Certainly flag #1 had to be their lack of FMCSA broker authority, if the load was cross border. Think what you will about the value of dealing with an entity who maintains a 75K surety bond or doesn’t, but surely when given the choice, isn’t there some merit in dealing with a company that at least took the effort to be properly licensed? In this case, your compliance team made the correct call.
Jim L, I think that you, or me, or someone should publish a manual on how to properly vet your suppliers/customers. It seems that almost daily there is a carrier or a broker posting a complaint on Inside Transport against someone who failed to either pay their invoice or provide their promised service. These tools are readily available, almost all of them free of charge and as you demonstrated, can take just a matter of minutes to complete.
You're absolutely right. I think the manual doesn't have to be too terribly big either. I'd bet it'd be 25 pages including pictures.
