LOAD BROKERS

[MarkD]

Part of your job in 2021 is to furnish the dispatch of the carrier you choose with custom docs for your shipment. Putting the onus on the driver to use data to try and send over crappy copies from the steering wheel, bothering shippers to fax who don't want drivers in their office to begin with or lining up in dirty truck stops to pay for a fax are not quality or viable options. Thank you to the brokers out there who already understand this and provide those docs without having to be asked. You folks are top notch.

 

[tasuinam]

Part of your job in 2021 is to furnish the dispatch of the carrier you choose with custom docs for your shipment. Putting the onus on the driver to use data to try and send over crappy copies from the steering wheel, bothering shippers to fax who don't want drivers in their office to begin with or lining up in dirty truck stops to pay for a fax are not quality or viable options. Thank you to the brokers out there who already understand this and provide those docs without having to be asked. You folks are top notch.

Agreed - getting clear docs is sometimes a challenge - my other pet peeve - you send the docs over to the custom broker on Friday at 14:00 and they don't review till 18:00 and then say the load cannot be cleared till the next working day as the importer of record didn't send them XYZ... just look at the docs as they come in!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's as simple as having a check list for everything....if the driver gets stuck in traffic and runs out of hours and delivery is late - hell freezes over

 

[BPOVFB]

I agree that brokers should do everything in their power to furnish such - but at the same time, not every shipper provides freight brokers with those docs ahead of time either. With that being said, I'm fine with doing what it takes, but I would also implore some dispatches to move into the 21st century, there are apps, there are in-cab solutions - there is a solution for these "outliers". At 2$/pg, it's pretty easy to find a good ROI on those sorts of investments. If you don't want to subsidize your drivers cell phone and relay strictly on Sat, maybe best to relook into your practices in line with todays reality.

 

[NotForHire]

I always clear the load with the customs broker myself - added bonus to the customers

 

[NotForHire]

Especially for Ice cream and those damn pesky Chiquita bananas and Cantaloupes

 

[RAINDOG]

I agree that brokers should do everything in their power to furnish such - but at the same time, not every shipper provides freight brokers with those docs ahead of time either. With that being said, I'm fine with doing what it takes, but I would also implore some dispatches to move into the 21st century, there are apps, there are in-cab solutions - there is a solution for these "outliers". At 2$/pg, it's pretty easy to find a good ROI on those sorts of investments. If you don't want to subsidize your drivers cell phone and relay strictly on Sat, maybe best to relook into your practices in line with todays reality.

Cam scanner and an in cab printer can do wonders for a driver's time and money - to me it is worth the data even if the carrier does not subsidize. Pay the data (which is most likely already paid for to access social media) vs. stopping for half hour only to find the fax machine to be down and having to go to the next stop. Losing an hour of time trying to fax can be 50 miles of lost time - pay the data and save the hassle and utilize time. More and more driver's I have noticed are seeing the light and I do my best to encourage them to use the technology that is avail.

 

[MarkD]

I agree that brokers should do everything in their power to furnish such - but at the same time, not every shipper provides freight brokers with those docs ahead of time either. With that being said, I'm fine with doing what it takes, but I would also implore some dispatches to move into the 21st century, there are apps, there are in-cab solutions - there is a solution for these "outliers". At 2$/pg, it's pretty easy to find a good ROI on those sorts of investments. If you don't want to subsidize your drivers cell phone and relay strictly on Sat, maybe best to relook into your practices in line with todays reality.

Doesn't need to be prior. The docs can come after loading. All the exciting 21st century technology applies to brokers and shippers as well. The easiest, fastest and most legible paperwork will come from whoever created it. Apps are great, I recommend "tiny scanner" but todays reality is people are too lazy or afraid to bother their customer and would rather the driver do their job for them.

 

[MarkD]

Cam scanner and an in cab printer can do wonders for a driver's time and money - to me it is worth the data even if the carrier does not subsidize. Pay the data (which is most likely already paid for to access social media) vs. stopping for half hour only to find the fax machine to be down and having to go to the next stop. Losing an hour of time trying to fax can be 50 miles of lost time - pay the data and save the hassle and utilize time. More and more driver's I have noticed are seeing the light and I do my best to encourage them to use the technology that is avail.

Yes they do a great job when nobody else will step up. The point is they shouldn't have to spend time scanning a 15 page invoice and emailing it to their dispatch or custom broker and then confirming it was received legibly. Shippers and brokers have office personal that can handle that in the blink of an eye while the driver uses his limited hours to get to the next pick up.

 

[RAINDOG]

Yes they do a great job when nobody else will step up. The point is they shouldn't have to spend time scanning a 15 page invoice and emailing it to their dispatch or custom broker and then confirming it was received legibly. Shippers and brokers have office personal that can handle that in the blink of an eye while the driver uses his limited hours to get to the next pick up.

Always super-frustrating when it is 15+ page documents and the shipper won't fax or email to the carrier. For some reason, it is usually the same sort of customer that usually had Willson, UPS or Farrow as a customs broker, who is super picky about how they receive paperwork and wait until the last minute before they set them up, only to find out there is a problem and not notify the carrier.

Great, now my eye twitch just came back.

 

[loaders]

I know our team requests customs docs from the shipper for every cross border shipment we do. Once we have a copy we send it directly to the carriers dispatch. In the event something goes missing or gets lost, we can resend as required. Having said that, we have all experienced various shipper excuses such as, “oh, the person who does that just left for the day” or “oh, we don’t prepare them here, that’s done at head office”, which is usually half way across the country in a different time zone, or the classic “ oh, we don’t issue them until the truck is completely loaded”. Perhaps one day, we will achieve actual “Free Trade”.

 

[NotForHire]

I usually pre clear everything for immediate entry even if the truck isnt loading for 3 days

Once farrow told me that they will only clear the shipment from nj port in 3 days because its really coming from Miami. I WAS LIKE NO! that's the head-office address not shipper address

Really the only customs broker that is bad is Livingston, everyone else you can bully your way into getting done what you need

 

[tasuinam]

I usually pre clear everything for immediate entry even if the truck isnt loading for 3 days

Once farrow told me that they will only clear the shipment from nj port in 3 days because its really coming from Miami. I WAS LIKE NO! that's the head-office address not shipper address

Really the only customs broker that is bad is Livingston, everyone else you can bully your way into getting done what you need

Yup camscanner and then for those 15 pagers get the shipper to send... I do the customs myself as I am very good at bugging the customer broker to get my load cleared

 

[Freight Broker]

Do make sure the carrier gets the proper docs, and I call the customs broker to ensure that shipper/receiver/third party its clearing for is indeed one of their accounts and in good standing. I generally don't have customs issues, but from time to time its issues that are unrelated to the load at hand. One example that springs to mind.. happened years ago.. picked up in TN and subsequently couldn't clear into Canada.. shipper got mad it me "we'll never use yo again.. etc".. I called the customs broker and they told me that the shipper has bills outstanding and that they wouldn't clear this order until they cleared up their old debts. Lesson learned.. always make sure shipper/receiver/3rd party is in good standing with the customs broker.

 

[BPOVFB]

"administrative hold" = customer doesn't pay 9/10 times lol

 

[Rob]

"administrative hold" = customer doesn't pay 9/10 times lol

Yep and they sure get pissy when you call them or the broker to get it clear and tell them about extra costs involved if we have to bond their load.

 

[NotForHire]

oh ya, they never want to pay bond fees.

That's the worst, especially as broker because the truck will always charge you non negotiable charges and the customer is always like, hhhhmmm........ I dont feel like paying bond charges or warehouse etc. They always make you feel like its your fault, especially the friendly ones !

 

[RAINDOG]

Yep and they sure get pissy when you call them or the broker to get it clear and tell them about extra costs involved if we have to bond their load.

AMPS fees should apply to customs brokers, not to carriers.

 

[Rob]

AMPS fees should apply to customs brokers, not to carriers.

No mention of amp at all was talking about bond and re-delivery charges.

 

[RAINDOG]

No mention of amp at all was talking about bond and re-delivery charges.

I was projecting.

I feel that if customs brokers were held accountable then maybe they would do a better job of clearing loads within reasonable amounts of time. If a carrier submits everything with plenty of notice, and adequate time for clearance, there should be no reason that it is not set up in time for the driver by the time they approach the border. We can make all the threats we want to a customs broker, but bottom line is the one's who don't care, can't be made to care no matter how much we yell at them or try and persuade them. Hit them where it hurts and make them just as accountable as the carrier for showing up at the border without an entry or transaction number, and maybe they can change their ways. Even in cases where I have bonded due to complete and utter ignorance on the customs broker's part - they still massage the customer into believing that they did nothing wrong and it was the carrier's fault and made our decision to bond too soon.

I don't understand how a carrier can be fined for trying to cross without an entry, despite doing everything right, over something they can't control - make the fine belong to the customs broker.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

Always super-frustrating when it is 15+ page documents and the shipper won't fax or email to the carrier.

I find that "Okay, unload the truck" works pretty good. Brings them around to my way of thinking. If it doesn't, they unload the truck and I'm fine with that because it's guaranteed that getting clearance for that load is going to be a shit show.

AMPS fees should apply to customs brokers, not to carriers.

Customs brokers do get AMP'd. Every time you or your driver gets to the line then gets sent inside, only to be told to go see the broker, and you have already done everything you needed to do, the broker is getting written up for an AMP. Not necessarily charged, but certainly getting written up for one.