Shipper abuses . . . No STC's, SLC's . . . driver count

Went to a shipper this week for a live load in a dry van. Saw signage in the office for drivers stating to sign the bills for receiving loads with no STC's, SLC's etc. For the benefit of those that don't know, STC stands for Said To Contain and SLC stands for Shipper Loaded and Counted. Signing for a load with these designations helps absolve the trucker or trucking company from being responsible for any shorts in the load, especially a sealed load.

I looked at the bills, and the box was checked at the bottom stating the driver counted the number of units on each pallet, number of pallets loaded, etc. Of course, I wasn't anywhere near the dock for loading, nor was I invited to be. And even if I were, why would I want to count what's loaded? I don't know their product. If the shipper loads, the load is sealed, and I deliver the load with seal in tact, any dispute is between shipper and receiver. Of course, there is no logical reason to force a driver to sign for a load that he counted what was loaded; this is a scam by the shipper to shirk responsibility for any shorts. Or could even be a setup (condoned or not by management) to support an inside pilferage operation at the shipper.

I work for a big company, and called our claims department before accepting the load. About the only thing they said I could do was state in writing when signing "driver not present during loading". So I did, and the shipper was really pissed off! And didn't want to explain why they had their guy load (and obviously count what was loaded), yet have me sign that I counted. The clerk grabbed some white-out for the bills, and basically kicked me out of the office. I called back my claims department to update them, and obviously they logged the incident.

So, my questions are:

Does anybody know of any effective leverage against this abuse by shippers? Obviously you could refuse and you'd lose the load. Anybody have advice on how to keep a load without giving in to this scam?

Secondly, for those owner operators that book or bid their own loads, would there be any repercussions/retribution if you got to a shipper that was doing this, refused to give in, and lost the load as a result? Any penalties you'd have to pay?

Besides these questions, I kind of wanted to put this out there because my claims department said this happens all the time, and most drivers never read what they're signing. Which is probably what pissed off the shipper noted above, because I do read these bills.

 

I imagine even if you booked a load like this yourself, driver count is not a detail revealed in the booking, correct? It only gets revealed when you're present and asked to sign the papers?

It would be nice to throw some kind of outrageous fee at them, like "We have an $850 driver count fee. And that has to be paid up front, just like a lumper fee." Just to see the reaction!

Good idea to take a photo of document with signature before alterations are made!

 

Yes, I agree about being on the dock. The way some of these forklift drivers operate, having truck drivers on the dock is an injury and an OSHA violation waiting to happen.

I too first became aware of this issue at a shipper out in (I believe) Pomona CA or there abouts several years ago, except they actually were insisting that the driver be on the dock and physically count what's being loaded.

Just had two of these recently where they had the notices posted about no STCs, SLCs, etc. Trying to figure out if this is a trend.

 

A lot of bills have a standardized format; down near the bottom there will be a couple of check boxes on the left for who loaded it (shipper or driver). Then next to that there will be three more check boxes for who counted it. Usually the choices are shipper, driver noting a pallet count with each pallet said to contain a certain amount, and then finally driver, with a total unit count. That's the one they were trying to push off on me this week. That middle choice leaves too much wiggle room for the carrier if the shipper is trying to pin something on the carrier, so they usually try to go with the final total piece count check box if they are attempting to pull this scam.

And I'll say here now, if there is another side to this I'm not seeing . . . a legitimate reason to insist on a driver count of a load that's going from shipper to receiver in a secure dry van with numbered seal on it, I'd like to know.