damaged freight question???

Yeah overage is very serious for the comp I work for. We can not leave the country car until it is settled PERIOD HR 2 HR 3 HR. Hope all ends well

 

Broker has nothing to do with this problem. Shipper and receiver also have nothing to do with this problem. Call your insurance company. I'm not sure what type of coverage you have. The insurance company may pay to unload and dispose of the load depending on your coverage. They will definitely pay for the cargo.

You should also look into other coverage options for the future. I had a load of finger proof stainless steel on the back of my flatbed and was tarped. The steel was put on hot then it was cold and hot during the trip. When I got to receiver every sheet was damp so the load was rejected.

I have premium coverage with Northland. They paid my rate for delivering, storage of the product and fork lift to take load off. I was not out a dime. No down time either since this was a load going home. My insurance company had a company contact me that specializes in damaged cargo. In this case it was a metal person. I took pictures, measurements and counted how many sheets. I'm sure they sold it pretty easy as just plain stainless steel.

 

Sorry for the trouble, but glad to see this. I switched to Northland two years ago. They've been regarded positive in general, but I've not seen anything specific like this, nor had any personal claim experience with them. Thanks for sharing.

 

Probably too late to do anything now, so yeah you own a big pile of probably not good ice cream and just got an expensive lesson on why reefer operations are just a bit more involved than pressing the on switch and watching the numbers on the temp display.

First thing upon catching word of a claim, you get pulp temp readings. Preferably witnessed and documented. Or take time-stamped pictures with your smart phone. You do have a stick thermometer and an IR temp gun on the truck don't you? Both are really cheap to buy, and priceless when they are needed.

If your reefer unit is not downloadable, you go immediately to the nearest dealer of your unit and have them do a temp calibration check. Or call their service truck out to the dock if that's what you need to do.

If the consignee is making a claim, you need to be able to defend that claim. Or, prove it out and accept it. If you're not able to do that, you will be on the losing end even if there was a chance the claim was in error.

On top of all that, there was probably a chance that the whole load wasn't spoiled. If you don't initiate anything like that, the consignee will be happy to send you away with the whole truckload. Of course you need a thermometer of some sort in order to show what product is acceptable and insist that they take it. It could at least minimize the claim to only a part of the load that wasn't cold enough.

 

It's called the Premium cargo coverage with a wetness clause also. I think it was an additional $110 a year.

 

I'll ask my agent about it. We're a reefer operation, so might be a little different since it might be tied into reefer breakdown, etc. Renewal is just around the corner, so a timely find.

 

Get a big spoon and dig in?

 

Either that, or get a tanker of hot chocolate, a few thousand bowls, and become the most popular trucker in the universe.

 

You definitely need to consider buying a temperature logger. You can buy multiple brands that you place on the wall of the trailer that just record the temps and or see if Thermoking or Carrier make an option that you can retrofit. Also, if you buy a thermometer, buy a Comark thermometer. I believe they range from $130-$165. They are pretty accurate and read the temperatures pretty quickly. Comark thermometers are used a lot in warehousing. I use one a lot at my job. In a case like this, you need to stab the probe into the ice cream to read the internal pulp temp of the product. An infrared thermometer will not suffice. Just make sure you throw it away after. When you take pictures for your records, make sure you can see the probe in the product with the displayed thermometer. Lastly, once you've finished this, you need to calibrate your thermometer. An easy way to do this is to boil water and stick the probe into the water and take a picture showing it reading 212 F. All of these steps are important. Also, make sure you take pulp temperatures throughout the load, meaning tops of pallets, middle parts of pallets, nose, middle and the tail of the trailer.

 

Been thee done that. Reason I won't haul ice cream anymore. It's too temp sensitive and non forgiving. Really no way to fight it without proof. Take it as a lesson learned, though a rather expensive lesson and leave that broker by the wayside