Question for O/O's, what have you done when you havent been paid?

now my friend thats somthing we all go thrue sooner or later and the answer is not a simple one. it depends largly on what your hauling,

if your hauling exempt comaditys such as produce, simply load another load and park it and hold it till you get payed for both loads if he dosent pay you sell the load but make sure you have all the paperwork before you try to sell it such as bill of ladings , they usally try to pay you before you go that far. o he will raise hell and make al kind of threats but he will have to pay you and there is not a thing he can do except pay you.

now regulated freight is different, much different you can not sell it , don't even try, however you can hold it till payment is made but again make sure you have all your bill of ladings, thats proof that he owes you money, the only problem is before you can make that work you have to load another load for him.

if thats the course of action you decide to take , dont make threats or let hin no what your about to do , just be happy , load the load then go to a truck stop and park, then call him and make your demands for payment FOR BOTH LOADS the one you have and the one you haven't been payed for don't do promises and don't do checks , just have him bring the cash to where your at then and only then do you deliver the second load.

now if you do this remember he is going to raise hell and make all kinds of threats and might even do a little begging , let the four winds blow, money talks and bs walks all you need or want at this point is your money for both loads and NO CREDIT PERIOD, remember you tried that once.

REMEMBER THIS because your going to hear it all. you did not steal the load, you are not required to haul his freight free, you have the right to recieve payment in a timely manner. when you recieve your bill of lading that is in fact a contract for service and it has to be payed. if he refuses to pay you have the right to take action to force payment, now as i said in the case of regulated commodities such as freight different laws apply you can in no way damge the freight, or sell the freight you can hold it for payment , you can even put it in storage freight collect but you can not otherwise dispose of it or damage it .just stay parked at a truck stop and wait till he brings your money then you can deliver the load. the situation your in happens more often then you think.

somthing that you probably are not aware of , most brokers are not even licensed or bonded they just hang up a sign that says broker, not legal but no one enforces it.

and i don't no of a truck driver besides myself that even ask to see a license thats how they get away with it . and your situation happens evey day on a regular basis , you just don;t hear about it much.

just remember this, you didn't steal the load , they put it on your truck, you are not reqired to transport the load without payment , if you force the issue they have to pay you, and you don't have to except payment with a check, or a money order you can reqire payment in cash and buy all means do so , if his word is no good neither is his check and cash is still legal tender in this country.

good luck my friend. southernpride

 

Exercising a lien on an interstate shipment is tricky. It can result in civil and criminal penalties. You can only do it when there is a dispute over the load you are currently hauling:



GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING HOSTAGE LOAD SITUATIONS ON SHIPMENTS MOVING IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE

A carrier has a lien on the property it is transporting for freight charges and any other charges lawfully incurred on that shipment. The lien is specific to that shipment, however, and does not extend to other shipments which have moved under other bills of lading. Thus, a carrier may withhold delivery of a shipment until all charges relative to that particular shipment are paid. The carrier may not, however, withhold delivery of one shipment to enforce the collection of past due freight charges on another shipment.
When a carrier does hold one shipment hostage to force the payment of freight charges on another shipment, it arguably commits the following offenses:

a. Conversion. As explained in Sigmon, Miller’s Law of Freight Loss and Damage Claims (4th ed. 1974), p. 174:
Conversion is an act of interference with the dominion or control over the property of another. Conversion may be committed by (1) acquiring possession of the goods with an intent to assert a right to them which is in fact adverse to that of the owner; (2) trans-ferring the goods in a manner which deprives the owner of control; (3) unreasonably withholding possession from one who has the right to it; * * *
Generally, the shipper would have a private right of action against the carrier. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has no regulatory enforcement power against a carrier for conversion. The carrier may be held liable for damages, however, pursuant to Title, 49 U.S. Code, Section 14706.

 

now the alledged law you quoted i notice have no federal statute number and if there is no statute there is no law. the broker business is not regulated and most brokers do not even have a license or anything else but a phone, thereby he is in fact operating illegaly, and you can hold his load for nonpayment till it is payed i have done so on several occasions and they now don't owe me a dime.

true the federal motor carrier has no jurisistiction and that is by design.

sigman miler has a list of a lot of regulation but few have a statut number and if there is no statute there is no law and most of his information does not pertain to the trucking business such as independent owner oprators, the truck broker has no autrhority either as he is operating with no license , no corp, or anything else for that matter , he is a thief by design and has little recourse.

don't believe it ? next time you get a load ask to see his license to operate, or a dunn and bradsreet number , see what you get, a broker is a go between , between you and the shipper or in some cases the manufacture , thats all he is , o forget he take about 75% of your money.

but you no best believe as you will, butr my truck driving school didn't teach me that .

southernpride

 

You are correct to the extent that the FMCSA (under the statute enacted by Congress) is not permitted to proceed with a criminal prosecution. They can, however, make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice. It would be up to the DOJ to decide what laws were broken under the US Code and whether or not to press charges.

In reality, a one-truck renegade operator who occasionally holds a load hostage for payment will stay under the radar. It is too much trouble for a broker or shipper to file a private right of action. This does not make it right. And as far as I'm concerned, it is unethical.

In your example, the first mistake is accepting a load from an unlicensed broker, and then compounding it by booking another load with the intent of holding it hostage in order to collect on the first load. This is not the way an honest person does business, and can tarnish your reputation. Two wrongs don't make a right, and a carrier who does this is just as unethical as the questionable broker who tendered the load(s).

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this.