inspection at U.S. customs

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FR8CHICK

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Feb 18, 2010
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Havelock, ON
10
I am still unable to sit...I just took it up the @$$ from U.S. Customs, and there warehouse affilliate for "a routine inspection" for $615!

I fill out the form for payment and they send me back a fax saying it is an additional 3.5% to process the payment...Pardon? Are you f^%#ing serious? And to think, there are 39 other poor suckers just like me that are gonna have to pay this kinda money today...

Highway robbery I say. I understand that this big new facility has to be paid for but does it all have to be paid for this week????

Just bitching...I know, this is trucking...

Sandy:mad:
 
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Customs Devanning Charges

This should be billed back directly to the customer if you had to pay for it. (Generally the customs broker pays for any devanning charges on the US side from our experience, we have had to pay when the broker canot be reached) and yes the rates are not fair at all... you would think there would be some regulations for the fees?! I think we are all in the wrong business...!
 
Oh ya, I will be billing it back to the customer, but the prices are outlandish! And there is nothing we can do about it. The 6hrs we have been there so far plus their fees...and the truck isn't even reloaded yet! They unload it all, send you an invoice, and once they get payment they tell us that we have to wait for someone to be able to load us back up. I feel bad for Kurtz who is sitting next to us in the dock...his is being handbombed and the guy told my driver that they were already over $1000.
I thought the broker paid for it as well but these guys told me it is the carriers responsibility now.

Sandy
 
This is not the Carrier's responsibility to pay for this charge. When the trans loader (at any Port) advises the Driver the charge, your Driver tells them to invoice the Customs Broker.

Your Customer has no problems in having a conversation with their Customs Broker....as the Customs Broker will just tell them...this is part of and the challenges of International Commerce.......there are no options and no reasons why this happens.. Customer just pays invoice.....versus a Carrier calling the Customer and having to justify why this happens...and at the end of the day, it is the Carriers fault that it happened.

As Carriers...we just accept this and it is time we all stand up to this. We all know how Customs Brokers work.....and they will continue to allow everything to run "down hill" if we allow.them.
 
Well put!!

One should ask the DOT during a routine inspection to issue the ticket to the customs broker because they handled the clearance on that particular load.
This equates to the carrier paying for a customs issue.

Once dished out the $395.00 to unload one trailer to see one particular skid. Sent the extra cost along to the freight broker detailed in the invoice.
The freight broker then went bankrupt and absconded with the funds.
We were now out for the freight charge, the local delivery in Mtl. and the unloading charge as well as the driver's waiting time. . Instead of losing $500.00 we lost around $900.00.
 
I went through this back in the spring @ the off-site facility in St.Clair, MI. Charge was $175.00. The reason the truck was sent there was because (according to Us Customs officer) the Us Customs officers @ the bridge aren't trained to climb around on flatbeds and they could fall and injure themselves. The whole process took no more than two hours.
 
I understand that for inbound shipments carriers are forced to pay for this immediately (or face a large fine) on site. I'd not heard of customs brokers footing this bill... Of course this fee from my experience is always passed on to 'importer of record' in the end. For the LTL shipments the exact shipment under inspection has always been clearly indicated on the invoice from the inspection facility.

For outbound (to the US), which I find is much more infrequent, the inspection station has typically billed the importer of record directly (on the day of the inspection).

This has been my experience thus far.

Worth noting: I saw a large increase in these during the first 2 quarters of the year versus any time before or current ratio of these inspections.

Also worth noting: Most people could retire within a couple of years if they were paid what these 'inspection facilities' charge...

Keep well,

Mike


Will see some of you tonight! :)
 
U.S. Customs Inspection

In my case, when my customer called their customs broker and asked why they didn't cover the charges and made us pay it the broker advised them it was a "too much" for them to put out. So I guess if it is "too much" for a multi billion dollar firm (that starts with an "F" and EnDs with an "EX") then it shouldn't be too much for a small trucking co.
This is the first time we have had to foot the bill going southbound.

Sandy
 
FR8CHICK said:
I am still unable to sit...I just took it up the @$$ from U.S. Customs, and there warehouse affilliate for "a routine inspection" for $615!

I fill out the form for payment and they send me back a fax saying it is an additional 3.5% to process the payment...Pardon? Are you f^%#ing serious? And to think, there are 39 other poor suckers just like me that are gonna have to pay this kinda money today...

Highway robbery I say. I understand that this big new facility has to be paid for but does it all have to be paid for this week????

Just bitching...I know, this is trucking...

Sandy:mad:
Click to expand...

It's totally unfair and I've argued with Customs over this type of practice, told them if they want to see inside it's up to them to pay for any freight being moved, after all isn't that what the 2 hour wait for ex-ray is for, except at Buffalo where they can customize, ex-ray and release in under 15 minutes for open deck freight. Same load in Port Huron 1 to 4 hours depending on their mood. Biggest problem they ( Customs) don't have to answer to anybody with authority
 
Yes it is crazy, but they are inspecting the freight not the truck. Any fine or fee is clearly the responsibility of the importer or exporter not the carrier. Period.
 
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