Truck Damaged by Vendor due to improper loading

Most of my DryVan live loads requires me to wait in the truck or lounge. I cannot be at the docks due to whatever reasons. Then after they load, they want me to sign pieces count and it is receive in good condition. WTF...i can't verify count because its already loaded. But they say to sign. Very shady. This is why I hate and refuse to do dryvan and reefer.

As to the original author of this thread, he is probably at fault because he wasnt there when they load, but signed for piece count and it was in good condition. Also, he did not check the load if it was loaded correctly to minimize movements. He probably didnt secure load with straps or load locks too.

 

There are two things that puzzle me with the op, first he said it was in a straight truck, which means that load wasn't sealed and the driver could secure it (i have straight trucks doing S-W and Pitts paint loads almost daily) but then he mentioned can't open the trailer doors?

 

If they want you to sign that you agree with the piece count and the conditions of the product and also they explicitly state that "Shipper load and count" is not allowed to be noted on BOL prior to loading. In which case, If they don't allow you on a dock then, in my presumption only, it is still Shipper load and count - my logic is that the obvious truth supersedes whatever they have you sign. But the seal needs to be applied right after you pull out from the dock and it has to be documented on BOL and unless they put the seal themselves, it is better to video record the process of you applying the seal.

I might be very wrong about it though, and honestly I never had a situation in which a Law office assistance was ever needed. I also would not be surprised that if you called different offices specializing in the transportation law and asked about it, you'd get different answers too.

The only certain way to avoid such risks is to refuse the load at a shipper based on the wording on the BOL. Who does it though? Most of the drivers I see don't care what they sign. I myself must be looking like a clown reading those BOLs and discussing this or that before I sign them.

 

Being liable for damages to the load, and being ticketed for an unsecured load are two different things and are not mutually exclusive.

 

Write by shippers count where you sign it. Lots of people do, if they have a problem with it, tell them to get it off the truck, it wouldn't be the first time.

 

At every shipper you want to request to put on the load locks yourself before they seal you. I know this can be a problem with a trailer or box truck with a rolling door because the loader probably seals it from inside the warehouse.

Never trust loaders with putting on the load locks. Many of them just don’t know how to put them on. Any collapsed pallets will probably be blamed on the driver. Also, sometimes you need to place load locks vertically on the last pallet or two, especially if they are high pallets.

 

I refuse to believe that.

Its my opinion only. Everything I am as a trucker says the load must be secured and loaded properly As a company driver I must make sure of that UNLESS the shipper offers either a sealed trailer or in the case with McKesson and hyper secure warehouses I never see whats put into the trailer most days. I might be taken escorted by three staff to the back of the trailer as a part of a introduction exercise the first load or second. But after that, you are not welcome inside the building at all. You stay in the cab while you are reloaded with cardboard bales that will absolutely fill that 53 reefer onto the floor. "THUMP" going back to memphis.

Most of the time the freight in the reefer is what I usually haul hardly ever with dry van (Because I get lazy and neglectful due to lack of detail work that I crave which is present in tanker, flatbed, reefer etc.) just slamming doors makes it really bad for me around dry vans.

I hate to be picky. In the days before airride with the freight shaker or worse a white commander model cabover engine there has been entire truck loads of product that all fall down into a massive pile destroying whatever is on the bottom. Causing a huge reject by reciever. Which leads to a whole lot of a bad day once OSD in the company finds out. Most the time I got blamed for ruining a whole truckload.

The real problem in those days was no airide with such delicate product. Enter the airride and you will find that my history with OSD product over 10 years plus is counted on one hand. Half of which is cut by the forklift.