The real truth about lumper fees.

Discussion in 'Shippers & Receivers - Good or Bad' started by dasilva, Apr 25, 2007.

  1. mjfreespirit

    mjfreespirit Light Load Member

    257
    170
    Dec 4, 2012
    Florida
    0
    Never understood companies who will pay a $100-$500 for lumper fees, but won't pay the driver this same amount. Instead companies pay $0.** a piece or box or by the hour with some petty and low maximum like $40. I would definitely lump my own load if I got paid what lumpers/receivers get!!
     
  2. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

    34,017
    42,098
    Mar 5, 2016
    White County, Arkansas
    0
    You learn to haul flatbed or some other type of freight and stay the hell out of those recievers demanding you to touch freight. Don't talk to me about lazy. I spent half of my time out there schlepping the trailer several times a week. Fees? Sure Ive paid em. Just don't expect to see that money paid back to you. It never happens.

    Or you learn to haul a certain freight that require drivers to stay in the cab, should you try to enter the warehouse, you find yourself caged like a animal due to the value of the cargo.

    I can fill these forums about unloading freight. And occasionally loading freight going somewhere. But Im not going to do it. The older you get, in some cases point to a future with no unloading at all. If you are smart.

    The rest of it about race, nationality etc I toss out the window and will say this. Felons generally begin the long haul back into society unloading trucks for cash. Most of which is consumed by everyone around them anyway.
     
  3. vongrimmenstein

    vongrimmenstein Light Load Member

    52
    27
    Oct 18, 2008
    Indianapolis, IN
    0
    If a driver unloads his trailer & hurts himself you have to ask how good is the work comp in his state? Does he get all his pay while out of work from an injury? If the injury is permanent, how does he earn any income for he is now in the eyes of an employer, damaged goods. Drive like the CDL allows you to. Refuse to do one thing related to unloading product. If they fire you, you really did not want to work their in the first place. Think of it this way. Your dispatcher is paid by the hour & just finished a 10 hour shift when the owner says he has to unload a floor load @ the companies dock of 45,000 pounds of 2900 boxes of shoes for the next 5 hours. And he refuses to, but keeps his dispatch job. Or he gets fired. Why would you drive 10 hours somewhere arrive on time & spend the next 4 hours breaking 26 skids in to 60 on a dock? You are in the wrong business if you agree to that. Just say no. To many EMPTY trucks back @ the yard looking for a steering wheel holder. Tell them you don't do freight, you drive. You are then looking for a new job or checking the paperwork they just gave you for that hot freight that has to be there yesterday. No in between. One or the other. von.
     
  4. Roadawg

    Roadawg Light Load Member

    80
    32
    Feb 15, 2015
    0
    If one wants unload their own truck and make what a lumper makes, it's all in the paper work.
    You have to become the lumping service (on paper) and provide a legit receipt, and keep your mouth shut. It the same for o/o's leased to a company.
     
    Ffx95 Thanks this.
  5. Infosaur

    Infosaur Road Train Member

    I've seriously considered that over the years. Sometimes I pay out lumper fees that exceed what I make on a given run. (Say, 40 cpm on a 320 mile load but the lumper service tells me it's $325 to unload)

    And brokers never seem to balk at whatever the ludicrous number is.

    So yeah, I ought to quote the broker DOUBLE what the lumper service asks for, cash the comcheck myself and pay the service cash.

    Dishonest? Absolutely! And if this happens enough maybe they'll start pre-paying the lumper service ahead of time like they should have in the first place!

    I'm a driver, not a credit union. Why am I caught in the middle of the shipper/client financial transaction?
     
    DoubleO7 Thanks this.
  6. Roadawg

    Roadawg Light Load Member

    80
    32
    Feb 15, 2015
    0
    Sure, if you do it that way it would be considered dishonest, but if you unload your own truck and bill accordingly it's not. Now, if you let everybody know ahead of time that you charge a $25 service fee on top of the lumper charge then that would be different.

    YMMV being a company driver.
     
  7. BrandonCDLdriver

    BrandonCDLdriver Road Train Member

    1,191
    1,462
    Sep 1, 2017
    0
    When I started with Ozark they told us we shouldn't ever have to unload the freight. My belief is this, if you want to get paid chump change (50-75 dollars) to unload a quarter million dollars of freight, man that's on you. But that is NOT what I got hired to do. I am a driver, I drive a $200,000 rig across the country and deliver millions of dollars of product safely to its destination. I back it into the dock, I do whatever they want with the trailer and tandems, and then I wait. That is my job. Nowhere does it state I have to unload thousands and thousands of pounds of crap myself. No way. I'm 145lbs soaking wet. I'll sweep out the trailer, that's not a problem, but freight, no, I haul it 1000 miles, the last 53 feet are on them.

    They ever tell me I have to unload the freight myself I'm unhooking from the trailer, bobtailing to our nearest terminal and unloading the truck. There are WAY too many OTR companies out there that are 100% no touch freight.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2017
    vongrimmenstein Thanks this.
  8. vongrimmenstein

    vongrimmenstein Light Load Member

    52
    27
    Oct 18, 2008
    Indianapolis, IN
    0
    Sorry, but your own stupid fault. You work for you. You decide when you ####, eat, or take a brake. You are in the wrong industry if you let people on a dock treat you like that. Nothing personal from me to you, but, fight for yourself or bend over. von.
     
  9. vongrimmenstein

    vongrimmenstein Light Load Member

    52
    27
    Oct 18, 2008
    Indianapolis, IN
    0
    Someone has learned how to play the game. von
     
  10. MHC

    MHC Light Load Member

    136
    65
    Jun 19, 2012
    CA
    0
     
    DannyB Thanks this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.