To view the webinar, simply follow the link below, click the Playback button, fill in your name and email address, and then click Submit.

Playback the Survive and Thrive webinar and decide for yourself how you can save money on fuel and operating costs.

For example, do you know the most cost-effective ways of reducing or eliminating these fuel thieves:
     • Speeding costs you about 1/10th of a gallon of fuel for every MPH over 60
     • 6-10% of every trip can be attributed to out-of-route miles
     • An average of $9,102 per truck/per year is spent on idling (based on 264 days on the road)

Learn why attendees are rethinking expensive solutions like APUs that solve a single-problem (idling) and adopting tools that can remedy speeding, out-of-route, idling, and more.

 

Freight brokering is a cash-flow intensive business.  "Small" back office numbers can add up to a significant figure that comes off the bottom-line.  Nobody knows this better than Richard Fink, one of three partners at General Transportation in Portland, Oregon.

We recently had a chance to record a conversation with Richard about the difference that technology has made in holding his back office costs down as General has grown from a single office freight brokerage that opened in 1990 to what is currently a six-office operation across the U.S.

Some seventeen years ago, General started with a transportation management system that is now known as TransCore's 3sixty Operations Management solution.  They recently opted for the new Windows-based 3sixty Logistics Suite as well as the 3sixty Imaging Suite, a document management system optimized by TransCore's OEM partner, PaperWise to cut down and expedite the enormous amount of paperwork associated with the transportation industry.

As Richard makes clear, technology is one thing; customer service another.  He relates a couple of incidents in which disk drives crashed and TransCore's customer service helped make the downtime invisible to General's customers -- even over a July 4th weekend.

Listen to the experiences of a 14 year veteran of the industry:

Part 1-- Mr. Fink tells about his experiences with TransCore's broker logistics products. (WMV 7 minutes, 54 seconds)
Part 2--Mr. Fink talks about being a broker in the transportation industry.  (WMV 4 minutes 15 seconds)

If you’re a broker, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Schram case.  It was the first case of its kind where a freight broker was held liable for negligent hiring of a motor carrier that was involved in a catastrophic loss.  Because reducing broker risk is a critical piece of our CarrierWatch^® product, we wanted to give you an exclusive behind the scenes analysis of the Schram case from one of the nation’s leading experts in transportation law, Ron Usem, a well-known transportation industry attorney and member of the TIA Directors Circle.

 

Ron agreed to a lengthy phone interview session out of which we produced as a series of nine highly informative podcasts. 

 

Part 1:  The care brokers should take in choosing carriers in light of the Schram v Robinson case, in which C.H. Robinson was held liable for a catastrophic loss involving a carrier they had hired.  The plaintiffs sued and the court found “factual issues” indicating that  C.H. Robinson had not exercised due diligence in hiring the carrier and therefore could be held liable for negligence if the case went to jury trial.  The case was settled out of court.

Part 2:  A discussion of two more recent cases similar to Schram.  Question: What constitutes due diligence and how frequently must a broker monitor a carrier’s authority and certificate(s) of insurance?  Daily?  Weekly?  Monthly? 

Part 3:  State-to-state differences in hiring liability laws, carrier hiring practices, the definition of negligence and what brokers can do to protect themselves; the necessity of broker-carrier contracts.

 

Part 4:  What brokers should look for when carriers present certificates of insurance; valuable tips to validate carriers’ insurance, and how today this issue affects the inter-modal world.

Part 5:  Are brokers responsible for a loss if a carrier’s insurance doesn’t cover it?  Should brokers have contingent cargo insurance?

 

We'll post the next four parts in a subsequent post.

Here are some insights and guidance Ron provides throughout the podcasts:

 

• Just because the Schram case involved a large broker with deep pockets, don’t make the mistake of thinking as a small broker you will not be hit with a liability suite if a carrier you engage is negligent
• Ron outlines a case that might've been construed as negligent hiring if the broker hadn't had his ducks in a row.  The broker hired a carrier after checking their insurance, operating authority and safety rating.  The driver fell asleep at the wheel and a fatal accident resulted.  But, in this case, the broker was not liable as due diligence could be demonstrated, and court ruled the broker could not control the drive behind the wheel
• Establish your own operating procedures for approving carriers and document them.  If an injury occurs due to the performance of a hired carrier you can show you exercised reasonable care
• Take the extra step to ensure a carrier has valid insurance.  In the third podcast Ron describes the daunting problem of bogus insurance certificates, and suggests brokers validate the carrier’s insurance by contacting the agent.
• In podcast 5 Ron addresses the confusion about brokers having to take responsibility for cargo losses not covered adequately by the carrier’s policy.  Here Ron describes “contingent cargo insurance” options for brokers.
• Ron issues a warning in Podcast 7 regarding the practice of brokers wanting to be additionally insured on a carrier’s policy.
• In podcast 8 Ron discusses how the ICC Termination Act in 1995 effectively removed the distinction between contract and common carriers, but the FMCSA still accepts applications for contract or common carriers – and what the legal implications are for brokers.
• And finally, in podcast 9 Ron looks at special legal precautions needed when hiring a carrier for intrastate carriers, especially if the task involves in a combination of vehicles (truck pick up and delivery to a rail yard).

After listening to Ron's podcast series I was struck by the details brokers have to track and how critical it is to have a solution at their fingertips such as CarrierWatch.  What did you think?  I want this blog to be a way for us to exchange ideas and share. 

 

Do you have a question for Ron or the CarrierWatch team?  Post a comment, and we'll dig into it and get back to you.

 

What are the top legal concerns you have as a broker today?  Share that with us and we’ll compile a list of the “Top 10 legal concerns” brokers have and share the findings with you in a future blog.

If you’re a broker, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Schram case.  It was the first case of its kind where a freight broker was held liable for negligent hiring of a motor carrier that was involved in a catastrophic loss.  Because reducing broker risk is a critical piece of our CarrierWatch^SM product, we wanted to give you an exclusive behind the scenes analysis of the Schram case from one of the nation’s leading experts in transportation law, Ron Usem, a well-known transportation industry attorney and member of the TIA Directors Circle.

 

Ron agreed to a lengthy phone interview session out of which we produced as a series of nine highly informative podcasts. 

 

Part 1:  The care brokers should take in choosing carriers in light of the Schram v Robinson case, in which C.H. Robinson was held liable for a catastrophic loss involving a carrier they had hired.  The plaintiffs sued and the court found “factual issues” indicating that  C.H. Robinson had not exercised due diligence in hiring the carrier and therefore could be held liable for negligence if the case went to jury trial.  The case was settled out of court.

Part 2:  A discussion of two more recent cases similar to Schram.  Question: What constitutes due diligence and how frequently must a broker monitor a carrier’s authority and certificate(s) of insurance?  Daily?  Weekly?  Monthly? 

Part 3:  State-to-state differences in hiring liability laws, carrier hiring practices, the definition of negligence and what brokers can do to protect themselves; the necessity of broker-carrier contracts.

 

Part 4:  What brokers should look for when carriers present certificates of insurance; valuable tips to validate carriers’ insurance, and how today this issue affects the inter-modal world.

Part 5:  Are brokers responsible for a loss if a carrier’s insurance doesn’t cover it?  Should brokers have contingent cargo insurance?

 

We'll post the next four parts in a subsequent post.

Here are some insights and guidance Ron provides throughout the podcasts:

 

• Just because the Schram case involved a large broker with deep pockets, don’t make the mistake of thinking as a small broker you will not be hit with a liability suite if a carrier you engage is negligent
• Ron outlines a case that might've been construed as negligent hiring if the broker hadn't had his ducks in a row.  The broker hired a carrier after checking their insurance, operating authority and safety rating.  The driver fell asleep at the wheel and a fatal accident resulted.  But, in this case, the broker was not liable as due diligence could be demonstrated, and court ruled the broker could not control the drive behind the wheel
• Establish your own operating procedures for approving carriers and document them.  If an injury occurs due to the performance of a hired carrier you can show you exercised reasonable care
• Take the extra step to ensure a carrier has valid insurance.  In the third podcast Ron describes the daunting problem of bogus insurance certificates, and suggests brokers validate the carrier’s insurance by contacting the agent.
• In podcast 5 Ron addresses the confusion about brokers having to take responsibility for cargo losses not covered adequately by the carrier’s policy.  Here Ron describes “contingent cargo insurance” options for brokers.
• Ron issues a warning in Podcast 7 regarding the practice of brokers wanting to be additionally insured on a carrier’s policy.
• In podcast 8 Ron discusses how the ICC Termination Act in 1995 effectively removed the distinction between contract and common carriers, but the FMCSA still accepts applications for contract or common carriers – and what the legal implications are for brokers.
• And finally, in podcast 9 Ron looks at special legal precautions needed when hiring a carrier for intrastate carriers, especially if the task involves in a combination of vehicles (truck pick up and delivery to a rail yard).

After listening to Ron's podcast series I was struck by the details brokers have to track and how critical it is to have a solution at their fingertips such as CarrierWatch.  What did you think?  I want this blog to be a way for us to exchange ideas and share. 

 

Do you have a question for Ron or the CarrierWatch team?  Post a comment, and we'll dig into it and get back to you.

 

What are the top legal concerns you have as a broker today?  Share that with us and we’ll compile a list of the “Top 10 legal concerns” brokers have and share the findings with you in a future blog.