C H Robinson

H

htcollections

Suspended Member
Feb 20, 2011
796
81
28
10
Has anyone had problems being paid by C H Robinson for wait time? The time at the pick up states in at 115 pm and out at 620 pm. This clearly constitutes wait time about the 2 hour limit. Now they are not paying?
 
We had a 115 pm appointment and were on time. CH Robinson now refused to pay for waiting time even though the truck sat there for 5 hours waiting to be unloaded. Trying to get paid for 3 hours.
 
Contact the booking agent directly and send their confirmation, your invoice and a POD showing in and out. I had to do this each time there were any charges over and above the confirmation. They will pay it just may take some time.
 
THE most important thing to remember with CHR is not to wait to tell them about it. You need to let them know what is happening about 1 1/2 hours into the wait. In other words, they need to be informed before it happens so that they have a chance to get things moving BEFORE it goes to waiting time. The better the communication before the incident commences the better your chances you will get waiting time It also depends greatly on the agent you are working with. There are many great people working for CHR. There are, unfortunately, a few dumb a$$es also. Don't just decide to invoice waiting time. The agent must approve it and MAKE SURE THEY SEND YOU AN UPDATED CONFIRMATION. If not, you will not be paid for the extra charges.
CHR does not have outbound freight... they only deal with return freight. So, in other words, if you hear that they have gone in to a local 'outbound' shipper in your neck of the woods... sorry to say that they will kill the 'outbound' rates and that even if CHR pulls out of the shipper... that shipper will continue to use those rates....
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShawnR and Igor Galanter
Yes always give a broker the heads up before the 2hrs is up so they can have time to help and avoid waiting time for all. Plus always get it in writing, don't just bill it.
 
So true. More often than not a phone call to the shipper puts you a little higher on the pecking order if they are making choices who to load and who not to..
 
Call the company directly where there was waiting time. Ive had to do it several times with CHR. We got our money
 
going behind the broker's back to get paid is not very wise... I wouldn't suggest that unless you no longer wish to work with CHR... and they could easily post this around the industry which could in turn hurt your reputation... and what ?!? over some waiting time issues?!? not worth it...

sometimes taking it on the chin and walking away is the best way to go. we often have to do so with brokers & shippers.
 
I have to agree with G Roch on this one. In any conflict, there is almost always fault on both sides at least to a degree. Especially if there is more you can leverage from the relationship, I would advise against going behind a broker's back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShawnR
We've never go behind their back. We tell them up front if they can't get the waiting time we will. We document everything. When dealing with CH we will not take the load unless the confirmation from them states they will pay waiting time at our specified rate. etc etc..... we always notify tem at the 1.5 hr mark on TL in writing with a read receipt.
 
I guess I'll be the outlier here... The way I see it, I can't control wait times. Fortunately, it hasn't been an issue for me, but I encourage carriers who incur wait time to go directly to the source of their troubles. If shipper ABC is taking too long to load then by all means bill them for the extra time. You may get paid and you may not.. but at least the door is open for the carrier to make an attempt at getting something. I'm ok with carriers communicating with the customer... after all.. its not my customer.. its our customer. We each provide a service, and when there's a problem each party remains at liberty to communicate with the others. As a broker I don't delay trucks, but I'm not going to prohibit my carriers from making an attempt at compensation for excessive waiting time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Igor Galanter
I am sort of on the other side of the spectrum from Freight Broker. My reasoning is that I am able to choose the brokers I work with based on their credit and payment term, past history of dealing with them, sort of loads they offer, ease of dealing with etc. My relationship is with the broker and the broker alone. I am not in a position to investigate each shipper and receiver that the broker deals with...but they are. And so I would expect that they enter into agreements with their customers regarding waiting time from the get go. This allows me to work with them knowing that they will stand behind us if there is a delay. Of course we try to minimize the delay. But I would not want to have to go behind a brokers back to charge the customer for waiting time. I would expect the broker to pay me whether they get paid or not...it's that simple. Regarding CH Robinson though, I have never had a hard time collecting waiting time from them. That is one good point in their favour. I have sent a truck in for a 6am appointment on Friday morning only to find out that the appointment was supposed to be 6pm ( not my fault and not their fault either). They paid me for 10 hours waiting time at my regular rate and they paid me to come home empty because it was Friday night. They stood behind me 100%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Salma, RobsanT, martinetav and 5 others
Quite often it isn't the broker's customer either. For example, if my customer (the shipper) loads on time and the receiver (not my customer) takes six hours to unload then who should pay? That's usually the scenario. Whoever causes the delay should get the bill. If its the broker who forgot to book an appointment then the broker should pay the bill.
 
Last edited:
Accessorial charges are the responsibility of whoever I am charging for the freight, whether it be a direct customer or a broker. It is up to them to fight it out with whoever they deem responsible. My 2 cents...
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Capon, Salma and ShawnR
I agree with bull958. It is 100% the responsibility of my customer to make sure their customer (or supplier) adhere to standard shipping/receiving allowances.

Although I think it's good business to advise my customer when my driver is getting close to his allowance I try to avoid having that as part of my agreement.

If Freight Broker has had success billing 3rd Parties directly I applaud the effort...but I sure wouldn't spend my time doing it. I can only assume he/she doesn't deliver into any of the retail DCs.
 
It's whatever you've agreed to with your customer. If your agreement states that your customer (broker/shipper/other) is responsible for paying you wait time after X number of hours, then they are responsible for that. I purposely don't agree to paying for events over which I have no control, and coincidentally I rarely pay for waiting time, the only exception being wait time resulting from an error on my part (which I'm more than happy to pay). It's whatever your agreement states..
 
Freight Broker, if the scenario is like this:

Freight Broker calls us to pick up his customer's freight at Shipper ABC. After 1-1/2 hours, I call Freight Broker and he tells me that Shipper ABC isn't his customer and I should deal with them for any waiting time. I call Shipper ABC and tell them that they are going to be on the hook for waiting time once we hit the 2 hour mark. Shipper ABC tells me they aren't paying so we leave. Now, Freight Broker doesn't have a truck to pick up his customer's freight.

What would you do? And, if you don't pay waiting time, how often do your carriers go to the shipper/receiver - and get paid?

I've never heard of this before so I would appreciate your response.

Thanks!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobsanT, jonny-chicken and Salma
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom