Breakdown

Knock on wood this has never happened to me but I've played it out in my head enough times because I haul a lot of fresh produce. If the load is super perishable or in your case has to be there for a crane or project or whatever I'd rent a truck or hire someone to haul my trailer to get the load delivered. If it's not a perishable load then they're going to have to wait.

A guy I know told a customer he didn't give them his "100% on time delivery rate, just his 99% on time delivery rate", he said if they wanted perfection it was about double the cost.

 

I don't handle JIT freight any more,years ago I did,But the rates generally don't reflect JIT 100% on time delivery in most cases......I simply don't do it no more, Easier on the mind too..

As for the op, If a Crane is waiting,Best get on the phone and tell them Not to Show that day..You may encounter a cancellation charge,But it will beat $275 per hour waiting on you

And don't let these brokers "scare" you with their Tactics..breakdowns happen....If it was that important,It should have moved yesterday.......

If a broker burns you, Their are ways to collect your freight Costs

 

Just doesn't seem right to me that company rates, for what can be expedited freight, are around a buck a mile. I've driven many expediting straight trucks, and only once ran for less than that, back in 96. JIT has an urgency to it, which should add a nice chunk of change to the bill.

 

For rentals, you need to establish accounts ahead of time, before you need them. To do that, you need to have established business credit. Even with that, some won't talk to anyone with fewer than 2-3 yrs in business. I have set up with two regional rental dealers and will sooner or later set up with Ryder or Penske for a national reach. MHC opened a line (that I've used twice with no hitches) and NationalLease offered a credit card based account. Bottom line they just want to establish you're solid enough to bring their $100k truck back in one piece, on time.

With that in place, you just make a call and figure out a way to go pick it up. Otherwise, you do like others have said: arrange a cross-load via the broker or hire another carrier to move your trailer. If you do the second one, make sure you get an insurance certificate and named insured. Plus, they either need to have trailer interchange (your collision coverage) or vehicles as a covered commodity (your trailer as cargo).

 

you can call Penske and get "set up" with them is advance then make one phone call (which cost you a couple grand) and get a truck. Its expensive and I wouldn't do it for a brokered load but would for my direct ship customers.