Ashron

Hi HT, Johnny Chicken & others. (Big T - did you end up taking our load?)

I haven't been on this site lately but we are caught up in a mess with MET Circa 1994 and SBT (Sidwan-BET Transportation), double-triple and quadruple brokering one of our loads and I was searching for news on them (BET is suing our client for payment because MET double brokered our load to them and never paid them, ironically because they claim SBT double-brokered their load - friggen mess!) Anyway, I decided to search Ashron and see what is being said about us, if anything, since there was no chatter since 2011.

I am glad to hear you're getting paid relatively well, Johnny Chicken. Just a note, though, for those that don't know: Ashron Freight Services Inc. never had any difficulties. We are an international freight forwarder and truck broker. Unfortunately, I started an asset-based trucking co. in the end of 2008 and due to 3 main factors: 1. an idiot partner, 2. my negligence in not monitoring said idiot partner, and 3. our biggest client going bankrupt for $140,000.00 (Salerno Bags - they restructered & we didn't get a penny), we failed in 2011 and lots of carriers and truck industry suppliers lost money - most not too much, but there were quite a few. I had transferred the truck brokerage business from Ashron Freight Services to Ashron Transport to separate our two operations, "international air/ocean" and "north american trucking", so Ashron Freight Services really weren't involved or responsible for any of the Ashron Transport obligations. Some people thought there was fraud or malicious intent in this, and I understand their scepticism , but there was absolutely none. It was simply bad management and bad luck the trucking company failed and the whole thing cost me alot, about $500,000.00 (money I don't have and am still paying back after renegotiating my mortgage). I would not have kept my name, phone number and address, and replied to every inquiry/complaint/threat if I was hiding something or acting illegally or immorally. Most people responsible for situations like mine may be thieving a-holes; I am not.

Over time, I actually paid back in full most carriers that lost money doing loads for MY clients at Ashron. I paid back in part SOME of the carriers that did loads for the idiot partner's clients, but I advised most of them that I did not have the funds to pay back everyone and that they should press the idiot partner for some settlement to make them whole. The idiot partner started and bankrupt another company (after leaving Ashron Transport in the lurch) and God know where he is now.

It's been 5 years since the Ashron Transport bankruptcy and Ashron Freight Services is still chugging along. I am not getting rich with the business, but we're solid, I have professional and well-treated, happy staff, and we pay our bills regularly and on time (though we changed our policy from 30 days from invoice date to 30 days from POD received date because so many carriers were slow to send POD's). As always, I welcome any carrier to contact me directly if they have any issues Neil Smith 450-692-0444.

Have a nice day to all.
 
Neil,
I hope you now insure your AR for credit after your experience with Salerno Bags. It would be a shame to be caught by another customer bankruptcy.
 
Good job Neil.. sounds like you had some very bad luck, but you're back up on your feet again.
 
Glad to hear you're moving forward and there was no fraud. Trucking can be very difficult! I've read many of your posts. Well done Neil!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've watched this account as I have had past problems, and have noticed payment performance has been slipping since the summer.

Payments are closer to 60 days now and it seems that their A/P person is losing invoices that were sent by email to the same email address we have been using for some time...
 
Our latest invoice has now reached over 70 days and their A/P has stopped responding to emails.
 
Hello Johnny Chicken (and others),

I haven't been on this site in some time and just noticed this message today from an email from Inside Transport. I had put this thread on a "watch" but didn't realise the messages from Inside Transport in my inbox were related to the forum - I thought they were just the typical "Latest Topics" emails, which I mostly ignore. Anyway . . .

Note I wish we could change the name of this thread to just "Ashron" or "Ashron Freight". As explained over several postings years ago, Ashron Transport Inc. was an asset-based transport co. that went bankrupt in 2011, so any reference to them (as in the title of this tread) is outdated and really has nothing to do with Ashron Freight Services. For anyone wanting the explanation, read down this thread or others on the topic "Ashron").

Thanks for the confirmation that the last cheque was received at 33-35 days, but i just want to mention we didn't change our payment terms. For the record, we prepare weekly cheques (every Thursday or Friday) of what is due at 30 days. For some time, I got into the habit of signing them only early the following week, however, so this does put us at 35+ for some payments. This schedule has been satisfactory with all our vendors and I can't remember the last time one called with a concern or complaint (we are not a big broker, but we pay out about $80,000.00/week in trucking, split between hundreds of carriers - I would say our average of satisfied vendors is pretty good). If I ever do get a call from carrier (mostly US-based ones) that are receiving cheques too late, we pay them a week or even 2 earlier to accommodate them. We also "Quickpay" carriers that require it, but we prefer to put a limit on this service to keep a healthy cash flow.

We do not purposely pay anyone longer than this schedule so if our AP has missed a payment for any reason, please contact me. I see down the thread that you mentioned an invoice was at 70 days and our AP "stopped responding to emails". I just spoke to Elaine in our AP (the sweetest and most humble person you can ever meet) and she assured me categorically that she did not ignore anyone's emails and she never would. She has been overwhelmed in her work, on occasion, and our fiscal year-end is Jan. 31 so this could have accounted for couple of days/weeks MAX delay in any payments, but I can only ask, if you took our load, know Ashron Freight Services and my history with the failed transport company, why didn't you just call me? After all these years I still don't know who you are, so I can't look into any issues of late payment to your company. Maybe a dispatcher had an argument with your company and would not authorise the invoice for payment or maybe there was some other explainable delay. If this ever happens, I get a call from the Manager/Owner of the carrier and we'll settle it immediately. If I am not aware of an issue, I can't fix it and I don't scrutinise every payment we make. Generally, we pay on time, if not, there is usually an issue of some kind. or is it just human error.

If you don't want to provide your company name on this forum, please send me an email to neil@ashron.ca so I can look into this issue. I suppose we are doing regular work together by the info in your postings - I would ask that you show me 2 courtesies: 1. tell me where you are from so I can look into any past payment delays and 2. contact me directly in the future if you are experiencing any payment delays from us.

I know you don't like the long-winded blah-blah answers and you will tell me you were only replying to an inquiry, but I would think that after 6 years with no Ashron payment issues quoted on this site, that I have earned the courtesy of a heads-up from you if we are behind on a payment before giving the impression on a public site that we are or may be becoming delinquent payers. There is no reason you should have received a legitimate payment at 80 days so I just want the opportunity to investigate.

Thank you.

Neil Smith
President
Ashron Freight Services Inc.
Cel. 514-913-3480
neil@ashron.ca
 
  • Like
Reactions: Igor Galanter
Hi to Big T also,

Sorry I didn't reply to you in Jan. As I mentioned, I am not a regular on this site. I appreciate your having taken our load at the time and it seems you received your cheque right on our normal schedule. I hope this was acceptable to you.

Tks,

Neil
 
Neil Smith said:
Hello Johnny Chicken (and others),
Note I wish we could change the name of this thread to just "Ashron" or "Ashron Freight". As explained over several postings years ago, Ashron Transport Inc. was an asset-based transport co. that went bankrupt in 2011, so any reference to them (as in the title of this tread) is outdated and really has nothing to do with Ashron Freight Services. For anyone wanting the explanation, read down this thread or others on the topic "Ashron").

neil@ashron.ca
Click to expand...

Thread name changed.

Keep well,
Mike
 
  • Like
Reactions: jonny-chicken and Igor Galanter
Hi HT, I just saw your post too. 70 days? This is not obviously not normal and not acceptable.

I need to know if our AP is not getting payments out on time. Can you please email me your detail so I can investigate?

neil@ashron.ca

Tks,

Neil
 
Yes. I can have that emailed to you. I'm told you didn't receive the original pod. Which was the reason for the delay. We have no issues here supplying an Orihinal Pod. We would rather know that at the time of booking in future please, not after the fact. Thank you! Happy to see you communicate.
 
Hi HT,

Only some clients require original POD. Agreed, dispatch should request this at booking if it is not the usual procedure. Sorry for the delay.

I am happy to communicate - always have been. Ask JC : )

Tks,
 
  • Like
Reactions: jonny-chicken
Neil, It is not an issue. We expect payment based on the terms agreed to. When Originals are requested in advance, We start counting days once we deliver the Original. Otherwise we start counting days from the time you received our invoice and pod, by email. Again, we never have an issue providing the Originals, but it is not reasonable to request it after as to cause further delay for payment. Thanks again for your openness.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Igor Galanter and jonny-chicken
Wow… That is quite a verbose response…

There’s a lot in here to respond to, so I will intersperse my responses with your text in bold…

And then there are my closing statements that you will find at the end of this post, after your quote...


Neil Smith said:
Hello Johnny Chicken (and others),

I haven't been on this site in some time and just noticed this message today from an email from Inside Transport. I had put this thread on a "watch" but didn't realise the messages from Inside Transport in my inbox were related to the forum - I thought they were just the typical "Latest Topics" emails, which I mostly ignore. Anyway . . .

Note I wish we could change the name of this thread to just "Ashron" or "Ashron Freight". As explained over several postings years ago, Ashron Transport Inc. was an asset-based transport co. that went bankrupt in 2011, so any reference to them (as in the title of this tread) is outdated and really has nothing to do with Ashron Freight Services. For anyone wanting the explanation, read down this thread or others on the topic "Ashron").

Thanks for the confirmation that the last cheque was received at 33-35 days, but i just want to mention we didn't change our payment terms. For the record, we prepare weekly cheques (every Thursday or Friday) of what is due at 30 days.

Although I really don’t care to argue (especially about this), you most definitely did change your payment terms. In fact, your words to your own A/P person in reference to my company were “please make sure to pay everything at 25+ days so they should receive our payment by 35”… Prior to this, there is no way that you were sending out payments to us in this time frame as we were receiving the payments after 60 days…

For some time, I got into the habit of signing them only early the following week, however, so this does put us at 35+ for some payments. This schedule has been satisfactory with all our vendors and I can't remember the last time one called with a concern or complaint (we are not a big broker, but we pay out about $80,000.00/week in trucking, split between hundreds of carriers - I would say our average of satisfied vendors is pretty good). If I ever do get a call from carrier (mostly US-based ones) that are receiving cheques too late, we pay them a week or even 2 earlier to accommodate them. We also "Quickpay" carriers that require it, but we prefer to put a limit on this service to keep a healthy cash flow.

We do not purposely pay anyone longer than this schedule so if our AP has missed a payment for any reason, please contact me. I see down the thread that you mentioned an invoice was at 70 days and our AP "stopped responding to emails". I just spoke to Elaine in our AP (the sweetest and most humble person you can ever meet) and she assured me categorically that she did not ignore anyone's emails and she never would. She has been overwhelmed in her work, on occasion, and our fiscal year-end is Jan. 31 so this could have accounted for couple of days/weeks MAX delay in any payments, but I can only ask, if you took our load, know Ashron Freight Services and my history with the failed transport company, why didn't you just call me?

I’m sure Elaine is just as sweet and humble as you are saying… I have no reason to dispute that, and I’ve never said anything about her not being sweet and humble… That you would bring this up, is, well, just a bit weird really… but that’s ok…



Anyway, Elaine’s demeanor was never really the issue here, was it? The problem has been with the amount of time your company takes to get it’s payment to my company. You may not want to believe this, but it really is that simple…


I remember when we talked on the phone, you seemed quite upset that I was telling you how long it takes me to get money from your company. You refused to believe it, and although it wouldn’t really change anything, you asked me to email you some details…


Here is the some text from the email I sent you after your request:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nov. 23 we emailed our invoice to Linda



Jan. 18 we emailed Linda to request payment status



Jan. 19 Linda responded to say she didn’t have the invoice



Jan. 20 we emailed Linda with another copy of the invoice and a reminder to pay as the invoice is coming up to 60 days… we did not hear back…



Jan. 31 we emailed Linda to request payment status… we did not hear back…



I have attached copies of these emails for your viewing pleasure… There is a copy of the invoice in one of those attached emails.



My staff tells me this is at least the second invoice that Linda has ‘lost’… Which I find odd since we send them by email and we have not had any issues with anyone else who we email invoices to.



We appreciate the business, but we do not want to have to hound anyone to pay us… If you can pay us in 30 or 35 days as you mentioned, that would be great!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As you can see, the invoice emailed on Nov. 23 was at 69 days on Jan. 31 when we emailed Linda again to request payment status… This is the invoice we reported receiving payment for at 80 days as mentioned in previous threads…

Again, if you want to look further into the late payment, I suggest you check your email from me dated Feb. 2, 2017 with subject line of “RE: Overdue invoice”…

I have just gone through my records to confirm the 80 days… I have to apologize Neil, as it appears I may have embellished or estimated, and it seems it was only 78 days, not the 80 days I had reported… Invoice was emailed on November 23 and we received your cheque in the mail on Feb. 9. If you don’t believe me, you can check your email and look at the back of your cheque, it will show you when I deposited it, as it will have my bank stamp on it.

Oh, and to answer your question “why didn’t you just call me?”… well, I did… and we had a long conversation and then a few emails back and forth… I guess the system works!


After all these years I still don't know who you are, so I can't look into any issues of late payment to your company. Maybe a dispatcher had an argument with your company and would not authorise the invoice for payment or maybe there was some other explainable delay. If this ever happens, I get a call from the Manager/Owner of the carrier and we'll settle it immediately. If I am not aware of an issue, I can't fix it and I don't scrutinise every payment we make. Generally, we pay on time, if not, there is usually an issue of some kind. or is it just human error.

No, we did not have any arguments with your dispatchers, to my knowledge they are delightful… And, you did have a chance to look into these payment issues when I called you and emailed you the information. You have chosen not to believe it for whatever reason… Again, we have no problem with your dispatch, our issue has been with the number of days to get paid...

If you don't want to provide your company name on this forum, please send me an email to neil@ashron.ca so I can look into this issue. I suppose we are doing regular work together by the info in your postings - I would ask that you show me 2 courtesies: 1. tell me where you are from so I can look into any past payment delays and 2. contact me directly in the future if you are experiencing any payment delays from us.

I will absolutely send you an email once I’m done with this post… which is taking me a really really long time to write… haahahaa… However, I don’t think we really have any issues between us anymore, because your payments are now coming in much faster… In fact, if your payments continue to come in at 35 days, you will quickly be one of my favourite brokers! Haahaahaa… crazy I know, but true…


I know you don't like the long-winded blah-blah answers and you will tell me you were only replying to an inquiry, but I would think that after 6 years with no Ashron payment issues quoted on this site, that I have earned the courtesy of a heads-up from you if we are behind on a payment before giving the impression on a public site that we are or may be becoming delinquent payers. There is no reason you should have received a legitimate payment at 80 days so I just want the opportunity to investigate.

Thank you.

Neil Smith
President
Ashron Freight Services Inc.
Cel. 514-913-3480
neil@ashron.ca
Click to expand...
 
Actually... I had to put my closing statements into a new post...

Apparently, there is a 10,000 word maximum! haahahaa...



I don’t post about slow payments to have fun, or ruin anyone’s day… I am simply an employee of a company and it is my job to collect these accounts. I also feel it my duty as a member of this board to provide information to other members as they have done for me.

I try to be as careful as I can about details I post on this forum as I know they will likely be challenged, so they should be accurate…

In your company’s case, I can say for sure that we did receive our payment at 78 days (sorry, not the 80 days I originally reported) and the email requests we sent were not responded to. I have saved all of the emails and cheque stubs and can present them here if you want, although I’m not sure I see the point of all this… In fact, when I look at the stub for your cheque it has a date of Feb. 3rd 2017, which by the way is a full 10 weeks after my invoice date of Nov. 23... I did not receive the cheque until Feb. 9...

However, I really do not wish to continue this soap opera…

I really didn’t expect a response like this… You must realize you are only making things worse… The most I expected in response from you would be something akin to “Thanks for updating this forum so others know that I pay quickly”… but hey, that’s just me… Instead you have drawn even more attention to your company's problematic payment history...

We are just business people… If you would like us to continue moving your freight, we would be glad to, so long as we receive payment in a reasonable timeframe. If you decide you do not want my company to move your freight because I have reported on your company’s past payment trends, then by all means stop offering us your freight.

Thank you and good day!

Jon
 
Hopefully, last message from me on the subject:

I didn't know who Jonny-Chicken (JC) works for so I did not know what payment he was talking about in his Feb. 2 & 15 posts. I know who he is now and it was a file that our dispatch dept admittedly did not handle well and process the freight invoice to AP. Our AP did not ignore the company and in fact, when they were eventually called and it escalated to me, a cheque was made immediately. JC was then advised to copy our AP dept to their invoice emails to avoid a similar future delay and, further, a new payment plan was put in place at 25 days to ensure payments received by mail by 35 (a good example of what I mentioned in my verbose post: when a vendor is not satisfied with our payment terms, we make special arrangements).

As far as I know, all is well since. They take our loads and we pay on time.

I suppose I jumped the gun on this one. I had no problem until reading that JC accused our AP of ignoring his multiple requests. Simply, a dispatch CSR, for some reason (I am sorry, I don't know or remember why), did not reply to his requests. AP and myself solved the issue the moment we were contacted.

As always, I invite anyone to contact me directly with any questions, problems or concerns.

Thank you,

Neil Smith
President
Ashron Freight Services Inc.
cel: 514-913-3480
neil@ashron.ca
 
  • Like
Reactions: jonny-chicken
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom