OK, now I'm getting really pissed (Rant)

M

Manitoba Moose

Member
Jul 27, 2009
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Otterburne, MB
10
To start off, our company is a licensed, insured, and bonded carrier as well as a licensed, insured, and bonded broker so we know both sides of this business.

On the carrier side of things...

What really ticks me off is brokers that "ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE" the original POD's by mail before they will even consider paying. What a load of hooey... We all know the game and tactics to delay payment. By asking for the originals, they can now delay payment by as much as 30 days more by "Oh, we haven't recieved them. Can you resend". Well, if they needed the originals and "haven't recieved", why is a copy acceptable now because I sent you the originals that you haven't recieved? Remember? What crap...

Another thing is that we are expected to pay our bills within 30 days and we do pretty good at 35 days. Not what we like but way better than most. I've been calling trying to collect A/R all last week and this week and I'm (this is the pissed part) REALLY PISSED at the audacity of some brokers out there. They have the gaul to say that we pay in 45 days so by the time they recieve the "originals" + 45 days + mail time + days to find some to sign the cheque ++++, they now have had our money for 60 - 90 days. We still have to pay for everything up front... Hmmmmm....

This applies to shippers also. Big companies... Like Toromont. Called to speak to A/P yesterday as there account was now at 30 days and due. The lady had no problems informing me that "Toromont had changed their policy and they now pay in 55 days. Nothing anyone can do about it." I friggin near went ballistic. But also informed her that this would be the last load we haul for them. Her answer was "Oh well, there are a lot of others that will" and the other thing that really pisses me off is, SHE'S RIGHT, damn it.

On the broker side...

Some carriers have absolutely no clue and really don't give a damn about customer service. Take for example an LTL load (Hyundai mini excavator) I gave out to a carrier from ON. He picked it up in Bend, OR on Sept 2 and delivery was to be Sept 8th in Montreal, PQ, a week to deliver. Plenty of time. On Sept 10th, truck was still in Seattle, WA. We chased this guy until he finally delivered Sept. 26th. OVER 3 WEEKS.

And he has the balls to say he lost money on this. He needs more cash. Needs to be paid ASAP. We lost a customer over this and he couldn't care less. Where do some carriers get off doing this stuff?

Fortunately for us, most carriers are professional and do exactly what they say they will. Thank you and you know who you are.

ARRGGH... Now I'm going to go and take my little heart pills and try start this day off on a better foot.
 
Welcome to being an honest responsible business in the trucking world. We go through the exact some problems.
 
POD's

Manitoba Moose,

I agree with most of what you said. However, I'd like to clarify a little bit why Broker's need the POD. Most reputable brokers aren't playing games with "your money". The majority of shippers won't pay unless we provide them with the POD. So we don't have "your money" yet. As you know brokers are required to keep a trust account. If there's no money in trust, how can you get paid? (most good brokers float this).

The most important reason brokers ask for the POD is to protect themselves from fraud. These days, loads are being brokered, and then re-brokered two and three times. It's super important that the broker ensures he is paying the carrier of record on the BOL. Also it's a safeguard to ensure that the shipment actually did get delivered.

I get the difficulty of routing this paperwork through your office and to the broker. Believe me, we have to route it to the customer, I understand. This is a necessitiy of the business and we have to do it every time and as efficiently as possible. I don't see any other way around it.
 
I think the point Moose is trying to make is the fact that Brokers are requesting the "Original" pod. Let's face it our customers all know if their freight was delivered or not. Brokers who request the original documents which I may add are the property of the carrier on record are just gaining time to process the billing and narrow the gap between receiving payment and paying the carrier. I do not understand why a fax copy with clear signatures would not suffice. In the event of a problem later the original could always be produced. Just my opinion....
 
Just to make myself a little clearer...

We scan all the documents in a PDF format and certify that it is indeed a "Certified copy of original". We email that to the broker and within minutes, if he can afford a color printer, he has the exact same documents we have... If he needs to bill his customer with POD's attached, he has them RIGHT NOW and doesn't have to wait 3 weeks for the mail to get to them. (And don't get me started on Canada Post. ARRGGHH)

AND... by law (so I've been told by our accountant and lawyer) the "originals" cannot leave the building. If we get auditted, we have to be able to produce the originals so, we have gone to the next best thing, Email. Plus the amount of money saved on the cost of envelopes and stamps is unbelievable.

I'm still ranting... I apologize... LOL
 
We were under the same understanding that we as the carrier were to keep the original bill in our records (For audit purposes i think). I find it amazing that there are still some out there that do not think an email invoice and clearly scanned copy of the bill of lading is not useful. Saves time and money for all, not to mention that it decreases on the wasted paper, which i think we all know this industry wastes enough paper !! (It is scary to see how quick the recycle bins get full over here)
 
Pod

Fortunatly we are still a small carrier and can Micro manage. We always send out the original POD to the Freight broker, except in the case of it being their 1st load with us and in that case we do not release it.
 
Being a small carrier or not the carrier needs to keep the original BOL for legal reasons
 
Pod

Fortunatly we are still a small carrier and can Micro manage. We always send out the original POD to the Freight broker, except in the case of it being their 1st load with us and in that case we do not release it EVER, we will on future shipments once a payment history has been established.. We always attach a copy of the customs invoice with the customs stamp and carrier code in the case of inbound freight. On outbound freight the scac code should appear. In the case of domestic freight, your on your own!

As we anticipate growth, via newer paperless technologies, the handling of originals will be difficult as all pertinant documentation will be scanned and retaining and retreiving originals will be a complicated and slow process as well as labor instensive and costly.
Generally a client will know if his /her freight was delivered and also on time. The original POD is often used as a scapegoat tactic in order to delay payment. Again thankfully, our realtionship with our brokers is very good and ifthey request the original , we are providing it.
As for the comment I saw relating to the trust account claiming no POD = no money in the account = no fiscal responsibility. That is quite incorrect. The carrier contract is drawn up between two parties and the payment terms should be adhered to, either parties cash flow is not the concern of the other.
The Freight broker should not hold back payment because he has not been paid any more than the carrier shall ask for an advance because he has no money for fuel.
 
When you get the "YOU MUST FAX POD WITHIN 24hrs!" Yes no problem. You will get it along with our invoice. If you don't want the invoice faxed as well then you get the pod in the mail.
 
I e-mail 98% of our invoices & scanned "original" POD's.... the worst companies for saying that they "do not accept invoices & POD's by e-mail" are the larger companies, who should be more up to date with modern technology. It's also greener :)
 
Regarding "trust" accounts...

We just went through a scenario with a US company where we filed on their bond for payment. The minute the paperwork hit the insurnace company's door, we got a call saying that they had "Trust bond" and not a "Surety" bond. Big difference...

As the lady explained the difference is that a surety bond guarantees payment if the company does not pay to the maximum exposure of the bond, usually, $10,000.00. A Trust bond only comes into play once the company closes down. "It could be years before that happens so, you should go ahead and negotiate with them or take them to court but, we're not paying".

Does a trust account work the same in Canada? Does anyone know the differences?

Also, why do I see so many Canadian brokers with absolutely no broker authority brokering loads from and to the US? And if you check the load boards, why are there so many Canadian carriers posting trucks from US to US destinations???

Inquiring minds want to know...
 
We never give out the original POD no matter what it stays in house it is you protection against tampering claims. We have about 400 customers and we email or EDI about 350 of them with no problems at all. It is part of doing business with us to email now if they do not want too then they are playing games right from the start and we do not want to deal with them.
 
Some bond brokers must be different, I called a clients bond broker to see how much he had left on his bond. The bond broker immediately called my client & conferenced me in.. he adv my client in no uncertain terms that if I wasn't paid by return of mail, then he would file my claim against the bond. I got my money :)
 
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