Broker question

You will find good and bad with any brokerage, just as you will with carriers. For the most part you will find that Landstar agents are courteous and take care of business. There are a few that may slip through the cracks. There are very few brokers that I will move my truck without having received the rate confirmation. Some brokers don't have a written commitment on the load themselves before trying to book it with a carrier. Sometimes, loads do cancel. Regardless, it is only good business to have written confirmation of the rate and load information. It is the only proof you have of the load and the only way you will be paid.

 

We deal with Landstar all the time, your company has some pretty stupid brokers just like anyone else. But overall the company is good.

 

Reference my post in the Landstar Agent thread of the freight broker forum. I'll be the first to admit we have our fair share of wondertards. My sincere hope is they work themselves out... of our company.

 

Sometimes loads cancel. It happens all the time. We get automatic tenders from one of our customers and sometimes we've already got a truck dispatched and enroute when they cancel the load. Turns out, when the load auto-tenders, they have a department that calls the customer to advise of the anticipated delivery date and make sure they still want the product. More times than not, loads cancel and we scramble to try to let the carrier know asap to avoid wasting too much of their time and to try and avoid a TONU.

 

We've had this happen a few times with other carriers. We filled out and sent back paperwork only to get a call saying they gave it away.

 

I have customers that want automatic shipments too, but I still call them before I dispatch my truck.

Wouldn't it make more sense to call the customer BEFORE putting the truck on the load? Or perhaps by calling afterward, you get to collect a cancellation fee at the expense of the truck?

I suppose it's OK as long as "too much" of the truck's time and fuel wasn't wasted. Never mind that the truck's day is already screwed. The important thing is that LS doesn't have to pay that $100 TONU. With costs running over $1.50/mile, I hope at least LS can find him a load paying the same amount. Maybe going into NYC.

 

A Load confirmation just means the load is yours, it doesn't mean the load won't cancel.

 

It sure would, unfortunately I'm not the one who calls. It's my customer, who is the shipper. Their CS department calls. And no, we don't collect a cancellation fee at the expense of the driver. Our agency passes thru all monies billed on TONU and it's more than $100. Way to have a chip on your shoulder fella. That'll get you far in life.

Exactly!

 

You are still dispatching a truck without confirming that the load even exists. Blaming someone else doesn't make the truck whole. And there is never enough TONU to cover what the truck loses because someone didn't do their job. What you are doing to those trucks is not right.