If a carrier based in Quebec with five trucks tries to broker US bound fireight to you and they don’t have their US bond nor an MC number, does this raise red flags for you? I know you get them to fill out a credit app. and it is all legal but still...
Credit check question.
- Thread starter WALTERK
- Start date
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Everything will be fine........if you get paid and there is no catastrophic event that takes place while you have their freight on board. With no bond, you have severely limited your recourse in the event they refuse, or can't pay you. With no MC #, in the event of a terrible accident, you could share in the liability, or at the very least, be looked upon by the US courts as having participating in unlawful transportation, never a good thing. So when you say "it is all legal", no, it isn't, but like waiting for the red light to change at an isolated intersection in the middle of the night with no other traffic around, you'll probably be alright if you roll thru.
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Lots of Canadian brokers and carriers have no US license or bond yet broker freight to, from and through the US. Use at your own risk..Two questions one should always ask: 1) What could possibly go wrong? and 2) Do I really want to find out?
Well, I was looking at it from a point of view of a Canadian carrier licensed to go to the US. It would be legal for them to hire me for this job as they reside in Canada and don’t brake any Canadian laws. I think, or am I wrong on this? They break the US laws, but being abroad they can get away with it. Also, no bond and MC means no recourse if things go sour and nowhere to report them for the illegal activity. But, the carrier already should have known the light was red!
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You're probably going to be ok.. The US regs regarding the bond are ostensibly to protect US carriers.. I don't think they'd get too worked up over a Canadian carrier potentially getting burned by a Canadian carrier/broker..
Why would that be of any interest for the purpose of this discussion? Does it make a difference if it is double brokered? And how would you know at this point anyways if they don’t want you to know? I have been long enough to know how it feels not to get paid for the work you have done and how difficult it is to hound them and their shippers for the money. The amount of time the carrier has been in the business is a valid parameter but not without problems in itself. Remember McKinnon Transport? Almost a household name in Canadian flatbed transport. And, if I can remamber correctly the list of creditors was very, very long.
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Sorry, i thought this was a credit check question. Credit risks for me include who the customer is, wether they double broker and pay us carriers, and how long they've been in business. Relying on Dunn and Brad or Equifax dent make a tremendous amount of sense these days. Their information is often old or incomplete. Be cautious and Good Luck.
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That is the question one has to ask. The surety bond at least offers a bit of protection against non-payment, and it costs you, the supplier of the service, nothing. The fact that a broker has taken the time and spent the money to maintain the bond and register his company does not make them a "gold-plated" payer, but it does show that they are serious about what they're doing.