Small fleet owner Scott Jordan once had something of a maxim he’d repeat about his business dealings. “In all the years I’ve been in business,” around seven years as an independent, he’d say, “I’ve never been screwed over by the broker or shipper, only the trucker.”
Last year, that changed in a big way on a load that Jordan booked for one of his owner-operators. Working with a sizable broker, he was led to believe the freight was something of a need-it-now item. Complications ensued, appointments for delivery were rescheduled repeatedly, and rate confirmations were updated to reflect the changes. After reaching an agreement to store the load for about a week, it turned into a $3,800 load, well over the initial rate.
Yet the broker attempted to back-charge Jordan’s fleet through his factor for the storage charges, alleging Jordan and his owner-operator threatened to hold the load hostage. Transactions ended. Jordan was out $2,600 in revenue but paid his owner-operator, who had put up with all the rescheduling, the full $3,800.
Now all bets are off when it comes to this broker. “This is like the horror stories that you always hear about. I was one of those guys who said, ‘This is never going to happen to me.’ ”
If recent Overdrive polling is any indication, believing it would never happen might have been naive. Almost all respondents say they’ve encountered some fraud or abuse from brokers.
As is common in such disputes, Jordan viewed taking the case to court as too costly. This rationale means a crooked broker often walks away understanding that, at least in the short term, subterfuge of this type is A-OK. Then he reloads to do it again.
