We were sometimes asked by FedEx Custom Critical to deadhead a long distance to a shipper in a remote Texas location to cover a load. We had done that load a few times before but came to realize that this shipper orders trucks in anticipation of the load being ready, but as often as not, the load would cancel. The shipper deemed it worth the price to pay for a dry run (a pittance) and have a truck at its dock, instead of finding itself without a truck with the load being ready to ship. It was this shippers practice to arrange the load and truck days in advance and cancel if need be on the shipping day. It was some sort of scientific load that required days of processing to prepare and more days if something went wrong.
Once we figured out that shipper's behavior, we vowed to never again be stuck in that remote Texas site for dry run pay. It was a a bad-faith act by the shipper, we believed, to order a truck to come a long distance only to have the carrier pay it meager dry-run pay when the load canceled, and leave that truck stranded far from other freight. It was also a bad-faith act by the carrier, we believed, because this pattern of behavior was well established.
When the call came to cover this load once again, we declined and stated our reasons why. The dispatcher then explained how important it was to take care of the customer. This was a big customer that shipped hundreds if not thousands of loads per year. We agreed that it is important to take care of such an important customer so we proposed the following: We'll cover the load if the carrier (who believes it is important to take care of the customer) agrees, and documents the agreement with a message, that we will be paid $X to cover our true deadhead and relocation and opportunity costs if the load does not ship. The customer will be well served by having a ready truck at its dock. The carrier will be well served by having the customer taken care of. We will be well served because we will not suffer a financial and time loss on the canceled run.
The dispatcher checked with her supervisor and the supervisor deemed that it was only important that the financial risk of taking care of the customer be borne by the truck, not by the carrier. If the carrier was asked to assume the costs of a likely dry run, that customer could let its hot freight turn cold on its dock.
Presumably, the carrier would try to cover the load with another truck, but this was a highly-credentialed load in a remote location for which trucks were not readily available. Rather than work with and protect us, the carrier opted to find another sucker truck to take care of the customer. That bad-faith act was one of many that built up and eventually led us to part with this carrier.
