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Freight Not Ready For Hours

ISSUE

You have asked us to arrange a truck for a pick-up at or after a certain time, but the freight will not be ready when you expected. So when the truck arrives, the shipment will not be ready to be loaded.

The extent of the delay will be hours rather than days, but the freight will be ready on the day you planned.

The truck, if booked, will have to be alerted.

ACTION

  1. Let us know as soon as you know, even if you do not know the length of the delay.
  2. One of four situations will apply:
    • We have not yet sourced a truck for your shipment:
      • Once you tell us when the freight will be ready, we will continue our sourcing activities, using the revised pick-up time you provide us.
    • We have sourced a truck to make a weekday pick-up for your shipment, but it has not yet been dispatched by the carrier:
      • We will advise the carrier that the shipment is delayed, and will give them the option of waiting, or cancelling the pick-up. In most cases when the truck has not yet been dispatched, there will be no charges incurred: however, there can be unusual circumstance in which the carrier has planned on your freight, is unable to wait, and is precluded by circumstances from picking up other freight to replace yours. In these cases, there will be charges.
      • If the carrier elects to cancel the pick-up, then we will source a new truck.
    • We have sourced a truck to make a weekend or holiday pick-up for your shipment, but it has not yet been dispatched by the carrier (this situation may also apply on a Friday, or on the day before a holiday):
      • We will advise the carrier that the shipment is delayed, and will give them the option of waiting, or cancelling the pick-up. In this situation, the carrier will often elect to wait for the shipment.
      • If carrier elects to cancel the pick-up, we will source a new truck.
      • Since the pick-up is scheduled for a weekend or holiday, there will almost always be layover, cancellation, or ‘dead run’ fees assessed by the carrier, whether the carrier elects to wait or not.
    • We have sourced a truck for your shipment, and it has been dispatched to your pick-up location (whether or not it has arrived):
      • We will advise the carrier that the shipment is delayed, and will give them the option of waiting for the new pick-up time, or cancelling the pick-up. In this situation, the carrier will almost always elect to wait for the shipment.
      • If carrier elects to cancel the pick-up, we will source a new truck. Except in unusual circumstances, the likelihood of finding a replacement truck on a weekend or holiday is small.
      • Since the truck has been dispatched, there will be fees assessed by the carrier. If the carrier elects to wait until the new pick-up time, there will be a “waiting time” fee, based on the originally scheduled pick-up arrangements. if the carrier elects not to wait for the new pick-up time, there will be a “truck ordered, not used” fee. There will also be mileage charges, and possibly ‘dead run’ charges.
  3. Based on the circumstances, the expected delay, and the options described above, we will make the necessary arrangements on your behalf.
  4. If there is a fee, we will advise you of the amount of the fee: a “waiting time” fee will be based on an hourly fee plus a mileage charge plus, potentially, a layover fee; a “truck ordered, not used” fee will be based on a flat cancellation fee plus, potentially, a mileage charge . A “dead run” fee will include both mileage and time charges, and will probably be the equivalent of the fee you were going to pay had your shipment been ready for loading. The purpose of the fee is to cover a portion of the carrier’s direct expenses that arise from the shipment cancellation.

EXPLANATION

Typically, your production department encountered unexpected delays or adjusted priorities.

IMPACT & TYPICAL RESOLUTION

Other than re-setting the expected transit time clock based on the time the shipment is actually loaded, there is no impact if a truck has not been dispatched for a weekday shipment. If a truck has been dispatched, or if it is a weekend or holiday pick-up, there will be fees charged.

Usually, the truck initially sourced for the shipment elects to wait until the shipment is ready, and there are waiting times fees assessed on the order of $100 per hour.