So, I got caught with my pants down again...... And if that was a reefer business I wold not even blink, but with flatbeds I have not come across this before. Here it goes.... Shipper takes 9 hrs to load, detention paid, but the original appointment is missed. So, naturally, I assumed that it will be accepted the next day, but the receiver is fully booked. What is a reasonable rate of compensation for using my trailer for storage.? This is a spot market situation and no friends here. This also involves a need to take this load to the yard and redeliver. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Unable to get an appointment to deliver.
- Thread starter WALTERK
- Start date
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Couple of quick questions WalterK. Who was responsible for making the original delivery appt, you or the shipper? Who ever it was, in my opinion, should have been on the phone to the receiver after the first few hours of loading, to rebook another appointment. If the shipper made the original appt and failed to re-book after the lengthy delay in loading, then they should be on the hook for some negotiated trailer detention and re-delivery charges. If however, you made the original appt. and for whatever reason did not re-book.......hmmmm, pass the salt and pepper please.
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I am not sure that I agree 100% with loaders, respectfully. Was WalterK ever told ahead of time that the loading time would be excessive? Had he known this, he could have planned the delivery accordingly, if in fact he booked the delivery appointment. Having said that, it is very difficult to get fair compensation in these types of circumstances. You might feel you are entitled to a certain amount for use of your trailer, as would I, but you might not ever get said amount. Get what you can and mark that shipper down as DNU. If you got the load from a broker, the way they handle the situation will also tell you alot about them.
Igor Galanter
Well-Known Member
20
Oh well, appointments exists for one thing only - to meet them.
If, for ANY reason, you can't meet them, have to communicate and find a solution.
Try to get as much as you can, but don't be surprised if it will be "just a favour"..
If, for ANY reason, you can't meet them, have to communicate and find a solution.
Try to get as much as you can, but don't be surprised if it will be "just a favour"..
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If the carrier is entrusted with the responsibility to make a delivery appointment, then lengthy loading, bad roads due to weather, a sick driver, whatever, whatever, whatever the delay, they should be rebooking it as soon as physically possible to avoid these exact situations. As soon as the driver and/or the dispatcher realized the original appointment was impossible to make, someone should have taken corrective action. Again, if the shipper was responsible for making the delivery appt, then they should have done something about re-scheduling it once they realized the original one wasn’t going to happen. Until we hear from WalterK about who made the appt, we are just guessing. He did say however that he “assumed” the receiver would accept delivery the next day. I am afraid that assumption might come back to bite him on this one. We will have to wait and see.
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Thank you all for your invaluable input. The appointment was done by the load broker as the shipper entrusted him the coordination of the shipments. As a carrier, I notified the broker first thing in the morning that the loading took 9 hrs ( they finished at 21:00) and the truck was running late and will not make the delivery. There actually was no appointment other than the next day delivery. Simply, the truck run out of hours to deliver it the next day. - 650 miles run. That was on Fri. So, I assumed that Monday will be obviously the next day, and I will have to eat the cost but at least I got the driver home. But, to my surprise the broker, and here the word appointment was used for the first time, informed me that the receiver is booked/busy and he is unable to get an appointment for Monday delivery. So, at this point I really started to wander how to handle this in terms of billing.
As it is, the appointment was scheduled for Tue. morning, but I believe I should be compensated for a day lost and an extra delivery.
As it is, the appointment was scheduled for Tue. morning, but I believe I should be compensated for a day lost and an extra delivery.
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It does happen in flatbed. I had a load going to Alro-Bolingbrook, IL late last year. Truck had a 4:00 am Wednesday morning delivery appointment. He would have had plenty of time to get there in time.. but he had a flat tire, and the service call put him a few hours behind. He showed up at the receiver at 9:00 am.. five hours late. driver apologetic, and we figured worst case he would be a "work in". Nope! They told him to come back 12 days later.. next available apoointment! And.. it was a tarp load.. if anything happend to the load in that time span we were on the hook for it. The only saving grace was that the carrier was from that area, and he had a yard where he could drop the trailer. I of course contacted my customer (the shipper) immediately and kept them apprised of the situation. "Oh my gosh the poor driver!! " she sputtered... but nothing nadda in the way of compensation.. And the "coup de grace" as they say in France..I got a SERVCE FAILURE for the late delivery.. a missed delivery that pretty much cooked my chances for getting any more loads out of that shipper for the next 30 days! Carrier was really nice though.. we agreed that I'd pay them 100% of what I had in the load and let it go at that.. we still do business together although we've both sworn that it will be a cold day in hell before we ever send anything to Alro-Bolingbrook again.
Wow!!! I should consider myself lucky then! LOL. In situations like this one, I try to work with people to find a solution that make sense and its mutually agreeable. It was shipper's fault and I can hardly blame the receiver for their position. The lesson learned... Next time around, I will just add a few more lines of IF's to the already lengthy list of them on their confirmations. Thanks again.