Nonpayment Of Invoice

Yes, during 3 years I only filed on 3 bonds I think and they were paid promptly after that. I do credit checks every single time before I move a load for a broker

 

I have been very fortunate....only one went over 45 days and then over 60 but eventually paid with some pressure.

I have had to give friendly reminders to some that went over 30 but they pay. I always seem to have my issues when it is the first run I have done for a broker.

 

Years ago I gave up running all over the country and let the mega companies haul that freight.

Now all my customers all pay my in less than 2 weeks local. But I did have a few that didn't. Here is what I did.

After sending a demand letter for payment in full with 15 days certified mail. $55 dollars was paid to the county court and a warrant in debt was filed with additional $300 court cost. After the first apperance in court I received a check for the total.

 

I found out credit checks are not always the best resource to use, one broker came back clean but we had to chase the money for months. He was the reason why I think that we need revised regulations for transparency with an increase of the bond to $200k and additional means testing.

 

In 14 years we had a handful not pay, the worst one was a larger account that we had extended credit to with net 45 day terms. They were able to rack up almost $30,000 in that time frame.

We ended up going against the shipper to recover, the broker bond was exhausted by other carriers. Shipper protested but in the end they paid 100% of the invoice as well as our costs to collect. It was an 18 month legal battle to make this happen but worth it in the end.

Afterwards we reduced our terms to 15 days on all but two of our accounts and didn't hesitate to demand payment at day 16 with legal action begining on day 30. Never had a non-payment again after that although we had to chase a few bounced checks.

Remember, the responsibility for the transportation invoice does not end with the broker, you can go after the shipper or reciever depending on who ultimately was responsible for the freight charges.

 

I once recieved a check for a dollar and thirty eight cents out of over 10k in invoices to a broker. A 75k dollar bond is a joke these days. It needs to be a half million minimum to actually do what its supposed to do.

 

It takes a lot of effort and the lawyers were not cheap, so depending on the amount you are owed it may or may not be worth the effort.

Also, there may be a waiver of rights in your broker agreement that prevents you from going after the shipper or reciever, althoughbthis can be overturned in some cases.

 

If the broker don't pay, they already broke the agreement tho; no?

 

Most brokers have a clause in the contract forbidding you from going to their customer for payment should they (broker) not pay you.

If a broker doesn’t pay me, I’m going to their customer. Far as I’m concerned the broker breached the contract and I am no longer bound to its terms.