Re: Border Crossings

[KenOVM]

Does not your dispatch do anything?

Our company, we fax the paperwork to them and THEY fax it to the right broker and confirm reception and then check what time we can cross and get release numbers and all. We do not approach the crossing till dispatch gives us the green light.
If theres a problem that I didn't see on the original paperwork they can get them fixed while on route.....This is why we pay them!
I've seen so many drivers literally stranded by their dispatch, I find this completely unprofessional and reflects badly on any company that does not back up thier drivers. This includes ALL expedite companys!

[Mare]

Ken, I agree with you 100% that this is the "proper" way to do business. In all of our 4 years with Fed Ex, we've only had this voluntarily done for us ONCE. When I commented on it to a Fed Ex friend, they responded that theirs (white glove) does this for them all of the time! So the next time we did a Canada run, we asked the dispatcher to do this for us we were told that they couldn't get the broker on the phone and told us we'd have to do it ourselves! Some just can't get it through their heads that we HAVE A TRUCK TO DRIVE in order for their freight to get there on time. I guess they think we're free to make calls, answer running late inquiries and any other thing they think we should do. :yikes:

[KenOVM]

I guess if you get a Canadian load coming into the U.S. and make a mistake and you and your company get that big fine they'll change thier tune real quick..
Don't they know it could cost them and you and the shipper up to 5,000 dollars if YOU make a crossing without a clearance?
Dispatch doesn't end just at getting rid of the load.

[Mare]

Rest assured that lately they've been sending out all the warnings, things to do and check on the clink, they just won't help you do them!

[KenOVM]

I guess when they get that first penalty policy will change then...too bad i thought fedex was the more responsible carrier...(not a bash) they are our 2nd choice after our present carrier. When I am legal in the U.S.

[Mare]

I should add that sometimes I wonder if Fed Ex has any idea just what their dispatchers do half the time. Many times they don't follow through on a load offer. You take it, it's yours. More times than I would like to remember, I've had to ask them for the new pick up time, the locals for either pu or del, heck sometimes had to ask for ALL of the directions as they gave me nothing other than addresses, no suggested routing, etc. Then there's the times they route us through tunnels or cities with hazmat. Is anyone paying attention and doing their jobs these days?? :yikes:

[KenOVM]

now that sounds more like our company..some dispatchers just don't know how to properly dispatch...they think it's over once they pass the trip off to the drivers.

[Mare]

now that sounds more like our company..some dispatchers just don't know how to properly dispatch...they think it's over once they pass the trip off to the drivers.

Exactly and with so many of them being so young, well I'm sure you know the rest. I'm not trying to "down" all the young people but darn sometimes I wonder what kind of generation we've raised!

[KenOVM]

yep...I thought it was supposed to be a TEAM effort to transport the frieght in the most expeditious manner possible, a smooth transfer of goods from shipper to reciever ? Our co's are always preaching team but only when its convenient.

[KenOVM]

now someone went and done it again...this post was originally elsewhere....sparkys gonna think I am at it again...at least Mare will be in the same dog house.... ;)

[Molly]

that was old Harry :D

[Mare]

now someone went and done it again...this post was originally elsewhere....sparkys gonna think I am at it again...at least Mare will be in the same dog house.... ;)

It's all good Ken. I can handle it, I LIVE in the dog house, remember?? :rofl: :rofl:

[KenOVM]

now someone went and done it again...this post was originally elsewhere....sparkys gonna think I am at it again...at least Mare will be in the same dog house.... ;)

It's all good Ken. I can handle it, I LIVE in the dog house, remember?? :rofl: :rofl:


did you say you lived with a dog????? :rofl: :rofl:

[Mare]

now someone went and done it again...this post was originally elsewhere....sparkys gonna think I am at it again...at least Mare will be in the same dog house.... ;)

It's all good Ken. I can handle it, I LIVE in the dog house, remember?? :rofl: :rofl:


did you say you lived with a dog????? :rofl: :rofl:

Yes, that too. His friends from school still call him by his old nickname, "Sheepdog"!!

[KenOVM]

sidecar sheepdog... hmmm has a ring to it :rofl:

[SPARKY]

OH Ken, you make me sound like someone on another site :yikes: :rofl: :rofl: When a bashing NEEDS to be done, I'll be right there to help out!!!

This is definetly a pet peeve of mine when it comes to surface expedite and I've even had 1 or 2 WGers that I need to remind that it's THEIR job to call the brokers. As Mare said, talking on the phone while I'm driving is NOT my job!! A friendly reminder of the fine and the time it will take me to pull over, call the broker and be put on hold, and STILL sit in line at the border usually does the trick. Of course, I usually have to remind them on the QC to call within the 2 hrs. If we don't get an OK, all clear, that's when I'll pull over and remind them that I'll NOW sit here until I get that!!! If they call right away BEFORE you leave the shipper, the broker can look over the pprwk just to see if everything is in order. Sure saves A LOT of time if it isn't. Turning around after a few hrs of driving, just to go back to the shipper because the pprwk isn't right is a HUGE waste of time.

Remember the upstate NY to PEI load we did about a year ago?? (NO Mare, I know YOU don't remember :rofl: ) WWEEEEELL, pprwk right, WRONG BROKER!!!! Had we just faxed the pprwk and then left without having them call first, we'd have been in a REAL mess when we got to the border. Nothing ticks me off more than running around at brokers. I THANK GOD for PAPS and PARS every time it works right!!! I have to admit, that's the first and only time we've ever been given the wrong BROKER, but it happens so MAKE SURE THE PPRWK GOT TO, AND IS IN THE HANDS OF THE RIGHT BROKER BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE SHIPPER!!!! Unless you want to find and pay for a fax on the road somewhere. :angry: In the case of the upstate NY run there would have been NO TIME for that as we were less than an hour from the border. We had to wait about a half hour as it was before we got the all clear before we went the rest of the way to the customs booth.

While I'm sorry this is so long winded, for the newbies out there it is important stuff!!! DON'T BE PUSHED AROUND BY DISPATCHERS WHEN IT COMES TO GOING IN AND OUT OF CANADA!!!MAKE THEM DO THEIR JOB!!! Stand up and tell them that ONLY when you get the all clear OVER THE QC will you proceed. the QC message covers YOUR butt should something go wrong in the mean time!!!! and ALWAYS, ALWAYS ALWAYS, have the confirmation page from the fax machine when you leave the Canadian shipper!!!! THAT covers your butt with customs for both, time you faxed AND that you faxed it before you left the shipper. If the time on the fax machine is WRONG have the shipper SIGN<<<<NOT INITIAL, the correct time.

I know it sounds like shipments in and out of Canada are a royal pain, but once you have a routine, and are comfortable with it, they're not that much harder than any other load.

[hellcat_99]

You are right Sparky.
Once you get used to the paper work & have it all figured out, the problems become less.
If you don't PAPS ypur paperwork to the border when crossing into the US, you will be turned back to Canada. All paperwork must be cleared ahead of time. You will no longer sit @ customs until it is fixed.
As for dispatcher's, they are a new bread. Some think because they have a family member OTR, they know it all. They know nothing really. Thgey aren't being told half of what they need to be told. There is no real trainning except for a couple of schools here.
You can't just throw in new people without teaching them what to do.

Holly

[SPARKY]

Just for clarification:

PARS=INTO Canada...shipments going to a Canada receiver

PAPS=OUT of Canada...shipments going to a US receiver (there are 2 matching stickers, one for the broker pprwk and one for the inward cargo manifest)

[KenOVM]

phew.. I was hoping you'd agree...

NEWBEES!!!!! pay attention here!!

[wshort]

livingston broker is the pits lately, taking forever to acknowledge fax
receipt and actual clearance processing.
Last trip over I picked up at 2pm had a 15 mile trip to the bridge and
didn't get cleared to cross til 5:45pm.