How to make money in the reefer business

I have a claim right now with 'tql'....ugh......tql brokers lie so much,had a produce load that publix rejeceted,informed tql,they refused to give temp to driver a whole lot of bs going on,i want to just file on their bond,i did not get paid for the load or out of pocket expense to get load off...very new to hauling produce,was not aware of protocol/usda was not called outwish i had known then what i know now!!!!!!!!!but i still have not been paid,but they want me to pay for some restacking the load...o yeah by the way they sold the load without any problems,no where does it say the load was damaged.publix had started unloading and reloaded the product back on the truck,moved me to another door then rejected...boy o boy...i had just started dealing with tql,this was like my 3rd load and they have already messed up..now any suggestions to a relevant new produce hauler besides stay away from tql

 

Can't file on a bond for produce,it's exempt product.

 

The temp is usually on the bills. Why did Publix reject? If it was a temp issue then you may be lucky to just get off with not getting paid for hauling the load rather than paying a claim.

As to hauling produce and TQL:

TQL can be bad news. So can many brokers. TQL just seems to be one of the shadier ones.

There is a USDA temp guide for refrigerated products online you can use as a guideline for reefer freight. Most of the time the temps will be on the bills for any load. If it's not, I usually ask and write it on both copies of the bills when I sign for the load. Make sure you have a thermometer and check the temps on produce. It's a pretty good idea to manually check your trailer temp also. Use common sense and just look at whats being loaded on your trailer - if it looks crappy before it goes on I promise you a few days and a couple thousand miles in that trailer isn't going to help. Last but not least, if you haul mixed produce loads you're probably going to have a variety of temps on the bills. I always ask the broker what temp they want to go with but most of the time they don't know so you need to go with a temp that is not going to damage the most fragile product. Get names, write them down, and always CYA!!

 

I have only had one issue with TQL, but with Publix thats another story.. I had been in the business for roughly 7 years without a major claim ( i had had some boxes deducted but no big deal).at the time i had 5 trucks running under my authority. One of my truck took a load from CA to the publix in lakeland fl and had a claim on friday, the other truck arrived Monday and they put a claim on that one as well. They insisted the unit had frozen the merchandise.

Took both units in to thermoking and they found nothing wrong with the units. So i was back and forth with the insurance and luckily the adjuster decided she would pay, Then I bring in a truck of brocolli on the following week and they hit me for a claim again. This time they kept the merchandise and wrote on the BOL that they were keeping the product as per driver request, to help driver. ( if you dont know this, Publix only keeps the product with their label on it, nothing else). So they file a claim and the insurance lady calls me and ask if this was a mistake, i said no! and do not pay them because this is BS.

Publix then calls the insurance company and tells the adjuster after a week that i need to go back to lakeland, fl to pick up the load and dispose of it. I told the adjuster i would do it for 1500.00 if publix paid it, not her... i didnt hear from either of them for a month, when i found out my insurance paid the claim. i called and asked her why she paid it because somebody was scamming us, and she said you seem nice and you were honest about the whole thing, so i wanted to avoid you getting sued.

Yes i got extremely lucky, but i will never go to publix in lakeland again.

And remember the most important thing in produce is to pulp your product (always!!)

 

If you get bills that say they reject it, BUT they take the product you call the police...thats called theft

 

Do that and see how far you get.

 

do not leave publix until you are satisfied plus anything is that you belive is wrong write thay on the any paper as they make you the sign plus they cant keep any product if they reject it

 

Do not ever load for TQL if the produce isn't from a grower, they may be having you load rejected product so they can get you to pay a claim.......

 

This is really good advice..thank you

 

$700 is insane. you would never get that anywhere.