Rules Circular (Operating Procedures)

The Rule Circular is a spin off of the Rate Tariff since deregulation. You do not have to get a broker/shipper to read/sign it but, you should have it in case someone wants to know how you came to a certain $$ amount. Best bet is to have it on your website. It is the fall back from a bol. The problem is that wording in the contracts you sign have things in them that usurp a carriers rights, like:

"For shipping and convenience purposes, a uniform bill of lading may be used for individual shipments; but any reference in such bill of lading to the shipment being subject to rates,rules, or any other provisions in CARRIER’S tariffs or Classifications is of no purport, and CARRIER’s tariffs and Classifications, if any, have no application for the traffic moving under this AGREEMENT. Any terms and conditions of the uniform bill of lading which are in conflict with the any terms of this AGREEMENT, including the compensation and billing procedures as provided in paragraph 6 herein, are inapplicable and this AGREEMENT shall prevail."


Once you sign a contract with wording such as the above, you can throw any rule/rate schedule out the window. Even still without that wording many contracts take away many of the rights of a carrier. The Rule Circular really comes into play when there is a disagreement in a court of law. It is like when forming a Corporation, the "articles of incorporation" are created which again state how the corp. will be run and in a law suit the court looks at the articles of incorporation for wording pertaining to the subject at hand and if it is not in there, the states own rules take effect, depending on which state has the jurisdiction.

The Rule Circular works in the same manner for an Independent Carrier. When negotiating a contract you can offer up the Circular but most people are not going to want to sift through it to figure out what you are going to charge them. They just want to hear the $$ amount, brokers/shippers already know that carriers have Rule Circulars. All you have to do is make it publicly available and if asked for it, produce it for consideration. It's like sending a package with UPS/FEDEX/DORHN or whatever, nobody reads their Rule Circular/Tariff to see what it is going to cost them.

I'm not feeling creative atm so let's say for arguments sake that you get a package shipped by DORHN and when you did you said "lift-gate not needed". When the truck gets to your house and the package weighs 800lbs, you don't have a dock or forklift and you and the driver can't get it off the truck and suddenly there is a new charge to you and you disagree and it goes to court, the court looks at DORHNs tariff it says "redelivery costs X amount, Lift-gate X amount, cancellation X amount". The judge says well this is no arbitrary charge, so what is the problem Mr.... You want it delivered? "No" okay then you pay X amount for cancellation, oh and guess what else it says down here, you pay DORHNs court costs.


Also, in regards to "National Motor Freight Classification" rules, a carrier cannot just apply those rules, the carrier has to be a member.

Leased/company drivers this does not matter, it is the one with the authority that the Rule Circular pertains to. Taking three years for an answer to this question really does not surprise me. Yes, I have a Rule Circular posted on my company website. I have never needed to use it in court but, I refer to the prices I have set in it in every negotiation. Even if I do not mention to the involved party where I got the $$ amount from. To me it just sets the standard of operation. Is it in stone? No, not until the day it is used in court.