Common Carrier Inspections, Weight Inspections, Charging Extra Even for 1"!

Unfortunately, Common Carriers in their drive to maximize revenue are digging deeper and deeper into their Tariffs and using every tool possible to charge their clients more money.

You really need these days – unless you ship the exact same freight class and NMFC# including the sub number precisely the same – you really need to measure each pallet when you go for pallet pricing – approximate is not good enough. If you are a shipper invest in a scale – it is the right way to do business and you are legally liable if you declare pallet weights incorrectly besides all the risks of upcharges due to inspections.

If you are ordering from a vendor, so you are not the shipper but the receiver, demand your vendor actually measure and weigh each pallet and give you that in writing. With such actual weights and measures, not approximate, you can actually, with confidence, price your freight.

Freight Weight Inspections

The consequences of getting those weights and measures wrong are very painful and even one inch more on several pallets can throw the density up a bracket or two. If you had a rate on class 150 freight, for instance, and perhaps you or your freight broker have a class 100 FAK on class 150 – if upon inspection by the carrier your freight turns out to be class 250 or 300, it is a disaster – the rate will double or more!

And there is no question that as the freight payer, you are responsible for paying even if your vendor or supplier gave you the wrong information! Again, avoid this cost and embarrassment by having set procedures that you require to be followed on your outgoing freight or freight from a vendor – no one can afford these surprises.

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