What do you think !...

T

thefriendlybroker

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Aug 13, 2008
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I have a situation I would appreciate some feedback on. I will not name the carrier in this case as the claim is not settled.

A skid was picked up Jan 24 with a del. date of Jan 31. On the 31st, the carrier advised us the skid was delivered. Two and a half weeks later, we found out the freight was still not delivered.

After 4 days of searching, the carrier located the freight and brought it to our customer. The freight on arrival was frozen solid and was refused.

The freight was dry food and did not require temperature control, although it being frozen on delivery was unacceptable, not to mention arriving three weeks late.

The carrier at this point is denying any responsibility for being late or the damages which amount to just over $1000.00 (weight being over 700 lbs).

Any input would be appreciated. I feel this is a poor way of doing business and to arrive three weeks late, not even knowing where the freight was, and being frozen solid shows to me the carrier should be accepting full responsibility for this.
 
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Friendlybroker, I feel your pain and frustration on this one. However, just to play devil's advocate, I have to ask the following;
1) was it marked on the Bill of Lading "keep from freezing"?
2) was there a specified and agreed delivery date indicated on the Bill of Lading?
I would not be surprised if the carrier was using either of these as an excuse to deny your claim. In addition, because the amount falls under their deductible, their insurance company would not be inclined to get involved. One would think however, that for an amount as small as this combined with an outright service failure on their part, they would at least offer you some sort of restitution - say 50%. Although I don't like it, they may have the wiggle room to deny the freezing (provided it wasn't indicated on the B/L), but 3 weeks to deliver???? Come on Mr. Carrier, act like a man and cowboy up on this one.
 
I would be curious as to why you did not ask for a POD a couple of days after delivery date rather than find out 18 days later it was MIA?
Tracking and Tracing would have paid off in this case.
My 2.5 cents worth.
 
great comments and appreciated... to answer a few of the questions.

there was nothing marked on it stating protect from freezing - order stated dry food ( not frozen food - lol ... i am keeping a small sense of humour about this )

No, the b.o.l. didnt state a delivery date, but that is irrelevant, my order did and I am the one paying the bill, so the agreement and contract of carriage was with me. and my order also states the carrier is responsible for all damages, as well as min. $ 50/ per day for late delivery, so technically, yes I have a breach of contract which I am able to apply to the situation.
 
Oh ... and we did trace it. we have the names of two people confirming it was delivered and we always get the B.O.L about two weeks after delivery with invoice, so there was nothing showing out of the ordinary.
 
hm, posted below prior to you advising traced with receiver... I hate to delete a post though...

Tip of the day:

ALWAYS (please don't correct for capitalization caps intended) call the consignee to confirm:
they have received the goods
there are no damages/shortages
the truck delivering was that which you contracted

Of course, these are preventative techniques. You are looking for 'what to do now that we are in a pickle'. Our peers have done a pretty thorough job below. I hope that you and the carrier in this case come to a fair and equitable agreement - it wil likely determine if you can work together again. :cool:

Keep well,
Mike
 
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The only defense the carrier might have is if they were unaware of the protect from freezing aspect. Even then it's a long shot.

How they can even begin to defend being 3 weeks late, delivering damaged goods, claiming it was delivered on the date due when it was not, and not storing the skid in a warehouse while they awaited the delivery date.

The skid was obviously left in the back of the truck for the time it came back to their yard, to the time it was finally delivered, 4 weeks later. Sorry, but in January anything will freeze if left outside, they acted completely irresponsible to the care and maintenance of your product while in their possesion.
 
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Thank you all for the input. I have had a discussion with the carrier about this and although they maintain that the freight b.o.l should have had it marked protect from freezing, they have owned up to the freight being delivered late and we have come to a resolution to cover the cost of the freight.

While I still do not want to mention the name of the company, I must say I was extremely suprised and impressed by the way this company has handled the matter in the end and have earned our business back.

I guess it goes to show that some people still work with morals in this industry.
 
Glad to hear there was a satisfactory resolution to this matter.
 
I still wouldn't work with them again...at first they hemmed and hawed...they stated the order delivered when it had not..doesn't sound like they have their act together...Do you really want to risk another order?
 
I find these things usually have to be escalated when it's a larger carrier in particular. But once that's done, it usually works.
 
I was once told by a OS&D clerk at a larger carrier that it was their policy to deny every claim filed. If you made noise and/or resubmitted... only then would they even look at a claim.
 
It has been our experience as well for most carriers to deny liability at the onset of a claim, regardless of its legitimacy. Let's face it, even the most experienced carpenter hits his thumb on occasion. If you move freight every day for a living, whether on trucks or across loading docks, eventually something will get lost or damaged. Call it "the law of averages" or the "nature of the beast", it is the reason we have cargo insurance in the first place.
 
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