Consignor gave my trailer away.

I’d probably start with try to get an agreement for time and get an insurance certificate and make sure non owned is listed on their policy….

Kind of curious how the “drop and wait” would work on my trailer since I have never seen a yard dog with cali connects….

 

Id get the info from the gate logs for the license plate and DOT and MCC number of the tractor that stole it .

I’d report it as stolen , immediately.
And forward a copy of the police report to the broker and carrier .

That should motivate the broker and carrier to get a written rental agreement to rent your trailer and pay for Your loss of use and locate the trailer before the police or a weigh station locates it and arrests the driver .

 

White Volvo mafia?

 

Hold up! They gave your trailer to someone else without your approval, and you didn't demand to know where it was going so you could go get it?!!

 

Demanding isn't the same as getting.

You should ask for your actual harm. Even an attorney will have you provide basic P&L info to determine what that is. Lost profit and trailer rent per day, in a nutshell. The real figure will probably come out to about $350-500/day for a van. That lost load won't count for anything. Unfortunately one of many things that suck about this business. You'll never be able to collect the lost opportunity cost.

Given that the other carrier is running a load for the same broker, i'd be leery of that broker being in on it. Face you and pretend to act concerned about your missing trailer, meanwhile getting his other load covered. If he balks at a reasonable loss claim, then you know he was in on it. That place you dropped at has some trailer control, so it wasn't just an accident. If the people in security or shipping aren't jerks, there's a chance you can hustle the truth out of them. As in: did that broker tell them to put the second load on your trailer? Might be good to know if they call again.

FWIW I had this happen once. We used to do regular loads with a large poultry operation south of Macon. I'd book one way trips into FL then drop my trailer there a day or two in advance for a reload on my way home. One time it wasn't there when I went to get it. It was a dispatch/security ##. My pickup was on a Sunday. Shipping people were off. When they left Saturday night, they put all the loads in the basket in security. All someone had to do was give them the right pickup number then grab the trailer and go. Another (mega) carrier had originally booked the one in my trailer, but my broker had gotten it as a recovery load. Original carrier dispatch never got the memo they lost it, and sent the truck in. He left a little over an hour before I got there.

Security got real dodgy about it when it was discovered. Wouldn't tell me anything while they "called their supervisor." I waited about an hour, then told them i was reporting it stolen, and would be pressing charges. I stepped out of the security booth, dialed 911, and started reporting it to the police loud enough for everyone to hear. Suddenly they tracked it down. A Werner driver had made it halfway to the delivery and had to u-turn and bring it back. The driver was cool about it, even said he knew it wasn't right by the looks of the trailer (it clearly wasn't theirs) but his dispatch insisted. I just wished him well and told him I hope he got paid for the trip. No harm was done, and the broker in this case was solid and had nothing to do with it. I just let that one go. I did hear from the broker that the management at that plant had a come to Jesus with everyone involved. Not because of the problem it caused me. Because their food product was on the loose and likely to get police involved, and that could lead to media attention. It never happened again far as I know.

 

What kind of GPS System do you have. Was wanting to put on one my trailer just for this reason.

 

Please let us know what happens and what is done by the broker/consignee to make this right.

 

What kind of crappy loads do you do to only gross that?

 

Doubtful that EBIT is more than 2500/week.

 

Reading is fundamental.