Kentuckydiesel
Aluminum
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2011
- Location
- Kentucky, USA
Rant first. Question at the bottom.
We have been crating and palletizing and our products (steel panels, etc) the same way for 20 years or more. Here and there we have had issues with damaged freight, and it was always taken care of regardless of carrier.
About a year ago we started using FedEx Freight exclusively (we had used them on and off in the past), and in that year or so we have had so many issues I can't even count them all. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of freight damage....but it's not just them. Other companies who bring deliveries to us are doing the same thing. Products shipped out with "High Dollar Value Freight" pasted all over them are getting ripped off the skids they were banded to and hit over and over again with forks because no one will handle them by hand.
Not too long ago we shipped out a 400lb pallet which was about 4'x8' and 5' tall. The big moulded plastic part that was on this pallet was covered in heavy cardboard, held on with three steel bands, and shrink wrapped just for added protection. Someone at one of the freight terminals hit the pallet so hard (on the solid side of the pallet...no holes for forks) that it shattered the pallet, broke a band or two, and forced the plastic part through the other band. Ruined.
Another recent issue was with a pallet full of formed 10ga steel sheets. Despite nailing 2x4s around the sheets to protect them from idiot forklift drivers, they somehow managed to hit a 2x4 just right so their forks slid between it and the pallet. They must have been doing 80mph because they buckled an edge of this stack of 10ga steel.
A couple days ago we shipped out 4 wirebound wooden crates full of 3.25'x6' box formed stainless steel panels. These crates are only made to be handled from the broad side, but they decided to pick them up from the end and push them around. They ended up blowing the ends out of the crates. By the time the customer got the crates, his panels were laying all over the inside of the truck and a couple boxes of fasteners and such were missing.
All these freight claims keep racking up, but all FedEx does is give us a runaround...don't think any claims have been paid. I'm at a loss. We're packing these shipments well, but they always seem to find a way to damage things.
Anyone else having these issues? Have you had to take them to court? I'm actually considering buying a truck and hauling things ourselves...but I'm not sure about it since we ship a fair number of products across the country.
Thanks,
Phillip
We have been crating and palletizing and our products (steel panels, etc) the same way for 20 years or more. Here and there we have had issues with damaged freight, and it was always taken care of regardless of carrier.
About a year ago we started using FedEx Freight exclusively (we had used them on and off in the past), and in that year or so we have had so many issues I can't even count them all. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of freight damage....but it's not just them. Other companies who bring deliveries to us are doing the same thing. Products shipped out with "High Dollar Value Freight" pasted all over them are getting ripped off the skids they were banded to and hit over and over again with forks because no one will handle them by hand.
Not too long ago we shipped out a 400lb pallet which was about 4'x8' and 5' tall. The big moulded plastic part that was on this pallet was covered in heavy cardboard, held on with three steel bands, and shrink wrapped just for added protection. Someone at one of the freight terminals hit the pallet so hard (on the solid side of the pallet...no holes for forks) that it shattered the pallet, broke a band or two, and forced the plastic part through the other band. Ruined.
Another recent issue was with a pallet full of formed 10ga steel sheets. Despite nailing 2x4s around the sheets to protect them from idiot forklift drivers, they somehow managed to hit a 2x4 just right so their forks slid between it and the pallet. They must have been doing 80mph because they buckled an edge of this stack of 10ga steel.
A couple days ago we shipped out 4 wirebound wooden crates full of 3.25'x6' box formed stainless steel panels. These crates are only made to be handled from the broad side, but they decided to pick them up from the end and push them around. They ended up blowing the ends out of the crates. By the time the customer got the crates, his panels were laying all over the inside of the truck and a couple boxes of fasteners and such were missing.
All these freight claims keep racking up, but all FedEx does is give us a runaround...don't think any claims have been paid. I'm at a loss. We're packing these shipments well, but they always seem to find a way to damage things.
Anyone else having these issues? Have you had to take them to court? I'm actually considering buying a truck and hauling things ourselves...but I'm not sure about it since we ship a fair number of products across the country.
Thanks,
Phillip