Another Loco broker...

I'd tell them whether it's legal or not. I wouldn't feel good about it otherwise.

 

You have to let them know about any changes you made to the terms of the agreement or contract. This has been held up in court and has a long history of case law. Just make the changes and tell them that you did and follow it up with a email. This will give you the “Offer and Acceptance” of the agreement or contract.

 

Ya know I am not sure on that I guess I would tell them and my bet is they couldn't care less.....

 

Yeah, they'll also say don't worry it's just there for their protection but they never actually enforce it. I've heard that one several times. I tell them I understand and just for my protection take that language out. I've never had a load that didn't cancel when I insisted on removing penalty language so don't ever believe anyone who says those clauses don't really matter or that they won't enforce them.

 

Honestly I rarely read them I sign them and roll. I have never had a issue and have proven myself and hundreds of brokers/brokerages have proven themselves over the years. I may have gotten lucky or just way more good folks than bad folks out here IMO.

 

Any contract terms must be mutually agreed and also understood by the signing parties. That's why you are sometimes required to initial crucial paragraphs. So if you make a change by paraphrasing, erasing, adding terms to suit your own interests, for the contract to be legal, the other party must acknowledge and agree with the changes too.
For example, you cannot just put a red ink stamp of your detention schedule, send it back and expect that the stamp will override their terms. It is important that, they will send it back to you with a clear acknowledgement that they agree with what is on the stamp.
Having said that, for just one quick load from a loadboard, I'd rather just move on another, instead of going through this headache. And the last agreement I signed must have been 3 years ago. These contract agreements are so full of traps, that you literally would need to renegotiate terms with almost every one of them.

 

Joe, I couldn't agree with that last part more. This is a constant risk for any O/O that runs spot market. It's a pain too. I still sign up with brokers pretty regularly to get what I want where I want but I do worry about it on occasion. I don't always take the time to hash out specifics about the contracts as I should. I usually rely more on knowing the customer's habits to know what I'm getting in to, meaning knowing how the docks operate.

 

You did the right thing. Because you would have been responsible for any damages,