Canada no more canada loads for me!!!

[lisalewis]

We were prepared to cross the border! We called and faxed everything at the shipper in CA. We called the broker and they confirmed they had all the needed info. We get to the border and that is when they told us that the shipper split up one large load into many smaller loads. The broker only had papers one large shipment of electric windmill parts and here comes several trucks each carring part of a the whole load. We wern't the only drivers having this trouble! We sat in the broker's office with several drivers carring the same thing we were. They sent us back to the US while everything got sorted out and 2 days later we were informed that the broker given to us by the shipper and Panther was the wrong one. We did everything to prepare just like we do EVERYTIME we cross. I don't like when someone tells me that I am unprepared when I do everything by the hand book. Have you tried to fax something to a broker by the numbers given in the hand book?? They have been wrong for us 75% of the time.

Don't pass jugement until you know the whole story

 

[davekc]

Your right...we don't know the whole story. I don't want to beat up on you, but if your faxed paper work for your truck was sent to the broker, then something went wrong.
The first is that what was sent didn't match the load on your truck.
That should have been caught at the shipper since you indicated a full shipment listing was originally sent. That load should not have ever left the dock. Again, I am just basing this on a very limited amount of information from your post.
Also, Panther has nothing to do with what broker a customer has chosen. That is an issue with the shipper exclusively. A carrier can only react to something like that as fast as the correct information is supplied to them by the shipper.








Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[RobA]

>. we
>got to customs at the Canadian border and they said we had
>to go and see our broker, no shock because this happened
>almost everytime.

Lisa:
THIS is the statement I am taking issue with; not a screwed up...F'ed up shipment.
If you have to go to the Broker almost everytime then something is wrong.
I don't know, nor should it matter, who you drive for; a visit to the Broker's office should be a rare occurance.
Do you keep a personal hand book of brokers who you visit, and their names and phone numbers?
There aren't all that many brokers today.
The shipper should be able to tell you who the broker is and if they can't then the consignee must be able to.
Third party brokerage deals are pretty rare; and in my experience are actually better documented for broker info.

A split load shouldn't have delayed you for two days; there are procedures to deal with that situation. Did your dispatch not know there was more than one load involved?

Poor or missed communications are at the root of most broker problems.

 

[simon says]

AMEN to the $$, more for me to do. Plus, living in SE. MI. it is like throwing the rabbit into the briar patch. I am now starting to get loads out as well, but I don't wait much more than an overnight after a lengthy delivery up there. Even Barrie is not that far, and most freight goes into metro Toronto.
It helps to be FAST approved as you are then educated about procedures. I haven't had a " " FAST load yet, but I rarely see a broker. If you don't want to submit your fingerprints to the Feds, I guess you don't want to haul government freight either. If your company is committed to do this freight, then they should have someone following it to insure correct procedures. I now get a phone call, and the filer code sent to me for a PAPS load...

For you Panther folks having this BS done to you; tsk, tsk, just re-affirms what I thought of that outfit...:-(

 

[greg334]

odd day yesterday.

whizzed though canadian customs, had an odd question about if I have ever been in Canada and IF I know where I am going. I guess theyknow I got lost once.

But on my trip home, I got to the booth in good time (15 minutes), handed my passport and $5 (note no inward cargo manifest) and had the officer say "hey coming home empty! have a good day - see ya" not a question but a statment and just like that. WEIRD:+

 

[bryan]

HI

I agree with the premium for going in,instead of .02 cut.

There is an easy way to do PAPS and several CND carriers have adopted this system.The driver only has to remember their carriers fax #.Cause the only thing the driver does is fill out the inward cargo manifest and then he faxs it and the customs invoice to his carrier.The carrier has people who are trained to do nothing but look for paperwork errors and fax paperwork on to broker.Then the carrier watches the progress of the freight clearance over the internet.When the carrier see that the freight is in customs computer and is ready to clear they call or QC the driver and give him his entry #. The driver then writes the # on his invoice and heads for the border.

This is a win win situation for all parties.The driver only has one fax # to remember.The carrier knows that the clearance is being handled properly.The broker doesn't have to take drivers phone calls thus freeing them up to do there job and if they find a problem they can call a 1 800 number instead of calling a drivers cell phone.The customer can get real time info about their freight instantly.Customs knows that the freight is in the system because the entry # is written on the manifest so even if the computers are down they can still clear the freight.Also the carrier only has to train a select few people on how custom clearances work.

Leave it to the Canuks to figure out an easy and common sense way to get around US Customs.

 

[greg334]

Bryan
I wonder about this, I mean that I have not heard that FedEx (who is a broker like Livingston and Farrow) has access to information about shipments that other brokers clear for entry into the US and that these comfirmation numbers for clearence and status info is only accessable through the broker and their access point.

I maybe wrong but please clarify this.

 

[DannyD]

Bryan is spot on w/ this one. When I was w/ Thompson that's how it was done, at least the last 6 months or so that I was there. This is a lot easier way to do things. There's still going to be challenges, but ya don't feel like you're all alone out there.

Still, that in itself wouldn't make me want to go to Canada. Or at least very far into it. Going to a border city I wouldn't mind if I could easily come back to the US empty. Coming back can still be a pain in the wazoo.

Even though someone from the home office is taking care of things, there's going to be problems at the bridge. I'm not saying like half the time or anything. Just that there will be some. If it's not a FAST load it's going to be at least a 2 hour wait at the border to give the broker time to clear the load. Livingston can make ya wait 4. So if two drivers are going to Chicago, one from Detroit & one from Windsor, the driver who left Detroit is almost going to be there by time the driver who left Windsor crosses the bridge.

Anytime there's an extra risk of a day wait halfway thru a delivery, it's not something I'd want to do w/out extra compensation.

That leads to a Q:

Does your company pay waiting time at the bridge like they would at the shipper? I'm guessing no, but just curious if anyone does.

Good luck,
Danny

 

[Paul56]

I've been reading all this "no Canada" with some interest.

I suppose our situation is different because we are based in Canada; however, the majority of our runs are in Canada and very profitable.

Heck, we can take loads up to the boonies of James Bay and back profitably... but I expect that is farther into Canada than many of you would be willing to go.

Thats okay, leaves us more profitable work.

 

[bryan]

Hi

Greg the way I understand it the carrier can follow the progress of the clearance through a US customs internet site.I think this is what the ACE program was suppose to do.I don't understand how it works.I have talked to drivers who work for other carriers and they have nothing but good things to say about this program.

The only driver I've met that didn't like the system lived in Windsor and would stop at the house and then tell dispatch he was held up at the brokers.So it is something of a tattle tell system, but I still like the idea of not being responsible for paperwork that I have no controll over.Why are we held up when it is the shippers paperwork that is messed up.I can be fined for changing anything on the customs papers.And trying to tell a traffic engineneer that his paperwork don't cut it just creates hard feelings.

 

[greg334]

Bryan,
Thanks, It is something I am wondering about.

 

[whitechocolet]

Canada can be a trip and I don't mean the kind from the 60's (or do I). Any way the trick as I see it is to get as much in order as you can (brokers, etc), then say a prayer. Anything that can help, can't hurt. Some people will complain no matter what. Life is just a bunch of experience strung together.
My better half and I started this business a year ago, and yes we are one of those displaced-misplaced Con-Way Now teams that are trying to learn the "Ways of the Panther." (sigh). As prior mfg./Quality Assurance people (30+ years) we are very detailed oriented and I find the misorganization in this industry a little distressing at times.
We like going to Canada, as we did many times before becoming commodities re-locators. To put it kindly the US customs now-a-days are usually "idiots in a box"! (tho the last one we had was quit human). I agree the people who are willing to go to Canada should be given a bonus as oppose to penalizing the ones who won't.
We will continue to take Canadian loads for now, so thanks to all of you who don't want them. ;-)

 

[Moot]

Basic Marketing 101 would say put a positive spin on Canadian loads. Trucks going into Canada get a premium. Those that don't go to Canada get the basic pay. I guess someone didn't take the intro to marketing course.

 

[Moot]

Common sense, telephone etiquette, math and interpersonal communication are few more classes that were skipped.

 

[Paul56]

The only reason I can see for providing a bonus for going into Canada would be for the entry/exit at the border.

And even that, crossing the border does not need to be the ordeal that some seem to describe it as. Be prepared, be patient and cooperate with the agent. Show up with an attitude and you may have problems.

Other than that driving in Canada is no different than in the States. If anything most of the Canadian highway system has a lower volume of traffic with the exception of highway 401 which is the major Windsor/Quebec City corridor.

Keep in mind that in Canada over 90% of the truck traffic is cross-border. The vast majority of those trucks going south will come back across loaded. You can blame your company for not doing the work to secure a load if you come back empty as the loads are definitely there.

 

[bryan]

HI
I know there are loads coming out, but it seems that my carrier has cold feet when it comes to bidding on them.Like maybe they are afraid of the fines.Im not sure.The only thing I know for sure is that after Jan.2005 my return loads back to the US dropped severly.From 100% to below 50%.Which increased my deadhead and at $3.00 a gallon for fuel?

I have to really question whether to keep taking freight into CND.Especially when I know their is an easier way.A way that the carriers can keep from getting the fines.To me its a no brainer.Either send drivers who have experience clearing customs or have the carrier take controll of the paperwork.

Maybe this is why US customs started fining the driver and the carrier?Trying to break the warm body hiring policies that some carriers adopted.If the guy doesn't speak English it was no skin off the carrier's teeth.The QC's made that possible.I75 exit 46 looks the same on the QC as it does on the sign above the interstate.Just teach them to press the blue Y and the read next button and send them on their way.Whola no more drivers shortage.

 

[ftp000]

I'll keep doing the canada runs, our carrier is pretty short on drivers who will go up there so it has really been a life saver for us. For instance, last week we got unloaded in hartsvile sc. and learned that we were #11 on the columbia board, the nearest board with a shortage was a couple of hundred miles away, but we were getting ready to head that way. The phone rang as I was buckling up with a load offer, Maxton NC. to St. Thomas ONT. and back, taking a 55 pound replacement part up, bringing back the broken one, 1680 miles. We only got that because a)it was a team run b)nobody ahead of us would go into canada.
My only problem is the rudeness at the boarder, I'd love to see 60 min do a show about the way we're treated at the border, I know they're just doing their jobs but so are we, as I stood in line at us customs last week I was reading the sign there claiming that we would be welcomed by a curtious agent, then Mr. curtesy screamed "WHAT DO YOU NEED" and started going over our paper work, he almost didn't stamp it because we had used a # sign instead of lbs, he acted like we were idiots and we were lucky to be allowed to enter our own country, those jerks are out of control.

 

[highway star]

I've said this before but this may be a good time to say it again. When you come back to the U.S., just put on your teflon coat. Whatever happens, just let it roll off and leave it there. It really isn't that big a deal.

 

[Turtle]

Most everyone probably knows this, but it's still worth mentioning. US Customs officials have no sense of humor. None.

Same with the US Border Patrol at the check points in Texas. Once I was coming up out of Laredo and was diverted into that check point. With a typical Cheech Marin accent, a George Lopez lookin' dood in a Border Patrol uniform asked me, "Are you a US citizen, sir?"

I looked at him closely and replied, "Yeah. Are you?"




Well, I thought it was funny. :+


--
Optimists may say the glass is half-full.
Pessimists may say the glass is half-empty.
I say use a smaller glass.

 

[Doggie Daddy]

And it's with comments like that,that some people will ALWAYS have trouble with the customs/border agents.