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Not sure what forum this belongs in. I received the below email from TIA
Increase in complaints Re: Fraud of Foreign Dispatch Services
In recent months, the Association has experienced an increase in complaints regarding the fraud of foreign dispatch services, and their roles in the 3PL marketplace. These dispatchers have posed as U.S. domiciled players, but after freight is stolen or unlawfully brokered out, TIA members discover these dispatchers are in fact from other countries - some being adversaries of the USA. We find this troublesome because more often than not these bad players have access to every detail of our freight with some of those loads being classified as sensitive loads (hazmat, food, DoD freight, etc.).
Background: Individual carriers are allowed, what are defined as Bona Fide agents under the Code of Federal Regulations, 371.2. These agents “provides for a continuing relationship, precluding the exercise of discretion on the part of the agent in allocating traffic between the carrier and others.” However, we have seen a trend of “bona fide” agents working for multiple carriers, bringing them into the category of a registered property broker. These illicit brokers acting as agents of carriers lack the official financial backing and regulatory authority that our members carry.
In fact, TIA has already engaged the executive branch. In 2020, at the height of the rate transparency issue, we asked FMCSA to clarify the role of these dispatch services in the supply chain.
We need to make Members of Congress aware of this growing problem of foreign dispatch services handling our freight and the national security concerns. The TIA Policy Forum is the venue to share that message in the halls of the U.S. Congress.
Increase in complaints Re: Fraud of Foreign Dispatch Services
In recent months, the Association has experienced an increase in complaints regarding the fraud of foreign dispatch services, and their roles in the 3PL marketplace. These dispatchers have posed as U.S. domiciled players, but after freight is stolen or unlawfully brokered out, TIA members discover these dispatchers are in fact from other countries - some being adversaries of the USA. We find this troublesome because more often than not these bad players have access to every detail of our freight with some of those loads being classified as sensitive loads (hazmat, food, DoD freight, etc.).
Background: Individual carriers are allowed, what are defined as Bona Fide agents under the Code of Federal Regulations, 371.2. These agents “provides for a continuing relationship, precluding the exercise of discretion on the part of the agent in allocating traffic between the carrier and others.” However, we have seen a trend of “bona fide” agents working for multiple carriers, bringing them into the category of a registered property broker. These illicit brokers acting as agents of carriers lack the official financial backing and regulatory authority that our members carry.
In fact, TIA has already engaged the executive branch. In 2020, at the height of the rate transparency issue, we asked FMCSA to clarify the role of these dispatch services in the supply chain.
We need to make Members of Congress aware of this growing problem of foreign dispatch services handling our freight and the national security concerns. The TIA Policy Forum is the venue to share that message in the halls of the U.S. Congress.
