Carrier V. Shipper agreements

Mar 13, 2019 at 10:16 AM CST + 4 - 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Our company is rather new, and perhaps lacking in experience in the transportation industry. We're doing our very best to get our product directly to our customer without contracting a logistics company to handle it. However, with independently hiring owner/operators, and also using a lot of brokerage's to move our product - I've run into a great deal of issues with dropped loads, delayed loads, heck - even loads being completely forgotten about after Orders were submitted. When we as the shipper are responsible for detention, or rejected loads - we pay a fee, hefty fees to the carrier. However, when a carrier drops a load, there seems to be no repercussion - On almost a weekly basis I am facing the threat of losing good customers because they are not receiving their product at the time requested - due to the carrier dropping loads, not recovering the loads, and basically not giving a crap about it. Should we be holding them responsible, charging them dropped-load fees for when this happens? Does anyone have any suggestions for a Carrier/Shipper Agreement/contract to have issued prior to loads being covered, in case of this event? Would love all your suggestions! Thank you

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 10:39 AM CST + 13
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I think it should work both ways. Most importantly hire reputable companys to haul your product with a good rate. If you are trying to pay low rates you should expect to problems. REMEMBER YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 12:13 PM CST + 6
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I have a considerable amount of experience in the refractories industry. In your business it is VITAL to be on time or you will lose customers. Taking a relationship-based approach to your transportation vendors is the best way. once you have a couple brokers or carriers that can get the job done and keep customers happy BE LOYAL!!!! going for the cheapest option will never get you the results you need to grow your customer base. Feel free to reach out if you are lokking for someone who understands the industry (and more importantly your customers) needs. We are a carrier and a broker [email protected]

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 12:13 PM CST

+ 6

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

I have a considerable amount of experience in the refractories industry. In your business it is VITAL to be on time or you will lose customers. Taking a relationship-based approach to your transportation vendors is the best way. once you have a couple brokers or carriers that can get the job done and keep customers happy BE LOYAL!!!! going for the cheapest option will never get you the results you need to grow your customer base. Feel free to reach out if you are lokking for someone who understands the industry (and more importantly your customers) needs. We are a carrier and a broker [email protected]

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 02:34 PM CST + 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I agree with Curt. If you find some good people to work with it's probably going to cost you, but those are the type of people that will lose sleep at night to get your stuff done correctly.

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 04:11 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I'll agree with what has been said previously. Assuming that your shipments are originating into or out of the Twin Cities, you can be very subject to seasonal fluctuations. MSP tends to be feast or famine with truck availability in bulk. If your loads are consistent year round you will come out ahead by offering a bit better on the rate and being good to work for. Carriers will protect their year round lanes over dumping you when seasonal work takes off for a few extra dollars. As far as dropped load fees go, I haven't personally seen it. We've been occasionaly charged for say a late delivery on a hot load, but as a broker most customers also realize that there is only so much that I can do. Although, we definitely keep the customer informed as the situation changes, and I've been lucky to not bite off more than I can chew when it comes to larger projects. The biggest thing that will work against you as a shipper/receiver are your unloading times. The more of a repuation that your facilities have for long waits, the worse it will get. I won't beat my chest and say that we are a great broker to work with out of that area, but we certainly have experience with it, especially into Wisconsin. 920-973-1935 Steve

Replied on Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 04:11 PM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

I'll agree with what has been said previously. Assuming that your shipments are originating into or out of the Twin Cities, you can be very subject to seasonal fluctuations. MSP tends to be feast or famine with truck availability in bulk. If your loads are consistent year round you will come out ahead by offering a bit better on the rate and being good to work for. Carriers will protect their year round lanes over dumping you when seasonal work takes off for a few extra dollars.

As far as dropped load fees go, I haven't personally seen it. We've been occasionaly charged for say a late delivery on a hot load, but as a broker most customers also realize that there is only so much that I can do. Although, we definitely keep the customer informed as the situation changes, and I've been lucky to not bite off more than I can chew when it comes to larger projects.

The biggest thing that will work against you as a shipper/receiver are your unloading times. The more of a repuation that your facilities have for long waits, the worse it will get.

I won't beat my chest and say that we are a great broker to work with out of that area, but we certainly have experience with it, especially into Wisconsin.

920-973-1935

Steve

Replied on Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 07:52 AM CST + 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Quote: "I'll agree with what has been said previously. Assuming that your shipments are originating into or out of the Twin Cities, you can be very subject to seasonal fluctuations. MSP tends to be feast or famine with truck availability in bulk. If your loads are consistent year round you will come out ahead by offering a bit better on the rate and being good to work for. Carriers will protect their year round lanes over dumping you when seasonal work takes off for a few extra dollars. As far as dropped load fees go, I haven't personally seen it. We've been occasionaly charged for say a late delivery on a hot load, but as a broker most customers also realize that there is only so much that I can do. Although, we definitely keep the customer informed as the situation changes, and I've been lucky to not bite off more than I can chew when it comes to larger projects. The biggest thing that will work against you as a shipper/receiver are your unloading times. The more of a repuation that your facilities have for long waits, the worse it will get. I won't beat my chest and say that we are a great broker to work with out of that area, but we certainly have experience with it, especially into Wisconsin. 920-973-1935 Steve" Hey Steve! Our office is located in MSP. However, most of our product ships from/lanes that are throughout the Midwest/South/West/East - All over really... We rarely have anything actually coming out of MSP. Today for instance, a load was supposed to pick up this morning, and deliver tomorrow morning - on a common lane for us. The broker, whom I checked in with daily this week and reminded them of the load, reminded them to "please not drop this" as it was an important and strict delivery - Of course, this morning I check in to find out the time they would arrive at the warehouse for loading, and the broker never responded to me - waited until about 1:30PM to tell me they will be picking it up tomorrow, and that they thought it was wasn't supposed to be picked up until tomorrow anyway. Which the original paperwork was attached to that very email with the correct dates, that stated it needed to be picked up today. - Did he think I was stupid and would have forgot? Did he think I might have made an error in my work? When I responded with the original paperwork again in the email he said "Oh well, it will pick up tomorrow..." - This is probably about the second or third time this has happened this week (albiet with different brokers) - At rates that they themselves have set and were not negotiated. The ethics in this business astound me.

Replied on Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 07:52 AM CST

+ 2

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Quote: "I'll agree with what has been said previously. Assuming that your shipments are originating into or out of the Twin Cities, you can be very subject to seasonal fluctuations. MSP tends to be feast or famine with truck availability in bulk. If your loads are consistent year round you will come out ahead by offering a bit better on the rate and being good to work for. Carriers will protect their year round lanes over dumping you when seasonal work takes off for a few extra dollars. As far as dropped load fees go, I haven't personally seen it. We've been occasionaly charged for say a late delivery on a hot load, but as a broker most customers also realize that there is only so much that I can do. Although, we definitely keep the customer informed as the situation changes, and I've been lucky to not bite off more than I can chew when it comes to larger projects. The biggest thing that will work against you as a shipper/receiver are your unloading times. The more of a repuation that your facilities have for long waits, the worse it will get. I won't beat my chest and say that we are a great broker to work with out of that area, but we certainly have experience with it, especially into Wisconsin. 920-973-1935 Steve"

Hey Steve!

Our office is located in MSP. However, most of our product ships from/lanes that are throughout the Midwest/South/West/East - All over really... We rarely have anything actually coming out of MSP.

Today for instance, a load was supposed to pick up this morning, and deliver tomorrow morning - on a common lane for us. The broker, whom I checked in with daily this week and reminded them of the load, reminded them to "please not drop this" as it was an important and strict delivery - Of course, this morning I check in to find out the time they would arrive at the warehouse for loading, and the broker never responded to me - waited until about 1:30PM to tell me they will be picking it up tomorrow, and that they thought it was wasn't supposed to be picked up until tomorrow anyway. Which the original paperwork was attached to that very email with the correct dates, that stated it needed to be picked up today. - Did he think I was stupid and would have forgot? Did he think I might have made an error in my work? When I responded with the original paperwork again in the email he said "Oh well, it will pick up tomorrow..." -

This is probably about the second or third time this has happened this week (albiet with different brokers) - At rates that they themselves have set and were not negotiated.
The ethics in this business astound me.

Replied on Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM CST + 2 - 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Yours is a very common story, I can't help but wonder how much revenue is lost every day from this scenario, could we have GDP growth of 5% or more if it were not for these problems? I encourage all of you shippers to contact your lawmakers and share your experiences with them. In the mean time you may try working a financial incentive into your next contract, where there is a bonus of some sort at the end of the month, provided everything runs smoothly and no loads are dropped or delayed. This is a very frustrating time for all parties right now, be it broker, carrier, or shipper. Every year the states issue over 400,000 new CDL's, and it's been that way for decades, lots of people are drawn to trucking, but very few are retained, and all the new regulations that drivers have been saddled with make a already difficult job completely unbearable for most.

Replied on Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM CST

+ 2 - 1

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Yours is a very common story, I can't help but wonder how much revenue is lost every day from this scenario, could we have GDP growth of 5% or more if it were not for these problems? I encourage all of you shippers to contact your lawmakers and share your experiences with them. In the mean time you may try working a financial incentive into your next contract, where there is a bonus of some sort at the end of the month, provided everything runs smoothly and no loads are dropped or delayed. This is a very frustrating time for all parties right now, be it broker, carrier, or shipper. Every year the states issue over 400,000 new CDL's, and it's been that way for decades, lots of people are drawn to trucking, but very few are retained, and all the new regulations that drivers have been saddled with make a already difficult job completely unbearable for most.

Replied on Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 01:26 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. That scenario just makes my blood curl. Personally, if I have a hot load with a problem, I let the customer know that there is an issue, and what I am doing to try to solve it. This goes with options for trucks that I have on a different day, and any carriers that I've had conversations with that had some promise for the requested day. At least in that case I can honestly say that I am trying if there is an issue. To not call and play dumb is a poor excuse. At the worst I'd at least admit that I made a mistake and dated something wrong. Thankfully that usually isn't the case. I hope you've cut them off. There are a lot better options for brokers and carriers to service you all over the country. I've worked with two of three posters besides myself and I'd definitely work with them again. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Replied on Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 01:26 PM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

That scenario just makes my blood curl. Personally, if I have a hot load with a problem, I let the customer know that there is an issue, and what I am doing to try to solve it. This goes with options for trucks that I have on a different day, and any carriers that I've had conversations with that had some promise for the requested day. At least in that case I can honestly say that I am trying if there is an issue. To not call and play dumb is a poor excuse. At the worst I'd at least admit that I made a mistake and dated something wrong. Thankfully that usually isn't the case.

I hope you've cut them off. There are a lot better options for brokers and carriers to service you all over the country. I've worked with two of three posters besides myself and I'd definitely work with them again.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

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