID or UNPAID wait times. If they were paid, what is the point of raising rate based on that...
If wait times were not paid raises even more concern of dealing with such customer...
Happy Thursday...!

 

[Gord M]

Don't take loads to Sobeys and Loblaws........if you do you will wait and the brokers give you nothing. Get rid of your reefers and do dry loads for more money and let the bottom guys fight over the Loblaw's loads. Loblaw's know they can dictate the rules, so dont deal with them...............we don't deal with either Loblaws or Sobeys or Gordon Foods and we've grown 15% every year.....the reefer market is saturated with rate cutting numbskulls.

 

[jackhole]

I thought we were ground hogs , oh well , 60 years later and we're still here

 

[Michael Ludwig]

I thought we were ground hogs , oh well , 60 years later and we're still here

Damn ... we're right behind you bro ... 58 years ... LOL

 

[wesward]

there should be a standard set fees and waiting times
so we can all be on same page

 

[Igor Galanter]

Wesward, we are all on the same page already..
It's called " minimum wage" , eh...

 

[loaders]

Most likely before your time Wesward, but this industry used to be very regulated and there were “standard set fees” for virtually everything associated with transportation. The down side to those days was that the market was made up of far fewer participants, meaning much less competition, and the result of that was rates were substantially higher than today. Of course now, those days are long gone and each individual company is free to set their own fees for all accessorial charges, such as waiting time and demurrage. You can still be “on the same page” as everyone else. Just ask your fellow truckers the question on this site.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

We can be ... start a thread and get everyone here to calculate and sign up to the same rate.

 

[Freight Broker]

When it comes to detention nobody wants to rock the money boat too much. Let's say a shipper gives you two million in sales every year with decent margins and on time payment. The odd time they run into difficulty and and there's a delay in loading.. Do you go after them?.. or.. do you forget about it and just pay the carrier and chalk it up to the cost of doing business? I generally do the latter unless it becomes the norm.

 

[dad2andrew]

Usually for the most part it all comes out in the wash over a period of time with regular customers/carriers/brokers.

 

[Jim L]

I would like to see a list but the issue is not the amount of compensation but the route it takes to get to the point of compensation.

Every broker and customer will see the add-on and deny the charge unless it was previously approved. The only way to get it approved is to contact them when it happens and let them know that charges are pending, and give them a chance to minimize the additional charges. Making a list is great but getting it monetized is a different story. If you waited 6 hours to get unloaded but didn't call your customer to give them a chance to fix it, then it doesn't matter what the list says, it'll get denied. If you waited until 5pm to send your docs to Livingston and Livingston couldn't do it until the following day at noon - good luck.

You're better off working with your customer to create a standard operating procedure (SOP) that may have a monetary compensation at some point in the process. Then the customer will have no choice when the problem arises since you followed the agreed SOP. It also gives you armament to identify how often this happens for future discussions on rates.

This all works when you have customers but if you are in the spot market, trying to get any load that works, you're out of luck unless you are working with a good broker that has a good relationship with the freight payer. Finding those brokers take time but sometimes even these brokers have a situation that is beyond their control and everyone ends up out of luck.

Remember, when a freight broker goes to the freight payer asking for an additional sum of money for whatever reason, there is usually nothing in it for him. There is no value for him to fight or strain the business relationship for you to get your $100.00. He'll likely take it out of his end much like @Freight Broker said above so you're limited to the amount that he has on his end or the value he puts on his business with the freight payer.