Broker/Carrier Contracts - Watch out! Read carefully!

They Think they can do what they want because they hold the purse strings.....

Like I say, They are the Devil, Carriers Don't need them, (except the lazy,uneducated ones) These assetless brokers think they'll always get a truck, And unfortunately, They do, Hence the 1 way street contracts..

I just stay away from them..They are a Cancer, And the only way Not to catch the disease is break away from that illness.......

I'll use a broker on occasion to get my truck Home..And I Despise doing it, I really do.(a sick feeling)

Businesses are starting to understand their practices.....It may take awhile But with folks like myself that can educate customers on ethics and the way brokers promote a sick feeling in commerce...Changes are slowly taking place in truckload operations involving planning and securing of trucks.

 

I love this topic! I could go on about it for days. I actually find it funny when I look at posts related to good/bad brokers, I have never once seen any comment about their contracts. Honestly, I would rather see who has a good/bad contract than who has sub-par performance. Because, it is really hard to find a broker contract that does not strip away a carriers rights. If a brokers contract does not remove the carriers rights to a remedy, then there is a legal course of action to be had. Many contracts I have seen remove these rights.

There are many more things than just indemnity to look for in these contracts. Most of the contracts are model contracts put out by organizations like TIA, NITL and ATA. They can remove/add things like, the carrier gets paid regardless of a claim (offset), how nice would it be to run a few loads for a broker and then have to call to ask for your money on the 31st day only to be told that there is a pending claim on you 2nd load for them and according to the contract you're not getting paid because all the money owed to you is now going to said claim. Awfully nice of them to let you continue to run for them while they knew about the claim.

Extend insurance to a broker, Uhhh NO!. A 100% property broker has zero liability in the situation, why do they insist on creating it... For a shipper, additional named insured and waiving subrogation no thank you! It could be said that they are just trying to insure that the carrier has insurance, I'm sorry but the BMC-91 or BMC-91X filing is for that purpose. My insurance is to cover my acts of negligence, by doing the above I would be extending coverage to cover their act of negligence as well, why would you agree to that? If one was to look at their insurance policy, they may discover that coverage is denied where waiver of subrogation is granted without its permission.

How about making the carrier liable for SL&C, that's a good one too. Remove a carriers Rule Circular, oh yay, how about I just pay you to carry that load? If a carrier isn't vigilant about the contracts they sign, then they just might pay to carry several loads.

http://www.nclcworld.com/pdf/avoid.pdf Avoiding the Dirty Dozen in Freight Contracts
http://www.transportationlaw.net/articles.html
Freight claims in plain english, is a good read as well.

 

I get calls & emails from brokers fishing for someone to move some under-priced junk they can't find anyone else to move. I start with; "Are you set up with us as a customer? Would you like me to send you our contract and credit application?"......."That's outrageous! That's not how it works!"......Why? You contacted me, didn't you? A good way to end the conversation right there.

Yeah, broker contracts are mostly one-way.

 

Actually, Stayinback, I get what you're saying because there are so many bad apples in the brokerage business. However, there are a few good men, so to speak, in the brokerage world. I have a few that have taken care of me and paid me very well. A good broker will always be able to find a truck, because he has a track record of taking care of his truckers and carriers. When he calls, the trucker is going to answer his phone and is more likely to go out of his way to do a load for a broker that will compensate him for deadhead and any detention that arises. I also used to have my own brokerage authority until OOIDA went along with all the other big corporate trucking companies pushing that $75K bond. Put a lot of good mom & pop brokers out of business and as we all can see - didn't do anything to prohibit the crooks from doing their dirty deeds. Anyway, I'm still an agent for Sureway and I do take care of my truckers.

 

That all depends on what you accept as being "paid well". I've had my own authority for 13 years and the only times I've gotten paid well from brokers is when they are in a bind and I happen to be in the right place at the right time. To me being paid well is when a run can pay me $2200 or more a day for O.D. and $1550 or more per day legal.

Of all the ####heal brokers I've had to deal with only ONE was truthful and upstanding and a handful of tolerable ones that operate under their one sided contracts.

 

Just draft a Rules Tariff. It trumps everything in a brokers contract yet very few small carriers have one. Google "the secret weapon in the drawer, carriers rules tariff".

 

Good point, Texasmorrell. Some of these broker contracts state specifically something to the effect that "this contract supersedes all carrier tariff rules" or language making it null and void. Have to watch out for that, too.

 

Your tariff no longer holds water when you sign the wrong contacts.

 

If a contract is contrary to any regs is it really worth the paper it is printed on?

 

Strike through is your friend when signing carrier contracts. Just make sure you strike through any clause that says the contract can't be amended unless signed by both parties...

9 times out of 10 you can eliminate the draconian clauses and keep the load.


@true blue & @stayinback Pacific Financial paid me on a claim, but it took close to 6 months and wasn't the full amount. I too avoid brokers with them for a bonding agent.