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Avoid Taking Chances

Checking out new carriers before they load up
Avoid Taking Chances

Compliance & Violations
Besides the ratings, Strickland outlined several other safety concerns that should be checked such as serial number verification (to be sure the trucks on the road match the ones on the insurance policy); the number of inspections (which verifies the quality of the equipment); and violations per truck and driver (for vehicle safety compliance as well as warning flags concerning individual operators with citations for drugs, alcohol, or logbook inconsistencies). 

“Fifty percent of the carriers that apply are rejected,” Strickland emphasizes. “We have to look at it now with one thought in mind: safety—what can you defend in a court of law?” 

Although FMCSA’s website provides information on violations, the agency says these numbers should not be used to determine a carrier’s safety compliance. “But if you have a carrier who is running five trucks and has twenty violations in the last twelve months,” Strickland says, it is probably a sign regulations are being ignored. If a broker doesn’t check for drug and alcohol or equipment violations, “then you have not done your due diligence,” Strickland states.

Beyond safety compliance, there are also environmental issues. Because so many produce carriers go in and out of California, they must either meet CARB (California Air Resources Board) regulations for reefers or stay out of the state.

“Ask for a CARB card or certificate,” Herman advises. If one is not readily available or provided, drivers can simply take a photo of the truck’s CARB-compliant serial number with a smartphone. 

Insurance
When Pearce Worldwide is vetting new carriers, Strickland says the company requires a complete application with contact and mailing information and wants to know how long the carrier has been in business, the numbers of trucks and different types of trailers—van or reefer—and requests insurance certificates for cargo, liability, and workers compensation. 

The broker also requires $1 million in liability (above the government’s $750,000 minimum coverage) and $100,000 on cargo.  “If they’re going into our system as a refrigerated carrier, we require mechanical refrigeration breakdown (coverage). Probably 75 percent or better of the cargo claims we have are covered under mechanical breakdown,” Strickland notes.

“Sometimes even the carrier is not aware [if] his cargo insurance covers reefer breakdown,” commented Stoiber.  “For us to have that assurance, we would have to request a copy of every policy every time we loaded a truck, which is practically impossible. If reefer breakdown is not in effect in the policy, the trucker shoulders the burden,” he says.  

Reliability and Professionalism
“When you handle produce—especially items like berries—you have to be careful to get someone who has experience,” Lovell says, which is why references are so important for new carriers.

Stoiber looks for a track record of on-time delivery and good arrival. Among his questions: Did the carrier perform on the load as called for in the dispatch directions? Did the driver stay in contact with his/her dispatcher on a long trip? Were the documents presented at the end of the delivery?

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