More Broker Mess...............

[marcel27208]

Long story short was in tulsa/OKC, oklahoma and couldnt find anything decent so after awhile a call a broker about a load and we agree to a rate, broker needed load moved and i needed to move, Brokers credit wasnt the greatest in the world, but ive seen plenty worse. So i tell him advance me %40 and he said he could do that and quick pay 3-5 days after receipt of bills. Got the %40 advance a day later and was on my way, unloaded this morning and then he tells me terms are up to 30days, OK im not a cussing man so im wondering WTF just happened???? has anyone ever had this problem and if so, what was the recourse? Know i know some of you will put the blame on me for dealing with a broker with bad credit and i can now say i deserve it, its not really the point of the money, i wouldnt have took the load if the terms were 30days AND bad credit.

Just rack it up to experience and hopefully you will get paid in 30 days.

I can't believe there wasn't anything decent leaving out of Tulsa. I have to shut my phone off after 10 minutes or it keeps ringing even after my truck is taken off the load boards.

Don't forget to go into the broker performance page and update and tell the story for everyone to read. Get paid first though.

[marcel27208]

yes i know, usually there is alot coming out of good/decent paying loads coming out of tulsa, i guess that day there just wasnt much although i did get a couple of better loads offered to me AFTER i went thru the trouble of getting this particular load in question......

[no_worries]

Hey Marcel,

Anytime you're dealing with terms other than the standard 30-day, you should get the terms put into the rate confirmation. If it's not in writing it's not enforceable. One other thing you need to watch out for is the contract. Often there is a payment term clause in the contract and it's almost always 30-days. Further down you may also find a clause stating that when the terms of the contract conflict with any other document, i.e. the rate confirmation, the contract prevails. So, even if you have a rate confirmation that says 10-day terms, if the contract contains those two clauses, you're stuck with 30-days.

While I never work with a broker with questionable credit, I sometimes will work with someone new who doesn't have a credit history yet. when I do I demand 10-day terms. I make sure the terms are in the rate confirmation and that I've struck out any conflicting clauses in the contract. When in doubt, get it in writing.

As far as recourse, unless you have something in writing stating the terms, you don't have any. Hopefully the guy will pay and it will be a non-issue.

[rank]

...quick pay 3-5 days after receipt of bills.....then he tells me terms are up to 30days

What terms are 30 days? You mean the quick pay is 30 days? I've had brokers say that they pay in 30 days only to find out they charge a quick pay fee for that. Lemme tell ya, you only get burned that way one time.

[marcel27208]

no i was told quick pay was 3-5days after they receive the original bills from me, then i call aftr getting unloaded and she tells me send bills and they send me a check within 30 days

[Bigmon]

See if you can factor the rest of the bill.

[marcel27208]

See if you can factor the rest of the bill.

what exactly is that, i see the advertisements for factoring and all that stuff but not sure exactly what it is? i take it they give you the money--- they owe me $800, the factoring company gives me $750 and takes the bills and then collects the $800 from the broker??

[marcel27208]

if anyone has ever done this can they let me know how it works??

[BigDiesel]

See if you can factor the rest of the bill.

what exactly is that, i see the advertisements for factoring and all that stuff but not sure exactly what it is? i take it they give you the money--- they owe me $800, the factoring company gives me $750 and takes the bills and then collects the $800 from the broker??

I hope you are not running that close to the edge, as to where $800 makes or breaks you.

[no_worries]

I wouldn't recommend factoring unless you have cash flow issues and then only as a temporary fix. Chances are, if the broker has spotty credit the factor wouldn't approve them anyway. Contrary to some opinions, factoring is not a magic pill you can use against brokers with poor credit. Factors like to know they're going to get paid too.

When you mail, make sure you get a delivery confirmation on the invoice and BOL. Wait the 30 days and see what happens. Odds are you'll get paid and won't have to worry about it.

[marcel27208]

See if you can factor the rest of the bill.

what exactly is that, i see the advertisements for factoring and all that stuff but not sure exactly what it is? i take it they give you the money--- they owe me $800, the factoring company gives me $750 and takes the bills and then collects the $800 from the broker??

I hope you are not running that close to the edge, as to where $800 makes or breaks you.

no not at all i just wanna make sure im gonna get paid for the work

[marcel27208]

I wouldn't recommend factoring unless you have cash flow issues and then only as a temporary fix. Chances are, if the broker has spotty credit the factor wouldn't approve them anyway. Contrary to some opinions, factoring is not a magic pill you can use against brokers with poor credit. Factors like to know they're going to get paid too.

When you mail, make sure you get a delivery confirmation on the invoice and BOL. Wait the 30 days and see what happens. Odds are you'll get paid and won't have to worry about it.

yeah i just read up on some factoring companies and i figured it wasnt for me, im not desperate for the $ right now anyways, i guess its just the fact that knowing that i may not be paid, but i shouldve known that b4 i took the load

[no_worries]

Marcel, do you have the set up paperwork the broker sent you? There should be a copy of their surety bond or trust fund policy. Call the provider of that bond and find out if their are any outstanding claims against it. If no claims have been filed against the bond then you most likely have nothing to worry about. Contrary to what many guys say, every broker is not on the verge of bankruptcy or trying to skip out on payments. Chances are you've got nothing to worry about. Sometimes I'll call a broker on the 30th day and just say that I'm making a courtesy call to remind them that invoice ### in the amount of $$$ is due today. You can tell a lot from the kind of response you get and that may clue you in on whether you should start preparing some action.

[mudpuddle]

Millions of loads get delivered each year paid for in full by brokers. It just seems like they are all crooks because no one comes onto these forums complaining because they got their money right on time, only when they don't. :wink:

[brian]

you can also use the factoring company, get most of your money and then you`ll see exactly how long it takes the shipper to pay.

[GMAN]

I prefer to think that most people are honest and will pay their bills. However, I will still check the broker out and act accordingly. Running a check is good business. It is worth the effort. The broker will usually check out a carrier before giving them a load. It is good business. If you stay in this business long enough, you will have some losses. By taking precautions, you can keep them to a minimum. In the past 10 years or so, I have lost about $2,000. That isn't too bad of a record for the freight I have hauled.

[marcel27208]

gman, u mean youve lost about 2000$, do you mean on loads that just havent been paid??? just wondering does that ever happen??

[GMAN]

On one of these the amount came to about $1,200. Part of that was a misunderstanding. I had not had any problems with this broker before. The money was always there until this time. As I said, it was primarily a misunderstanding. The other involved $800. I never checked this broker out and relied on another carrier who referred me to this broker. He told me that he had never had a problem. Since that time, I check EVERY broker out before I do business with them. This amount of money will not break me, but it is a bit of an irritant. You cannot rely on anyone else to check out a broker. You need to do that yourself. The second broker involved a load going to KMart. This was about the same time that KMart was having serious financial difficulties. They probably were not paid, so they didn't want to pay me. When I deal with a broker, I look to them for payment, whether they get paid or not. That is between them and their shipper. I may eventually get my money from them, but due to the nature of this broker's business, they are not required to have broker authority or a bond that I can file on.

[marcel27208]

ok, i guess from now on i make sure to get EVERYTHING in writing!