Here's a story for a man named Brady,
and his fellow towertalkinans on line.....
I recommend you print this Frank, and wrap a copy of it around the money
order or check you are about to overnight.
As with any LTL freight shipment,
When the load is picked up from the original supplier/owner it is signed for
as being received by the truckline's driver in good condition. SHOULD THERE
BE ANY PROBLEM WHATSOEVER at time of delivery by the truckline you MUST
protect yourself by having done the following:
DON'T SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL YOU ARE SURE IT IS IN A NUMBER 1 SHAPE! DO NOT LET
IT COME OFF THE TRUCK IF POSSIBLE.....the driver always loves to see it off
his truck in that well its already on the ground - the unspoken implication
being "its yours".... afterall, he is just doing his part of the job and the
sooner he leaves you the sooner he can do the next stop.
A) After doing the following steps, sign the bill as being subject to
inspection for damage which you fear may have been incurred during
transit....it did happen during transit since it was picked up in good condx
by the truckline!
B) Have the truck driver use your telephone to call his dispatcher and
explain the situation before you sign the weighbill....frequently the driver
will be given a number to put on the bill as an exception to a smooth
delivery.
C) Be sure the driver both signs his name along side your statement that
there is a problem, and then have him PRINT HIS NAME so that later on when
you have to transact the business of settlement of the claim you will know
his name, RATHER THAN GUESS AT THE SIGNATURE.
D)Get the telephone number to the terminal that dispatched your driver. HE
USES IT ALL DAY LONG, JUST WRITE IT DOWN ON YOUR COPY....
When a freight carrier picks up an order they are saying it was received by
them in good order and it is capable of being handled by them in shipping to
the stated destination in such a way that it gets there in the same condx as
when they picked it up......the carrier can always refuse to pick up a load
which they feel may not make the trip due to insufficient effort in its
crating, etc. When they sign for it when that bill of lading leaves.....they
have signed for it intact.......if you receive it in an otherwise condx you
will be protected as far as filing claim later on. Remember the freight is
no longer in the seller's inventory, per se...it is in essence the
truckline's inventory during its shipment...and it is the truckline you have
to go up against if there is a problem.....not the seller, the fault for it
being broken should rest with the one who broke it. If a problem later
arises the seller can aid your claim's processing by advising that he has not
received payment for the shipment due to the freight line's poor handling of
the freight.
As far as claiming the value of the shipment, when your shipper sends it - as
far as you know it was the only tower of that type in existence and when
asked the value of the shipment he should say its value is the suggested
list/new value.....you know you will not be able to find another used one of
these! HAVE YOUR SELLER SEND YOU A COPY OF THE RECEIPT WHEN HE BOUGHT IT,
SHOWING ITS VALUE THEN, or, CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER OF THE TOWER AND HAVE
THEM SEND YOU A FAXED QUOTATION AS TO THE VALUE OF THAT ITEM. You will be
asked to prove the value of your loss...a copy of the invoice stating that it
is a true and verifiable, along with your signature, representation of the
shipments value in the form of an original invoice is perfect.
If the driver balks at doing any of the above at the time of delivery, refuse
the shipment, PERIOD! The driver is taught, although never directly told, to
do this.....when he senses you are for real, and will indeed leave it on his
truck (REMEMBER, YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED FOR IT YET...IT IS THEIR PROPERTY,
STILL!) to bring back to the terminal, not to mention work around for the
rest of the day....he will call his dispatcher and probably get an exception
number that he will write on the weigh bill. The majority of trucklines use
this type of system - should there be a claim later on, references this
number will expedite your claim immensely. It is a way of internal record
keeping...some of the smaller lines do not give numbers per se....if he gets
an exception number he will write it in the face of the weigh bill.
These are NOT a big deal paperwork wise at the time of delivery....and just
take a few moments then..... Filing a freight claim on the other hand is a
royal pain in the *SS. Unless you work for the government you will not
believe the amount of paperwork you will have to fill out to get
satisfaction....not to mention the time delay for them to settle it by
cutting you a check which is weeks if not months later.
There is a possibility the dispatcher will ask you to receive it, although
damaged, and he will send an inspector to see it....only accept this bandaid
solution if you see that what is bent or broken is a minor piece of the
assembly which you know will be easily replaced and not require you to have a
welder put it on at your QTH, etc...if it is a major problem, REFUSE IT, and
DO NOT feel sorry for the driver...it is your money that paid for it! When
you are talking with the dispatcher, use your testosterone boost NFL goal
line defense button and stand tall (sorry gals) - Ask him when the inspector
will be coming....what is his name...and what telephone number can you reach
him at...of course GET THE DISPATCHER'S NAME, and his telephone number should
you require subsequent contact with him. Later on when they tell you that
you simply should have refused the shipment you can say "DISPATCHER's NAME"
told me to do this! If you tell them that "a guy" told you to refuse it your
claim is about to become dead in the water....put on the bottom of a claim
purchaser's stack.
Inspect the shipment immediately upon arrival for any damage that may have
been hidden due to cartoning, etc. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM, call them
immediately and state there was CONCEALED DAMAGE which you could not see due
to the packaging.....this situation mandates that an inspector verify the
damage, before he gets there try and have an estimate prepared for the repair
of the damage (this is assuming of course it is a fixable thing like a welder
coming to your home to re-weld a cross brace). The more information you have
prepared ahead of time the better....if you can get that written estimate and
slip a copy of it in the inspectors hand at time of inspection he can finish
his report and pass it to the next person....one less delay for you.
If you have to dispute things later on, and you followed OJ's Safe-Freight
program, you will feel like sending me your firstborn )please don't I am up
to six grandchildren and there are TOO many birthdays to remember), better
yet, just make sure you get on in the CW Sweepstakes and work me, this is my
consulting fee!
One last thing you can do is to have the shipper call or fax you to give you
the Pro Number (identifier for the shipment) and carrier of the freight, this
is the language the truckline speaks - your tower/beam/whatever is a pro
number to them. With that info you can track it across country by calling
your local terminal of that freight line and asking them to track "Pro number
#". They will be able to pull it up on their computer and tell you its
anticipated delivery date and where it is currently during the trip...they
can also help customize your delivery by adding comments like, "notify Frank
24 hours prior to delivery at tel. number xxx-yyyy" - or - "delivery must be
made to driveway on West side of property".
I have to file freight claims as a part of my job, do what I try to tell my
warehouse people to do (above).... and you won't have to file one - trust me
(and work me in November)!
Jim, K4OJ
(your favorite ARRL South Florida Multiplier)
... ...
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