LTL Freight News

Approach filing cargo claims as if you are filing a claim with your automobile insurance company. Do not do it unless it is necessary. Impulsively submitting claims against carriers every time something goes or perhaps just looks to have gone wrong, taking that approach won’t lower freight rates nor your car insurance premiums. When both parties stay committed to the partnership, over time, a mutual trust established creates a superior work dynamic. Partners work together to find, to solve and to prevent problems. Whenever things are going good and whenever things are not going good, partners continue working together. When something goes wrong, both shipper and carrier work together making the best of a bad situation and moving forward. Rather than placing blame when something goes wrong, partners look ahead searching for solutions. Whether carrier pricing adjustments or car insurance premium increases, once you file a claim against the company, you will continue to pay for it years i...

A freight claim is not intended to be a profit center for a claimant, but rather to make the shipper “whole”, as if the carrier had performed their obligation according to the terms of the BOL contract and delivered the shipment as expected, with full market value intact. There are cases where the loss of profit as a result of the damage can be justified within a claim filing; however, in most cases, including profit in the claim is unacceptable. It is presumed that in the event of damage, the shipper would send a replacement for the damaged item out to the consignee and that the shipper’s profit would be secured with the replacement shipment. With the intended profit secured by the replacement and profit also included in the claim, a double profit would occur, causing the carrier to be unreasonably burdened. A freight (damage) claim is a demand from a carrier by a shipper or claimant for monetary reimbursement of a lost or damaged shipment, and the outcome of a claim settlement should...

Concealed damage is much harder to prove because there's reasonable doubt as to who's responsible for having caused the damage. Carriers can't simply take everyone's word that a shipment arrived with damage and can't return every concealed damage shipment back to the shipper free of charge. If they were to do that, they'd go out of business quickly. Let's face it: customers don't always tell the truth. The unfortunate issue with concealed damage is the fact that, unless someone accepts and/or admits responsibility for having caused the damage, it's virtually impossible to concretely determine exactly who was responsible for having caused the damage. There’s no doubt that concealed damages happen and they are sometimes the fault of the carrier. Concealed damage also happens sometimes through no fault of the carrier, and it is sometimes a result of careless handling by another party involved with the handling of the shipment, either before or aft...

Freight damages are certainly not pleasant surprises, but they are inevitable at some point if you are a regular LTL shipper. An understanding of the process will help you be more successful at bringing claims to a satisfactory resolution. WHO FILES THE CLAIM? Typically, the payer of the freight can only be reimbursed for the freight charges, so they are usually the ones to file a claim. Anyone can file a claim, however, but this is usually the simplest way to do it. HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE TO FILE A CLAIM? The answer to this depends on the type of claim being filed. There are generally two types of damage claims, Noted Damage and Concealed Damage. The difference between the two is that noted/visible damage claims were noted at the time of delivery, usually on the delivery receipt, and concealed damages were not. Concealed damages must be reported to the carrier within 5 days of delivery. Anything reported past the 5 day window will not be considered for a settlement and will be d...