This week revisits educating our shippers in order to ensure our BOL is set up correctly and to avoid possible disputes with the carrier regarding our invoice.
Did you know LTL carriers employ “weight & inspection coordinators” whose sole responsibility is to catch the “bad guys” who list an inaccurate weight or class on their BOL?
- They keep an eye out for any shipments whose description on the BOL doesn’t seem to match up with its appearance.
- They will physically examine your freight, and if they deem it necessary to inspect the contents or check the weight, they’ll issue an inspection certificate.
- You will foot the bill for the additional inspection.
It is for this reason we need to make sure our shippers understand the follow:
- It is imperative to make sure the weight and class on the BOL are accurate.
- Don’t just guess, and don’t try to be sneaky, either! You can’t classify furniture as lumber, even though it was once lumber… (Yes, believe it or not, people actually do this!)
- Include the weight of your pallets in the total weight calculation of your shipment.
- If you forget multiple pallets, they could add up to an additional 500 pounds or more; that’s not just a few pounds off.
- Most LTL carriers have scales installed right on their forklifts that double-check the weight listed on the BOL automatically.
- Make sure you are measuring the freight with extreme accuracy (to the nearest inch)
- Some LTL carriers make it mandatory for drivers to carry a tape measure and measure the freight at the time of pick up.
- A couple of inches can add up to hundreds of dollars when classifying freight.
- Shippers who misrepresent freight need to understand carriers are not taking any more chances and the time to do the right thing is now!