Ltl delivery time

I forgot to add, that once the delivery had been completed, we suggested to the carrier that a rate reduction was expected, they started to scream that we had to pay the agreed rate or they would sue us. With business still a little slow, I'm sure I could find the time to appear in court and explain our position, if it ever comes to that- which I doubt.
 
Loaders, I have two points to make.

The first is that I believe that the "HOT" single skid should have been on the rear of the trailer...it's always accessable regardless of other issues. It was only a single skid to move around.Either this wasn't thought of OR it wasn't done.

The second is that Iam guessing there was no disclaimer on your confirmation clearly stating that if it wasn't delivered ontime the rate would be reduced by 30%.

Just my thoughts.
 
Ralphthetrucker, we do have a disclaimer on our confirmation sheets which states, "if you are unable to meet the terms of this dispatch, please do not accept this shipment. Back charges may apply." I agree with your comments regarding the placement of our skid on the carrier's trailer. Knowing that it had to deliver on Monday, it should have been placed, or moved near the rear. I am beginning to think that our "hot" skid was the first order this carrier took to fill their trailer. Oh, another thing, when we expressed our displeasure with the service we received, we were told the classic excuse "hey, it's only LTL". Since it is, as they say, only LTL, we will pay only LTL rates.
 
We had the same issue with an East Coast Shipment. Carrier committed to picking up 1/4 load in Toronto and delivering Monday in Nova Scotia. (They had to drop off the shipment at a cartage agent Monday morning to do the actual delivery which was known on the previous Friday). Shipment picks up on time and everything is A OK for delivery Monday. Monday rolls around and the carrier is nowwhere near delivery and now states it won't be delivered until Tuesday sometime at the cartage agent for delivery Wednesday morning. So our "everything is set up for Monday delivery" is now a Wednesday delivery. When we dared complain of the service we were told "hey...it's LTL why didn't you ship it as a truck load?".....it went downhill from there!!!!! Point is.... when you commit to something, make it happen. If something happens onroute (kaka happens...it's trucking) then we deal with it. Don't complain that it is someone elses fault for not shipping truckload if the shipment is "HOT" when you commit to the service requested up front and know what the requirements are!

PS...nothing happened on route with this shipment. The carrier re-routed the truck to unload at atleast two other stops hundreds of miles apart from our stop because it worked better for them and didn't let us know. And again said...too bad...you should have shipped it truckload....
 
Late LTL delivery

Loaders, when we move an LTL shipment and it requires expedited delivery, we always confirm with the carrier who accepts it, a way to encourage on time delivery. We reach an agreed rate for what would be a normal LTL move, then agree to pay more (usually a significant amount), for delivery within our customers time frame. If a late delivery is just not in the cards for our customer, then it moves as a full load or we don't touch it. I'd rather lose a customer for not guaranteeing what I cannot control, then trying to and failing. This way the customer will always bear the risk of poor economic decisions they may make, and the carrier has no misconception about the "agreed amount" if not delivered on time, and have no choice but to accept the rate.
 
To loaders

I am a carrier first and the odd time ( quite rarely) I have to sell some freight and the most part this is LTL.
The freight is always time sensitive , generally with crews waiting at the other end, our client expects flawless service. They have been with us for over 10 years because we do what we say we will do.
We do not take any LTL that is a rush , unless it pays as a full. The repercussions are too great in this scary environment. Your client may lose future business from their client if things go sour.
No respectable company will take such a risk. Why should you as their carrier do so.

I understand the predicament you have had with this Carrier and I may suggest that you are partly at fault; for the following reasons.

1) You are well aware of the scarcity of outbound LTL.
2) You seem to have chosen a carrier that you are not very familiar with , seeing he gave you the: " it is only LTL statement". Something our clients would not expect or accept from us.
3) You were surprised by the little markup the Carrier gave you for your Rush load.

All in all I beleive you took a gamble on this carrier and it did not pan out. It is up to you to now pay the extra or not to the carrier, since he did not fulfill his obligation. I am assuming that your client will not pay you the extra charge , because you did not meet your obligation either.
 
Alx, I agree with some of your points. In fact, entrusting freight of any kind to any carrier always involves a certain degree of risk, or gamble. Transportation is not, and never will be an exact science due to the inherent risks involved with the machines and people required to perform this task. As you mentioned, we will not be billing our customer the additional rate for this shipment, nor will we be paying the carrier for services not received. However, I do not understand how the scarcity of either inbound or outbound freight has any bearing on this, nor does my level of surprise at the rate the carrier wanted. As the vendor, he has every right to set whatever price he deems adequate to compensate for his services. If one GM dealer wants $30K for a car and another dealer wants $25K for the same car, should I expect to receive a lesser car for the $25K? Activet, you are correct as well. In a perfect world, customers would understand how anything that requires an exact time delivery would move as anything other than a full truckload. However, none of this explains or excuses this carrier who set his own price and agreed to perform the duty as described. Fortunately, like Alx, we have a very good track record of meeting our clients delivery schedules, and as a result of many recent on time deliveries for this customer, we have not lost their business.
 
Loaders

Nice to see that you handle criticism very well.
You are completely right in your auto shopping comparaison although I would aks myself why this guy is not charging top dollar if he can??

My hats off to you that you can entrust several shipments every day to other carriers. I have a lot of close associates in this business and I am reticent to give them freight that is somewhat sensitive.
I guess your line of work would be hard for us to get used to. We have the priviledge of having all of the shipments under our direct control.
 
Thank you Alx. Believe me, as any broker will tell you, even the most trusted, reliable carrier can, and will experience the odd hiccup. No doubt about it, we always try to use carriers that have repeatedly demonstrated high levels of service whenever possible, especially when delivery schedules are critical. As an asset based carrier, you do have a much larger degree of control than brokers do. Getting used to this line of work (if that is ever achievable), presents it's own unique challenges, but as has been mentioned here many times before, building relationships that are mutually beneficial can overcome many of the hurdles. Hopefully, this site will enable all of us to gain a better understanding of each other.
 
As a deck carrier, it really blows me away when it comes to LTL nowadays. I think a few brokers need to have an honest sit down with their customers and snap them into the real world. Any LTL that requires an appontment of any kind Be it riggers,crane etc. , is a truckload, any shipment that is over half a trailer, is truckload, and last but not least, ANYTHING, that is permitted, regardless of deck space, IS TRUCKLOAD. I'm sick and tired of people calling and wanting LTL rates on 40' of deck space, or the best is the ones who want 30' of the lower deck on a step!!!!!!! GET REAL! Sorry, but had to get that out, it's been a long time coming.
 
Ralph, it wouldn't be so bad if people just used common sense, that doesn't seem to happen very offten nowadays. Common sense would say, gee 35' or even 25' on a stepdeck, that ONLY has 37-38' of lower deck is a full load (try finding 2-3' of stepdeck freight, good luck)
Then we get the uneducated who try and tell me that it should only be LTL because we have the upper deck open, well maybe it is, but, this is a stepdeck, not a flatbed, that lower deck is our money maker, you use it, you pay for it. Oh and also, just because your freight only uses 10' of space but weighs 35k, don't expect an LTL rate because it's only going 2 inches on the map.
 
I have the same problem with one of my local customers. They always seal my truck whether it be for 1 skid or a full load. In my eyes, if my truck is sealed then you are paying for a full load regardless of the number of skids on board.
 
As a freight broker whose base is 75%+ flatbed/specialized shipments, I agree completely with your statements. Fortunately, over the past 19 years, we have been able to educate the majority of our flatdeck customers that if you want the shipment quickly, or to meet a crane/riggers, you have to ship it as a full load. I think that it is safe to say, that in most cases, flatbed freight (especially machinery, HVAC, etc.) is expensive material, so why try to safe a few hundred dollars in shipping, on a piece that could be worth thousands+++. When it comes to LTL on flat equipment, we have our most success filling out the upper deck on carrier's step decks. I'm sure you'll agree, a few hundred extra bucks for the 10-12' upper deck on top of the rate you get for the lower deck can make an OK load into a much better paying trip.
 
When somebody gives me the "hey...it's LTL why didn't you ship it as a truck load?"....after the've screwed up my shipment, they are deleted from our service, period. You don't want to provide the service I hired you for, don't expect the pay we negotiated. We also have disclaimers in place but that line of crap should tell you that you shouldn't do business with that operation if you value your client's business.
One the other hand, my shipments have a specific $ value applied for waiting time, in writing on the work order. Having been a carrier in the distant past I know how hard it was to get paid for delays that aren't your fault. Good luck educating clients, that lasts until the next guy quotes 60% of your rate for the same job
 
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