How much should I charge for a penalty

Good advice... my last "real" company dealt on very rare occasions with some shady brokers, and those shysters got drop-kicked on the first offense. Too bad there isn't more regulation and accountability in this regard... most of these shysters know that you won't go to the trouble or expense of pursuing the matter in court (if the issue is more serious, let's say), which is why they manage to get away with their b.s. The best you can do in the situation described above is never deal with those pogues again.

 

My first post.

As has been stated, your driver should call the shipper before heading in their direction. But either way you should send the broker an invoice for "Truck Ordered/Not Used." Carriers I used to be an agent for would charge about $250.00 plus $1.00 per mile. Call them first, then send them an invoice for a fair amount. If they refuse to pay, file a claim against their bond.

 

First thing I do is call the pickup point to make sure everything is a go. I also ask if there is anything special I need to know about getting in there (i.e. go to the second driveway instead of the first one or things like that)
As far as getting any extra money out of them, don't even waste your time trying unless you get a new confirmation with the adjusted amount. They won't pay. I would also now be wondering about getting paid when the job is done, you might want to do some checking on their creditworthyness before that stuff comes off the truck. I ask for an advance if its someone I don't have any history with, sometimes if things don't feel right I pass. Just being broke is better than being tired and broke.

OK, heres my rant, I took a load from Mason-Dixon and was on the way to pick it up. The confirmation had no phone # or address for the shipper, just the name and city. I got the number and called them and was advised to call the broker. When I got through to him, he informed me the load was "cancelled". This is after spending 25.00 faxing stuff back and forth and I was also already 30 miles down the road. I billed them for TONU 10% of what the load paid and they never paid it. I tried calling the main office about it several times but as soon as they find out what you want you are on permanent hold.
I suspect he found a guy to do it cheaper since when I spoke to him the first time he was way off on miles and at the rate they were offering the load would have paid way under $1 per mile, I managed to get more money out of him but he left the load posted and I figure someone else called willing to do it for peanuts and they cancelled on me. Of course I can't prove it and tried to discuss it with the main office but since they will not call me back to tell me what happened my overactive imagination came up with the idea they screwed me so they could make some extra money, maybe not but I will never know since I don't think they will get around to calling me back.

Anyway good luck, I hope it went OK for you.