Delay of freight due to weather

wesward

Active Member
Dec 5, 2018
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Be careful everyone
brokers are not your friends when freight is delayed due to weather
give extra 24 hours when committing to delivering freight it is better to have driver sit 24 hours then get the huge fines from receivers
they are not giving any breaks due to weather in fact I think they are using it to their advantage
 
I think you might need to re-evaluate which brokers you work for... there are many better ones out there that understand weather issues. But also having realistic discussions about how the weather might impact your transit time before taking the load is also a good idea.
 
I agree with Chica123,

During winter months I always mention that delivery times are based under normal driving conditions. Carriers shouldn't be held liable for factors outside of their control.
 
Be careful everyone
brokers are not your friends when freight is delayed due to weather
give extra 24 hours when committing to delivering freight it is better to have driver sit 24 hours then get the huge fines from receivers
they are not giving any breaks due to weather in fact I think they are using it to their advantage


YO YO YO

The ones that are not honest, those are they ones that are not your friends. Us like me, we want to work with you and keep a good relationship with you. All a broker should educate the customer/receiver.

Honest/friendly broker.

Riyaz
 
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Its not always the brokers fault. Quite often the client wants a substantial discount for any type of delay, legit to not.
 
The simple logic here is that explaining to a client there are delays due to weather, road closure, etc is a heck of a lot easier than 'the truck was in an accident, the driver was killed and insurance has impounded your load for the next 4 months'.

I would never reprimand a carrier for delays due to weather or for parking trucks for fear of driver safety. It's just not logical.

IF however, someone was going to use the guise of a weather delay because they were building an LTL truck out and never intended on delivering your load when promised at the time of booking, now that's an entirely different conversation to have....

Keep well,
Mike
 
Personally I won't entertain discounts due to weather.. no way. Nor will I ask a carrier to give me a discount. I don't want anyone under my load to feel pressured when its not safe to be on the road. The receiver won't be your friend in court if something does happen , that you can be sure of.
 
Personally I won't entertain discounts due to weather.. no way. Nor will I ask a carrier to give me a discount. I don't want anyone under my load to feel pressured when its not safe to be on the road. The receiver won't be your friend in court if something does happen , that you can be sure of.
Well put sir.
 
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Be careful everyone
brokers are not your friends when freight is delayed due to weather
give extra 24 hours when committing to delivering freight it is better to have driver sit 24 hours then get the huge fines from receivers
they are not giving any breaks due to weather in fact I think they are using it to their advantage
This is an unfair remark!! not all brokers are like that, we have contract lanes we run every day and when there is weather coming we advise the client based on what the carrier says, we even pay extra miles if its easier to cross another route.
 
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We have a strict policy of "if you don't feel safe get off the road no questions asked" the only thing we do ask is to hit record on the camera and we get a 15 second video to show the customer if they complain - never had to use it. Trust me when I say it is not worth it - 4 year law suit which we did not dispute but it went on anyways - you hit someone at 40 KMH it is unbelievable the damage you do to vehicles and people.
 
I believe it.. I've never had a customer complain about a late delivery due to weather. I think most are smart enogh to appreciate that a late load is better than a truck in the ditch or a truck skidding out of control and T boning a school bus.
 
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I believe it.. I've never had a customer complain about a late delivery due to weather. I think most are smart enogh to appreciate that a late load is better than a truck in the ditch or a truck skidding out of control and T boning a school bus.

Yep! The only load that's late is the one that is scattered all over the ditch and never going to make it in one piece.
 
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Have a late one today. Emailed broker at 7.45 with update to tell her. She emailed back that customer has been advised and all good.

They are drivers and machines dealing with winter (and it has sucked for the last month) If a broker or shipper receiver does not understand this and or wants to charge you for it then they can come get the freight at my dock once they have paid the storage and freight rate. It will be a cold day in hell before if will ever pay a fine to some asshat because a driver shutdown because of road conditions.

I have heard of Loblaws etc charging late fees but they are the very same receivers that you better pack a lunch at their facilities as they suck and our theory on them is only do a load to them if it is all we can find other than that pass.
 
wesward I totally disagree with you when you say brokers are not your friends when freight is delayed due to weather, recently we had a customer complain when due to freezing rain a delivery would be delayed. They implied we were not reliable and went on and on ….. we handed back ALL the loads we had for them. We are a broker that is concerned with the safety of drivers. It is hard to lose a customer but to think that they would rather risk the life of a driver and other vehicles on the road told us that this is not a good fit for the way we run our business.
 
I had one complain about a delay.. she said "we should really always deal with the carrier and not the middle man". I said I totally agree.. because when you deal with the carrier direct the ice and traffic problems magically disappear along with any delays.
 
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I had one complain about a delay.. she said "we should really always deal with the carrier and not the middle man". I said I totally agree.. because when you deal with the carrier direct the ice and traffic problems magically disappear along with any delays.
The only thing I would worry about there is your customer maybe looking to go straight to your carrier for loads. Unfortunately it happens. I like to do my own updates. it can be very timely but I think customers realize and appreciate it.
 
I was saying that in jest.. traffic and ice really don't just go away when dealing direct with carriers. I don't worry about being back solicited. Happened twice to me, and both times the customer came back to me in short order. First one because of a claim.. carrier cried like a little girl.. first claim.. don't know what to do. .. blah blah. Customer took me back because I know what to do. Second shipper came back because the carrier cancelled truck and couldn't come up with a replacement. Yup.. carriers have more control.. except they don't. If a truck cancels on me I find 'em another and another if needed.. no.. "sowwwy my twuck boke down"