Arrived early for the pick up (1hr). The load wasn’t ready. Waited about 8 hrs in total at the shipper. The shipper closed in the middle of the night before the second shift. Called after hours and wrote emails letting them know won’t make it to the delivery appointment, not before the receiver closes. The receiver closes at 8:30 am and then reopens at 4:00am the following day. I told the broker when booking the load I need to be empty, can’t be stuck with the load. The broker was aware when booking this load and saying there are no problems at the shipper this week which was probably said to get that load booked. Asked for the release in the middle of the night because they weren’t loading. I emailed live updates after hours to the team (including the broker). The broker’s number after hours and emails left unanswered until one representative working for the broker finally called back saying they need their customer to answer. So many phone calls and emails, and they have no care to answer or call. I finally got a person after hours releasing the driver from this load. When contacting about the pay, they pretty much ignored it. Said in the morning the driver should have never left. And the employee who released the driver doesn’t have the authority to do so. Fighting the broker to pay $300 at least to cover fuel, time, and reefer hours. I could have booked a load from another broker but unfortunately this one contacted me first. They brushed it saying that’s the kind of business you get yourself into. Lost 10 hrs, reefer running, close to 8hrs at the shipper.
Brokers are bonded by surety funds in cases like these where arguments of payment is disputed. Brokers also have a public credit rating which is important if they exist to stay in business. The first thing to look for when booking a load is to check their report card. If consistently refusing to pay their credit drops until no one will accept their load. Similar if you were to purchase an item from eBay and if reviews were horrible. You'd scroll on.
I was calling after hours and wasn’t receiving any help. There was one person who didn’t even want to talk over the phone. Just hardly replied to texts messages. They tell you they need a response from a customer. But at night everyone seems to be sleeping except ones running at night.
