Weather related detention.. your thoughts?

Freight Broker

Freight Broker

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Sep 12, 2009
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Like some of you, I had loads stuck in the Northeast on Monday/Tuesday. Things got a little tense when they shut down the roads on Monday, so obviously deliveries for Tuesday morning had to be deferred to Wednesday. That part wasn't a problem, but then on Wednesday the receivers were plugged right up with those Tuesday loads along with loads they had scheduled for Wednesday. In my case I had 22 loads in this situation.. a few got delivered without so much as a word from the carriers and drivers. Some got delivered with a whole lot of grumbling.. and six involved some heated discussions, swearing and threats. Who pays detention for this? I paid some just to keep the peace.. none of my shippers or receivers paid any or would consider it.
 
I tend to agree.. but almost everyone asks for it. I generally say no unless the situation is aggravated by the receiver's actions/inactions that make the whole situation worse. A couple of exceptions.. one guy called in to tell me he was unloaded first thing in the morning. I asked him how he did it given that he was one of the last to arrive.. He stated he was polite to the receiver.. he understood their situation and asked if there was anything he could do to help. Five minutes later he was moved to the head of the line and unloaded.. Another one: not sure how he did it, but he is a polite individual so I suspect his way of dealing with people helped him out. Some I had to pay something.. not sure if I should have stuck to my guns or not.. but sometimes an extra $50.00 is all it takes to keep someone from going postal or blowing things up so that my shipper hears about it a thousand miles away.
 
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In a perfect world carriers would be compensated for detention and delays as a result of things beyond their control. Weather, traffic, illness ect. But it will never happen. It is simply a fact of life that these things can happen. On the other hand, carriers should not be fined for being late for the same reasons.
 
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My opinion is ( after 16 years in the industry ) :
As for whatiship mentionned - nobody should be fined if they are late for act of god situation. Storm, Traffic, etc... Even just to consider it....it baffles me!

The storm we had this week + the highway bans on PA and NY did hit us extremely hard. Both transport and Logistic side. We're trying our best, calling everyone to push orders if we can't pickup / deliver.

One thing I tend to explain to the customer is, before the trucks can pickup, they need to unload. The situations were out of our control and we're making with what we have and trying to do miracles. Those who whine and cries are the last ones I will help. Both sides.

If you can't understand what just happened and what it does involved long term, then.....

We're all having a ruff week and it will not settled until mid next week so, keep up all the good work guys!
 
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Exactly. Some customers just don't understand that the longer term effects will last several days. We have all seen times when a snow storm completely shuts down a city. Customer understands that you will not make your pickup because the roads and the consignee are completely closed. But, they are on the phone at 8:am the next morning upset because you haven't been there yet saying "but that was yesterday". The roads are open now, what's the problem?
 
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Agreed.. under the circumstances things went better than expected. Shippers, receivers, and carriers did their best, and for the most part it was a job well done. In my case I got into it with one guy who stated he'd never work with me again as he missed his reload on account of my receiver in Bridgeport and the 50 bucks I offered by way of detention was far short of his expectations. But the others are back in the groove and ready for the next batch of loads in!
 
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theman said:
Force majeure means that nobody is held responsible -- so detention is not paid, but fines are not levied either.
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This brings up another thing Fines??? So if I'm late I get a fine but if I am ontime do I get a bonus?? Where do these guys get off and who would even want to work with outfits like this?
 
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The weather forecasters in both Canada and the US were talking about this storm several days before it hit so if someone knowingly decided to go to one of those affected areas anyway, they have nothing to complain about. As a carrier, we do our best to stay on top of the weather forecasts so that these types of situations are completely avoided in the first place.
 
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Salma said:
The weather forecasters in both Canada and the US were talking about this storm several days before it hit so if someone knowingly decided to go to one of those affected areas anyway, they have nothing to complain about. As a carrier, we do our best to stay on top of the weather forecasts so that these types of situations are completely avoided in the first place.
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You got it Salma. To hear people complain, you'd think that it was a surprise storm that no one talked about before. We have a saying in french "pousse mais pousse egal" which roughly translates to "push, but be fair" When there is fault or incompetence, that's one thing. Mother nature, on the other hand, is no ones fault. And besides, she's in menopause and everyone know not to mess with a woman in menopause :D
 
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Good points.. that storm was indeed on the radar since at least Thursday. I guess the biggest issue was some people not fully understanding that the cleanup and aftermath would last for the remainder of the week.. they figure storm is over and somehow instantaneously things go back to normal. I'm also totally opposed to fines.. only people who should be issuing fines are the police.. not brokers/shippers/receivers.
 
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When there is a storm and a carriers advises they had to park their fleet in the best interest of driver safety our response is "good, you must protect your drivers welfare, let us know when it can deliver so we can manage consignee expectations". The same applies for a shipper/consignee closing due to weather "let us know when you will reopen and we will see if the carrier would like to handle the shipment at that time".

Keep well,
Mike
 
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