What would you have done?

Well put !

 

If I hire someone to mow my lawn on Sat as I know I'll be home, then they come by don't see my car so assume I'm not home and leave without calling me. Do you think that's professional?
Should I ever call him again?

That's exactly what the op did.

 

I guess I just don't understand it might be me.But for me I never take other owner operators seriously when they claim there business people to me they seem more like drivers who really just bought a job.I look at things different I guess.If I hire someone we agree on payment.I think they should honor that agreement.If I was the customer I don't care what your next job is paying.

 

I tend to be pretty forgiving in situations like this. It really depends on how long the wait is going to be. In the OP's situation I think it's a pretty easy fallout...

Freight comes in different types. 400 dollar short haul runs shouldn't ever be that mission critical. 900 dollar short hauls? That's different. I got righteously pissed at a guy who fell out on me on a Louisville-Cincinnati that I'd booked with him at 900 bucks. He basically got told he wouldn't get loaded until 2pm (it was 10am when he checked in) and they immediately asked who was paying for their drivers OT. Um I am? I'm paying 900 bucks for a 125 mile run?

 

I bet the yard guy drove by and saw that your grass was 4ft deep and said the heck with this 400$ headache thats gonna take all day, i gotta 1200$ yard to mow before this rain hits and my mower payment is due by friday.

 

If he was there as agreed what's the issue with him asking for detention? He got there at 10am and they won't finish loading until 14:00?

I know you say produce is different and you do a lot of it. Which is why I avoid it. Loads should be put on the truck in a timely manner. He shouldn't have to lose some of his 14 hour clock for nothing just because you think he made plenty on the linehaul.

Maybe you screwed him out of another $900 shorthaul by burning up his 14 hr clock for nothing? Doesn't matter if you paid him $900 or $9,000 - time is money.

 

I would have never booked a load like that to begin with

 

I wonder how the op would feel it the roles were reversed? He stook a stab at $400 extra and lost. He dumped on his reputation to boot. W/o going back to reread I believe he said he knew that customer didn't pay detention. He took the load so he should have followed through on his commitment. Jmo.

 

Sometimes it's just easier to deadhead

 

I agree with this. You booked the load knowing there is no detention & anyone that has driven more than a month knows that FCFS can go your way or go against you. Now if you booked the load with the agreement that you would wait to be loaded for a specific time frame & if you weren't that you would cancel the load then I would say you would be justified in leaving without the load.

To me this was unprofessional of you & I wouldn't use you again if I was the broker.

Sure, under some circumstances it's acceptable to leave a shipper without the load but this wasn't one of them.