Carrier reference - Procam International

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TRPM

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Jun 28, 2008
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DBA as - Transport Pro-Cal, Laval, QC

Looking for service comments on this Carrier - have potential truckload shipment from California back too Ontario that this Carrier is interested in.

Thank you.
 
Transport Pro-Cal handled a temp controlled TL, QC - CA for us a ways back...

Strong communication and on time p/u and del.

We've not hooked up in a while, but certainly would be happy to work with again.

Keep well,

Mike
 
The plot thickens....

An established Carrier that I work with, calls me that an order has been cancelled and wants to discuss the order that I have posted. They then tell me that earlier they received a call from a Carrier called " Express Trans "reviewing the same information that I gave Procam International.
Note - when I received Procam International's Carrier package, Express Trans was noted as the Company that was sending the fax.

Then they tell me that they quoted a higher rate to Procam....than what Procam quoted me.


Why am I hearing music from the old "Twilight Zone"...????
 
Interesting, let me check all the docs I have scanned in (carrier package and BOL from the shipment - hopefully there's a PAPS on there)...

Thx for the update - it's appreciated.

Mike
 
Procam

Not that I want to rush to their defence.

I have worked with this company over the last 2 years doing regular LTL and have had no problems whatsoever , even had a claim where their client tore a hole in the roof of our trailer and that was paid to our satisfaction.

Secondly,
Went by their office two weeks ago to pick up a check that was just due. They did not have to issue the check, but did so anyway. The space the company occupies is quite large and there is considerable office space there.

I doubt that they are in the same league as the pond scum that double broker loads without any intention of paying.

As this company has several divisions, maybe you should bring up the issue with one of the owners of PROCAM which I think is the Mother comapny.

This is only my opinion as I know none of the administrators of this company!!
 
Procam International Inc. Double Brokering, Late

In our experience Procam International Inc. out of Laval, PQ runs a consolidation of freight in LA which is brought up to Chicago by a US carrier, then double/triple brokered to a Canadian carrier to bring it up here.

We gave them freight on a Monday with a delivery for Friday. They agreed to a Friday delivery only to later huff and puff how they can't do it and that they need a delivery following Wednesday. On the Wednesday all we were told is that the freight will deliver tomorrow and that they don't know why (Marilyn-very rude). We wanted a reason for a delay so we can advise the customer accordingly but were given nothing.
On the wednesday we were lied to first thing in the morning (by Marylin) that the driver crossed the border late (claimed he was delayed at the border-never called to advise us) and that delivery will be mid afternoon only to later find out via pars # that our load was double or who knows, at this point triple brokered to a company called Transport Gregoire.
Procam (Jackie) kept telling us freight cleared the border all day wednesday, meanwhile the custom broker would confirm that the shipment has not cleared customs. Again with the lies!

We had to call Transport Gregoire to find out where our shipment even was, who physically had it.
Procam double and then triple brokered our load without our knowledge, lied the entire time, were late delivering resulting in penalties for our client, VERY rude in this entire process as if they've done nothing wrong --- HORRIBLE HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

The shipment finally delivered on Thursday we assume by Transport Gregoire...
 
That is quite an unfortunate story...thanks for posting.

Since this is a double/triple broker situation - I would ensure that the DELIVERING carrier gets paid (and confirm this) by Procam - prior to you paying them. Or just pay the carrier directly - you likely won't be working with Procam ever again....

You don't want a "non payment" situation involving the broker and carrier coming back to bite you later on....
 
I've never seen a Procam truck myself -- and to me, the name suggests broker though I am an anglophone.

In any case, delivery of LTL in 4 days is not realistic though.
 
Hello,

Marylin & Jackie - Our Express Logistics. Based in Laval, PQ
Express Logistics based in Potsdam, Ny
They Intermodal all freight out of LA into Il. Then truck it in.
Every thing is doubled brokered.
Thanks!
 
@the man - perhaps unrealistic but that's what they said yes to with the whole truck in the area, on his way back talk. Either way, we pushed it to wednesday with no issues, and they did not respect that either. 10 days turnaround should have been enough...

The person who this was triple brokered to (Transport Gregoire) at first did not want to answer our questions until it was explained to him it's OUR freight he has on him. Now I'll wait for the invoice and go from there, but the end carrier gets the money, not the paperpushers at Procam.

Needless to say that we should all check trade references well because you just never know.
 
True ...

At least Gregoire is a good carrier. Hopefully they'll smarten up themselves and not take freight from them in the future.
 
Not in defense

Not that I want to defend ProCal for what they have done, but here is the most likely scenario:

Pro cal/ Pro cam do have their own equipment, I have seen it.

Pro cal most likely consolidates freight at their various terminals and interlines it with other carriers, most likely on a regular basis. Many Carriers do the same, take Hercules and CSA for example. We have done exactly the same for them for both of them.

Transport Gregoire is a member of the TansForce group and is generally known as a truckload carrier.
The line -haul driver/s may have dropped the trailer at their MTl. terminal and trough bad communication it may have been difficult over the holiday to get the trailer to the right place!

Inbound freight has been scarce , especially the week before Christmas. It may have taken longer than it should have to build up the freight required for the run.
There may also have been customs issues with other LTL than yours. If ProCam is not post audit they were not going in bond the week before Christmas, the offensive freight may still not have been cleared with all the Govt. closures.

Even if it was a team hauling the LTL it would be highly unlikely that your freight would have delivered on friday , probably before noon as most clients closed early. Where was it located on the trailer. 1st p/u = last delivery.
Do the local p/u - line-haul - de-stuff the trailer- re load for local delivery and deliver in 5 days????
 
alx

Again, they picked up the freight on December 19th with a delivery for December 28th. If they were a decent carrier with no funky business this must have been enough time for my freight to arrive on time. They asked for a wednesday delivery, they got that in a confirmation. 10 day turnaround is ENOUGH from CA when they tell me the truck is leaving 'today' (Monday).

And alx, I get the whole, not enought freight, issues with other LTL but all that requires is a phone call to us with an explanation because if I phoned my customer and said 'there's other LTL on that truck with issues crossing, you will experience a delay" is a lot better than you're freight is late (and I don't know why).

Freight being late happens, we're all in the same industry but for Marylin to tell me 'well, it'll get there tomorrow and I don't have a reason for it" is totally unacceptable. RUDE, RUDE, RUDE. When our owner phoned she even told him that the driver got drunk over the holiday. We were floored, with a literal comeback of 'you did not just say that did you'.
 
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I see what you are saying

Who's driver was drunk?
Pro cam or Gregoire. I'm pretty sure they would try to avoid letting you know the truth.
I'm sure that nobody is impressed by that comment.

The holiday in the interim did not help the situation.

Pro Cam should have kept you in the loop.
 
A driver came here today asking about PROCAM. It seems they got a contract thawing bread for Montreal Bread (or whatever they are called these days ;)) at 2035 Dagenais O. in Laval.

The driver called them in front of me and the bi.ch at the other end was literally SCREAMING her head off at this driver.

Not very professional at all.
 
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Good day everybody,

My name is Marcel Deschamps. I am the owner of Procam Internatioanal Inc., Transport Procal, ProAir International Inc. And Transport Spitfire. I will explain the reason and meaning of each company and after that - I will answer each one of you individually.

We have been in busines since 1988 under the same name. How many do you know with the same record? Some but not that many.

Procam International Inc. is mainly a logistic company that owns trucks: tractor/trailors, straight trucks and sprinters. Our main income is from freight brokering and our trucks are used for expedite shipments. If you want, I will send pictures of trucks to who requests them. Also Procam has hubs with partners in major cities in North America. It is done by tons of carriers and it works well.

My input in Inside Transport will not be anonymous like most of you guys.

Transport Procal is an intermodal company, average 20 shipments/week of perishable coming from West Coast.

ProAir is obvious: air freight around the world.

Transport Spifire is a transport company with 25 trucks that covers Canada & USA; dry box & flatbeds.

On top of that we have a warehouse of 50,000 square feet in Laval, QC (Stéphane Beaudoin from Levasse, the only brave one - you can come and verify).

So if Procam uses a local carrier in CA to P/U a shipment, bring it to the Hub we share and put it on one of my trucks, am I double brokering this shipment to my CA partner? When our carrier in Blaine, WA picks up a load of apples that we put on CP rail and deliver in Montreal, am I double brokering to my guy in Blaine and am I double brokering with CP?

When ProAir is using Air Canada or TST Overland to ship a parcel for one of our customers, direct customer or partner/broker, are we double brokering to airfreight companies?

2 years ago we chartered 3 jumbo jets to bring freight from China, but we used 2 different companies. Did we double broker the freight?

The only thing you can blame me for is being creative and finding ways to satisfy my customers.

Now I will answer you guys.

01-05-2012 Rookie from Groupe Levasse - At least you have the courage to put your full identity. I applause that. But your comment was an easy bashing on my expenses. If I look though my window, I probably see your office. If one of my employee did such a thing as to yell at a driver, you should have called me, I do not accept such behavior and I would have severely repremanded that person.

01-05-2012 Anonymous JIT A/R - We somtimes use other carriers to help us with our shipments. Gregoire is one of our main partner with the Chicago lane; + or – 20 shipments/week. You can call Mario at Grégoire to see if it’s true and if we pay our bills. And your shipment was delayed, I admit. And the 2 persons that lied to you (Marilyn & Jackie), as of this morning when I took note of your comments are no longer freelancing for us. I personaly apologize for the disagreement they created your company. When you felt something was not kosher, I was at a phone call distance to get straight answers. If you verify with Gregoire, the driver was really sick but the answer that was given to you was pure BS from Marilyn & Jackie.

01-04-2012 Anonymous Pharlap - see previous comments. Nothing to add.

01-04-2012 Anonymous THEMAN - We do have trucks, I would be happy to send you pictures if you can give me your email address. You do not have to do it through Inside but I wiill leave all my coordinates at the bottom of this email.

You can answer me through Inside but I only opened this account to answer you guys. I do not favor these kind of website because they encourage anonymous back benchers to express freely their opinions/frustrations. I would not mind being part of a website where names are disclosed.

I hope this will straighten out some of your worries.

I am not operating as a basement broker - 1 man operation business. Close to 75 honest workers depend on me and I will do everything to be sure they keep their jobs.

Thank you for giving me the opportunuity to answer you.

Some of my employees read my answers to you and they told me it was a bit arrogant - I probably have to admit. So I apologize for my arrogance but it’s my signatory and I support it.

Marcel Deschamps, President
Procam International Inc.
Laval,QC
marcel.deschamps@procam.ca
 
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M. Deschamps

First off, I don't think I bashed your business. I merely stated that when this driver who has NO BUSINESS WITH US, just came from the street (because the bread contract used to be in the building I'm renting,) and asked if you guys were here. Then he proceeded to call your number on the BOL and got screamed at;this I heard myself from where I was standing. Why would I call you to let you know this happened?? It had nothing to do with us, other than it happened in front of me.

I believe in never being anonymous when you're a pro, and let me tell you sir, I was born in a Mack Truck and been in the business over 25 years, and consider myself as a pro, hence the full name and position with Levasse fully displayed on EVERY board I go to.
 
Mr. Deschamps,

On this forum, it is actually meant as an anomynous site where people can FREELY express their opinions. My opinion is and always has been that anyone from Quebec that has Pro or Cam in the name requires further investigation on whether they operate as asset based, light asset based, or non asset based. As you know, there are so many players out there that represent themselves one way, but turn out to do another. Unfortunately, the Montreal area is one where there is a concentration of such players, but by no means do I feel that all players in the area are that way.

That said, I know that over the years, there have been times at my present employ and my past employ where we have used Transport Spitfire (not often, but we have). And the service was fine.

To have freight move through 'agents' and such is something that absolutely you should have cleared with the brokers you are dealing with. These are issues of quality control and of liability. Your insurance certificate should have some way of showing that you are taking the risk for your 'agents' if that is what you are doing.

It's something I will NEVER waver on, and my identity remains anomynous for two reasons -- so I can express my myself freely without fear, and also because I represent a company I don't own and can only give a personal opinion which sometimes may differ from my employer's official position.
 
Mr. Deschamps

Hi Marcel,

Thank you for your post....

I am however not anonymous by any means, my user name is JIT A/R (JIT as in JIT Road Transportation and A/R for accounts receivable). If you call us you will indeed get me under A/R extension or you can e mail me at accounting@jitroad.com and my signature will be at the bottom of this post.

When we encountered issues with Marilyn and would ask for her supervisor or someone 'above her' - we'd get Jackie. As nice as it is to hear that the owner is available in case of need - until today I did not know that was you.

I have given freight to others who use local cartage to pick up on their behalf and then they take it across the border. That I do not have an issue with whatsoever.

However, what I do have an issue with is being lied to - only to find out via PARS number who actually has my freight on board. That is double brokering, I gave you the freight - you gave it to Transport Gregoire. Not to mention that from CA to IL it was on one carrier, from IL to Canada on another and that same carrier - Mario-Transport Gregoire. When we did call him - he did not want to give us any information on where our shipment was because we're not Procam.

By your post it seems you condone this practice as you call Transport Gregoire your partner when it's not listed as such on any authorities, insurances or documents in your package.

I am sure anyone on this forum will recognize this as double brokering. Actually, triple brokering!

I did not need a broker for this shipment, I needed a carrier sir.

I gave my load to Procam and it did not arrive on a Procam truck.

Suzana Gojkovic | Office Manager | JIT Road Transportation
T: 905-673-6116 | F: 905-673-6336
 
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Marcel deschamps

Marcel Deschamps said:
And your shipment was delayed, I admit. And the 2 persons that lied to you (Marilyn & Jackie), as of this morning when I took note of your comments are no longer freelancing for us. I personaly apologize for the disagreement they created your company.
Click to expand...

Well, well, sir, guess who I just spoke to at your office at Procam?!
Yup - Marylin!!! And Jackie was on the other line, whoever available if I wished to hold for him.

The same ones you said were no longer employed by you.
So this sir makes you a LIAR!
 
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