Incorrect freight reweigh, any recourse?

I don't ship motorfreight very often, most of my fabricated parts are small enough to ship Fedex Ground. Even fewer LTL items that I am in charge of (customer arranges shipping on their account from time to time).

However, I shipped a skid from here to Arkansas a couple weeks ago. I weighed the skid at 206 pounds right before it left (skid contained two empty aluminum boxes). Shipment was arranged via Freightcenter, and shipped on AAA Cooper Transportation. Freight charge was $192.53. It was my first shipment with both FreightCenter and that company.

Fast forward to today, I'm checking my credit card statement, and I see an additional charge (on top of the $192) for $289. I pull up my freightcenter account, and find a reweigh fee of $289.00 (additional 236 pounds at $0.93/lb, plus $35 processing fee, which doesn't even add up to that amount).

Freightcenter rep basically told me there's not much I can do if I don't have a picture of the item on a scale, but he suggested I wait until Monday to call the rep who actually brokered this skid.

Is there any recourse? Any success in fighting this? Credit card chargeback and quit using Freightcenter? Am I SOL?

I think you're SOL...

I'm in a similar situation...most everything goes fedex ground but I have used freightquote.

They reweighed one and I got a $200 surcharge for some BS... I paid the invoice and called them and they said they'd check on it...

Never heard back. I've used AAA Cooper for most of those shipments and never had a reweigh though. The surcharge was to CA with another carrier which I can't recall.

I've been doing a lot via Fastenal since then, it's worked out well so far. Got a long pallet from KY to OR in a week for $125.

You can try a chargeback...I'm all for it , but you'll prob. never use them again.

I've used Yellow Freight's online shipping quotes for a lot of inbound shipments, and did have one incident where the reweight charge was ludicrous. I called customer service at least four times before I got an adjustment that I thought was acceptable.

The whole process sucks, but if you're persistent (and you should be) you'll get a lower fee. It would help to have any and all documentation about what you shipped and why the new weight can't be right at hand when you talk to whoever. Take notes, and especially names and phone numbers of whoever you speak with.

A CC chargeback is a last resort, use with caution. The same info you need for talking with the freight company will be useful for dealing with the CC co.

BTW, even thought I had one problem with YRC I still use them, the rates are usually quite reasonable and service is pretty good.

Something just doesn't seem right here. Sounds to me like some shady business going on, either with Freight Center or AAA.

I could understand you getting the weight off a little but to miss it by over half? On top of that, even if you did miss the weight by that much, it shouldn't cost anywhere near $0.93 a pound for the difference.

It could be just a honest mistake, which you should be able to clear up real fast on Monday, or I smell a sham.

I have seen carriers re class something and the quote is out the window....some carriers I intentionally blacklist due to past billing issues. about all you can do is call, plead your case, and hope for the best. I would not pay it right away but I would call right away. I avoid paying freight by credit card.

This has happened to us a handful of times. I got frustrated with it had our scales checked and at 2k pounds we were off 12 pounds. So to me something didn't add up with the re weigh when they were talking a thousand pounds different. Since then they have pulled this re weigh crap on us. Once this passed week. I simply send them the copy of our scale certification and like that the extra charge goes away. Keep in mind we ship the same stuff and have been for years. We have a good idea of what the stuff weighs.

Oh this has on been a reoccurring issue with AAA. I have been told that if they don't clear the scales on the dock and then add a new pallet to it the weights add together. Not real sure if it's true. Also been told the forklift drivers get incentives if they catch something weighed wrong. Again, not sure if true.

I have the mind set that they try to plus this crap on everyone, see who pays and will keep doing it until something gets brought up about it.

If your customer has a scale have them weigh it see what they get.

I remember one member here had a classification change, and a freight bill was in the thousands for a fairly small item. At the time, they refused to budge.. Since reading that, I have always avoided using that carrier, and steer business away from them when possible.

m16ty said:

Something just doesn't seem right here. Sounds to me like some shady business going on, either with Freight Center or AAA.
It could be just a honest mistake,

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it is a sham, no, absolutely nothing "honest" about it.

outright, widespread, unchecked, totally outrageous fraud.

get a certified test weight, video test weight on scale, with copy of cert taped to it, then the load on the scale, then the load going on the truck. get the plate, driver, and bill of lading on the video, all in one cut, no breaks.

take 8 stills, from that vid, (or from a separate device), email them to the freight forwarder and the trucking company as soon as the truck pulls away.

add 2% to the claimed weight anyway. and of corse have pics or vid of contents for freight classification if they dispute that also.

don't give them your card #, they will probably try to screw you anyway

Freightcenter requires up front payment, and they bill my card directly, so there's no ability to withhold payment. They simply add credit card charges as they see fit. I'm not sure how I'd avoid using a credit card, unless I went straight through a particular freight Co.

My customer received the item a week and a half ago, so I'm sure the crating is already trashed, and the items installed, so no help on that end. I wasn't notified of the extra charge, just saw it as a pending charge on my credit card.

This is just rediculous. Adding $300 to a sub $200 freight bill makes a lot of jobs not worthwhile. I'm actually not sure where the number came from. 236 pounds at $0.93 plus $35 doesn't equal $289.

Is it possible to take a pallet to a freight terminal and watch them weigh it, instead of them picking it up?

I've got one more skid to ship this week. I could try the video thing but that seems like a pain, and my scale isn't certified.

Call Atlanta scale. If I remember correctly they got to us in a day or 2. They get you the cert pretty fast also. Once all that is done keep the cert handy that way if it comes up again just fire that off to the guy that helped you book it or to the trucking company.

they have absolutely no interest in establishing the correct weight, just jacking us, so no they probably won't let you bring it for weigh in.

if it is less that 150, you can take it to a fedex or UPS store and they will weigh in. pay a higher rate up front, but no surprises

yes taking a video of everything is a pain, but we have GOT to stand up to this crap! don't let them get away with it! they are counting on us being lazy.

at the very least, take photos, and do add a "error margin", bump the claimed weight up a little, and include a photo of the scale with the load, maybe stapled to the BOL?(unless it's a bathroom scale!)

Isn't 236 lbs the official average weight of a freight terminal worker?

cyanidekid said:

they have absolutely no interest in establishing the correct weight, just jacking us, so no they probably won't let you bring it for weigh in.

if it is less that 150, you can take it to a fedex or UPS store and they will weigh in. pay a higher rate up front, but no surprises

yes taking a video of everything is a pain, but we have GOT to stand up to this crap! don't let them get away with it! they are counting on us being lazy.

at the very least, take photos, and do add a "error margin", bump the claimed weight up a little, and include a photo of the scale with the load, maybe stapled to the BOL?(unless it's a bathroom scale!)

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You are 100% right. They are expecting us to be lazy. My office assistant and I have had numerous conversations about that. They figure you will just pay it and move on like I'm sure happens at bigger size companies that have account payable department that just enter the bills to get paid.

you know the kicker for me is...we manufacture scales. That's what we do yet they still pull this crap.

I'm not a shill for Yellow Freight, but I have used them a number of times and been happy with the pricing (except for the one time I mentioned before):

https://my.yrc.com/dynamic/national...nsactionalquote/rqTransactionalQuoteEntry.jsp

It takes a couple minutes to enter your data, but you get a "no classification" quote right then. At least you have an option to the jerks you're already using...

We don't have scales to weigh something as large as a pallet. On the rare occasion where we have to ship a pallet, I always just guess the weight. I always try to figure high but thought that if I were off, they would just add a little to cover it. I didn't know they would gouge you for extra weight. I guess I've always estimated the weight high enough because I've never had a up charge.

I guess I should invest in a platform scale but we ship a pallet or two maybe once a year at most.

I bought a 1000 lb Siltec on ebay for about $200, if needed, I can put a piece of plywood on it for a platform They are available in larger capacities, but the higher the capacity the larger the increment.It has rechargable batteries so you can carry it to the item being weighed.

Mud said:

I bought a 1000 lb Siltec on ebay for about $200, if needed, I can put a piece of plywood on it for a platform They are available in larger capacities, but the higher the capacity the larger the increment.It has rechargable batteries so you can carry it to the item being weighed.

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I'm using a similar scale to that. Only has a 440 pound maximum, but I primarily am using it for Fedex Ground shipments, or the odd pallet I have is lightweight but bulky - many of my products really amount to an empty aluminum box. Same style of remote digital readout, etc.

I'm not a shill for Yellow Freight, but I have used them a number of times and been happy with the pricing (except for the one time I mentioned before):

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That is interesting. I did a search on this site for threads on similar problems, and the membership almost unanimously agreed that Yellow is the worst. Your locale must have a better managed warehouse.


I spent a while on the phone with the person at FreightCenter who actually brokered this load. He was much more helpful than the guy on Saturday. He reluctantly admitted that this is actually a semi common problem (with all carriers, not any in particular), though he said he really doesn't know how successful the rebuttal may be. He clarified that most of the time when this happens to a new customer, the customer doesn't follow through with additional documentation, and instead just stops using freightcenter.

I've sent him the customer invoice, broken down quote (with all material itemized and weight per line item listed), shop drawing, and images of the completed items unpackaged, partially packaged (palletized, but not crated), and the final crate. We'll see what happens. He said the claims process can be 30 - 120 days.

He clarified that most of the time when this happens to a new customer, the customer doesn't follow through with additional documentation, and instead just stops using freightcenter.

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No Shiite eh?
How much time can you invest chasing $300, when you have a hunch is 25% chance of landing to begin with? Besides, you can't re-scale it on your end and take a pic of it - see'ins how it's not there anymore... Only saving grace is if the customer could scale it for you - ass_u_ming that they didn't have any use for it and left it set on the dock all this time...
(Generally only leave HOT orders on the dock indefinately....)

Not used Yeller much, but I use'ta use USF Holland as my main line, not that I use LTL all that much, but they started dinging me for higher classes - depending on the werding of the shipper. Parts came in on CCX (?) class 50 just fine, but going back out USFH was a nother story. After about 2 months, we started getting add-on's to invoices already paid for higher classes.

Talked to voice there and said to use "this code" on your original shipper and scan and send back in. So they would clear those invoices, only to ding us on the next batch. Even on shipments to other customers after that as well. I decided that it was the same as DOT looking for a certain truck, and your only chance is to sell the truck and get a differn't one. So I quit calling them and went with a local line, and am saving $.

Not saying that I won't use USFH ever again, but at a much reduced capacity, and I might just call Yeller instead (competing sisters). I always like USFH. Their drivers were always very personable, and I have a chum that is a wrench for them, so I liked supporting them, but it was time to go separate directions. That whole "Class" thing is ridiculous and BS. Cubic foot density certainly is valid, but you can label about anything a half dozen ways if you know your roster.

In our case - we got our $ back, at least all that we submitted. I may not have done the last cpl and may have left them keep it as a parting gift.

If I was you, I would:

A) Quit using AAA Cooper (whoever that is) and try to not use anyone that plays the "first name in the phone book" game - on principal alone.....

B) Bitch to FreightCenter, and depending on how succesfull that is, maybe dump them too as a shitty assed first experience.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

FreightQuote used to pull that crap all the time- they figure you never notice the extra charge. Same with switching the freight class.
I called the goon that setup the shipment and jumped his bones hard- never estimate a weight on a shipment- have exact weights and tell them you know exactly what it weighs- seems they back down real quick when you call them on it.