I recently had a driver arrive at a consignee three hours early. The scheduled delivery time was for 7 am Eastern time, but the consignee was not going to open until 7 am Pacific time which is (7 am Eastern time). (((Oop's my bad, I make one typo and now I can't tell time - good god i'm getting expediter alzheimers. lol. I meant to say 7 am pacific time))).My driver made me aware of the fact that the building was a ghost town and that the security guard had instructed him to park next to the biggrer trucks and wait there. Well, two hours go by and the broker calls me wanting to know where my truck is or if it is at the right location (which it was). They had the customer on the phone all hyped up over detention time and the place was still empty. About 30 minutes before 7 am Pacific time my driver spots the guy who will later be unloading him drinking coffee and chowing down on a donut. I then get another really rude call from the broker that the customer has been looking all over the place for my driver and that there is no black van in the parking lot "the place is huge mind you" but my driver witnessed this man drinking coffee and eating donuts. Still no one will answer the shipping door. The lights are now on but no one appears to be moving abouy inside the building.
The etire time I kept reminding the broker about the time zones and my driver even offerd to take a picture of the sign that says shipping opens at 7 am Pacifict time. Well it's awfully strange that my driver was unloaded approximately 7 minutes after 10 am Eastern, 7 am Pacific - just like I told the broker he would be all morning. So everything is good now, right? Wrong! The customer service department of that company calls me and wants to know the name of the security guard who told my driver to park over by the trucks and wait there intil 7 am Pacific time. The only problem is my driver is already headed somewhere else and is now 45 miles from the consignee. The customer service department said the customer was irate and wanted the entire load discounted because it was late. I explained to the broker that the customer was rude to my driver and actually cut all of the metal straps off of the skid and counted and opened almost every single box looking for a reason to get a dosount - or to get the shipment for free.
As it turns out this whole ordeal started over the broker wanting to charge detention time when they theyselves got the time zones mixed up. We ended up being cleared in the matter because someone at the shipping department confirmed our story by tracking down the night time security guard. What would have happened to us if the night time security guard decided to tell the shipper that he never saw a black van that night? How would we prove anything being that we are not a qualcomm equipped carrier? Should driver have to carry around small video camera now just to be able to verify what happens qhile loading and unloading freight, talking to shippers and consignees, and everything load related in general? This is getting to be ridiculous where shippers are looking for any excuse to discount loads and a lot of it has to do with the fact that the rates are getting so low out here a lot of companies are hiring less than desirable drivers and equipment. What are your thoughts on this matter?
The etire time I kept reminding the broker about the time zones and my driver even offerd to take a picture of the sign that says shipping opens at 7 am Pacifict time. Well it's awfully strange that my driver was unloaded approximately 7 minutes after 10 am Eastern, 7 am Pacific - just like I told the broker he would be all morning. So everything is good now, right? Wrong! The customer service department of that company calls me and wants to know the name of the security guard who told my driver to park over by the trucks and wait there intil 7 am Pacific time. The only problem is my driver is already headed somewhere else and is now 45 miles from the consignee. The customer service department said the customer was irate and wanted the entire load discounted because it was late. I explained to the broker that the customer was rude to my driver and actually cut all of the metal straps off of the skid and counted and opened almost every single box looking for a reason to get a dosount - or to get the shipment for free.
As it turns out this whole ordeal started over the broker wanting to charge detention time when they theyselves got the time zones mixed up. We ended up being cleared in the matter because someone at the shipping department confirmed our story by tracking down the night time security guard. What would have happened to us if the night time security guard decided to tell the shipper that he never saw a black van that night? How would we prove anything being that we are not a qualcomm equipped carrier? Should driver have to carry around small video camera now just to be able to verify what happens qhile loading and unloading freight, talking to shippers and consignees, and everything load related in general? This is getting to be ridiculous where shippers are looking for any excuse to discount loads and a lot of it has to do with the fact that the rates are getting so low out here a lot of companies are hiring less than desirable drivers and equipment. What are your thoughts on this matter?
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