Detention time?

[artmax]

Loaded up LTL heading south 1500 miles; everything is fine and dandy.

Booked for 10 skids; turned out to be 11 skids. The broker called and started pre-emptively telling me it was the same weight. We had the extra space for it and said no issue will accommodate it; no need to re-rate the freight (trying to build rapport). Advised by the shipper that documents are sent to the broker (they took our PAPS); only BOL is provided (happens sometimes, CI sent by broker later). We advise the brokerage and are told to wait 30 mins. (8:30am).

30 mins pass; the shipper ushers us off the property to start loading day trucks. We head to the border as this was the final LTL pick-up. An uneasy feeling settles on the horizon.

12:00; everything is cleared; broker is aware the truck is at the border awaiting clearance.

14:00; freight brokerage realizes that there is no customs broker on file.

16:00; a Montreal customs broker advised that they clear PAPS; everything is sold to Bay Brokerage. ( a decent cb)

16:05; Bay Brokerage advised me that everything is submitted incorrectly and they just put it on administrative hold until QC CB figures it out.

19:00; truck cleared at the border.

19:00 rest of the freight deliveries have to be reshuffled due to delays at the border.

We deliver as per appointment (LTL) and go to talk about expenses/detention time. ( We advised that we were going to look for extra charges while the detention was occurring)

We ask for detention time and are met with "first two hours at the border-free & you knew this was going to take a long time" & that they have to get approval from their client. WHO are we working with you or your client?

They short pay us 50%.

Are we wrong to charge detention time?
What can we do about this other than close their account?

 

[WALTERK]

Doing cross border LTL, you surly have some solid if clauses on your confirmation before you commit to a pickup from a LOAD BROKER. If the broker agreed to YOUR CONDITIONS, and then later reneged on them, then there is nothing you can do about it. Really! You are dealing with a dishonest broker and forget about it. Done, a lesson learnt, move on. Put him on your DNU list that you religiously use in your day to day operations.
And, NEVER EVER lower your guard and compromise your line of credit issuing policies no matter how hard you are trying to build that rapport.
There are other messy ways to deal with it, but for LTL shipments they are not very practical and border on breaking the law.

 

[Shakey]

close account send them to collections DNU. I really don't understand how some brokers operate, they want to be treated as a client until things go sideways. Then it is all about what their customer will pay them and what they feel like they should pay you.

 

[MLCAR]

Collections is your best bet. Its a tough pill to swallow with all the added expenses to the driver and headaches with your deliveries for the next day, but its trial and error with brokers at this point in this business and I find usually the brokers that burn a bridge with us are also the ones constantly calling us on their next shipment.

We ask for detention time and are met with "first two hours at the border-free & you knew this was going to take a long time" & that they have to get approval from their client. WHO are we working with you or your client?

Also haven't done cross border in a few years but since when was first 2 hours at the border free?

 

[Rob]

First off name the broker. If the paperwork was going to be an issue maybe they should of had there poop in a group and had it done in advance. What a novel idea.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

Yes, who is this broker?
Clearly we know where this one rates on the pimp-to-secretary-of-state scale ... LOL

 

[NotForHire]

you should call a lawyer first alot of us are key board warriors. A freight guard report can hold your company back for the rest of its life

 

[Rob]

you should call a lawyer first alot of us are key board warriors. A freight guard report for holding freight hostage can hold your company back for the rest of its life

??? who said anything about holding hostage? or freight guard? and why would any of us need a lawyer for anything posted. The truth shall set you free and nothing liable about truth. Now you start rumors etc you may get yourself in poop but I could careless who I piss off etc if I am saying the truth. Sometimes it hurts..

 

[NotForHire]

Loaded up LTL heading south 1500 miles; everything is fine and dandy.

Booked for 10 skids; turned out to be 11 skids. The broker called and started pre-emptively telling me it was the same weight. We had the extra space for it and said no issue will accommodate it; no need to re-rate the freight (trying to build rapport). Advised by the shipper that documents are sent to the broker (they took our PAPS); only BOL is provided (happens sometimes, CI sent by broker later). We advise the brokerage and are told to wait 30 mins. (8:30am).

30 mins pass; the shipper ushers us off the property to start loading day trucks. We head to the border as this was the final LTL pick-up. An uneasy feeling settles on the horizon.

12:00; everything is cleared; broker is aware the truck is at the border awaiting clearance.

14:00; freight brokerage realizes that there is no customs broker on file.

16:00; a Montreal customs broker advised that they clear PAPS; everything is sold to Bay Brokerage. ( a decent cb)

16:05; Bay Brokerage advised me that everything is submitted incorrectly and they just put it on administrative hold until QC CB figures it out.

19:00; truck cleared at the border.

19:00 rest of the freight deliveries have to be reshuffled due to delays at the border.

We deliver as per appointment (LTL) and go to talk about expenses/detention time. ( We advised that we were going to look for extra charges while the detention was occurring)

We ask for detention time and are met with "first two hours at the border-free & you knew this was going to take a long time" & that they have to get approval from their client. WHO are we working with you or your client?

They short pay us 50%.

Are we wrong to charge detention time?
What can we do about this other than close their account?

Art i think you can use the bol act on shipper or rcvr for non complete payment from 3rd party

worth checking it out

wishing you the best of luck

 

[NotForHire]

??? who said anything about holding hostage? or freight guard? and why would any of us need a lawyer for anything posted. The truth shall set you free and nothing liable about truth. Now you start rumors etc you may get yourself in poop but I could careless who I piss off etc if I am saying the truth. Sometimes it hurts..

i didnt read the whole post before making my comment like a true key board worrier

 

[WALTERK]

you should call a lawyer first alot of us are key board warriors. A freight guard report can hold your company back for the rest of its life

A lot of us are not keyboard warriors and had to get our hands dirty when dealing with lying load brokers. That's why it hurts to see another guy getting caught in the same situation. The best way to avoid it is again and again a solid confirmation and a very tight credit extension policy. All the other options afterwards only cost more time and money with results often less than desirable.The key is not to find yourself there in the first place. Hey, it happens to the best, but we are here to educate ourself and this issue belongs to the fundamentals of running a trucking business.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

Art i think you can use the bol act on shipper or rcvr for non complete payment from 3rd party

I read OP as saying his extra charges were worth 50% more than the load agreement (contract), and he didn't get them, claiming them as short paid. If I read OP correctly then this argument falls under contract law. You can get what you contracted for, but you won't get any more than that. On top of that, if OP takes someone to court and loses, then OP may very well have to pay the other party's lawyer bill. That would suck.

 

[NotForHire]

Collections is your best bet. Its a tough pill to swallow with all the added expenses to the driver and headaches with your deliveries for the next day, but its trial and error with brokers at this point in this business and I find usually the brokers that burn a bridge with us are also the ones constantly calling us on their next shipment.




Also haven't done cross border in a few years but since when was first 2 hours at the border free?

2 hours free at the border? big time hoax right there!

For us anything more than 15 min once entry number has been given to officer is billable

 

[artmax]

I read OP as saying his extra charges were worth 50% more than the load agreement (contract), and he didn't get them, claiming them as short paid. If I read OP correctly then this argument falls under contract law. You can get what you contracted for, but you won't get any more than that. On top of that, if OP takes someone to court and loses, then OP may very well have to pay the other party's lawyer bill. That would suck.

Extra charges were only for the delays! Amounted to less than 20% of the load tender.

I didn't charge anything else! Still got stiffed.

First off name the broker. If the paperwork was going to be an issue maybe they should of had there poop in a group and had it done in advance. What a novel idea.

The broker is Trident Transportation out of Chattanooga
505 Riverfront Parkway,
Chattanooga, TN 37402

you should call a lawyer first alot of us are key board warriors. A freight guard report can hold your company back for the rest of its life

Do we have any way to challenge this if we don't have a carrier411 account?
We advised that there would be extra charges before delivering but delivered without fault, and then started the accounting with them after they received their product.

 

[MLCAR]

Do we have any way to challenge this if we don't have a carrier411 account?
We advised that there would be extra charges before delivering but delivered without fault, and then started the accounting with them after they received their product

How important is this relationship with this broker? If you do regular business i'd escalate it up the chain to see if you can get a resolution. If its not as important or thats not an option, and you have something written from the broker denying the extra charges, reach out to the shipper. If that doesn't work consignee is your next bet. If it ever gets escalted that far most times 1 of the 3 parties involved try to avoid embarassment and resolve the issue. In the odd chance that all 3 dont want to be responsible, collections would be the next option, although at that point your often making a statement rather than getting paid. Usually just the mention of reaching out to the customer get the wheels turning, so its worth a shot. Good luck sir