What To Do if the BOL Doesn't Match the Rate Con?

I had a Carrier reach out to me with a scenario this past week. She wanted me to help her with a load she was running. Basically, she said "Paul, I just got loaded up, and the freight is 1,000 pounds heavier than what's on the Rate Con... Should the 1,000 pounds be removed, or should the Rate Con be adjusted? If the Rate Con is adjusted how much should I ask for?" 

I told her the following... This kind of issue happens all the time and there are several ways to handle it. First, does the extra 1,000 pounds put your Truck overweight? If so, then YES that's a big problem and you need to get with the Broker ASAP to A.) get the extra weight removed or B.) ask for more money because you're putting yourself at risk. You need to get with the Broker before the Dispatcher close the doors to your Truck, say you’re loaded and put a seal on the door (I'll explain why in a moment).

If this extra 1,000 pounds doesn't put you overweight it's not the end of the world, and I would politely tell the Broker that, "Hey, I'm at the shipper and the BOL the Shipper just gave me doesn't match the Rate Con. The BOL has 1,000 more pounds than the Rate Con. Please send me an updated Rate Con showing the change in Weight. All the paperwork needs to match before I finish picking up this load otherwise the Freight Factoring company I use might take 2 -to- 4 days to get with you (the Broker) and the Customer (Coca-Cola/Publix/Walmart) to figure out this paperwork discrepancy on the back end. Then I (the Trucking Company) would be stuck waiting to get paid because the paperwork wasn't correct from the beginning." 

The Broker will reply back to you in two ways. First, the Broker will say YES and get you what you need ASAP because they don't want to find another Truck since you're already there. That's your leverage: you're already there and maybe you're already halfway loaded, and you can politely hang that over the Broker's head. The second way the Broker might reply is by saying, "Yes I'll update the Rate Con to show the weight change and send that to you ASAP”, but they will tell you that they don't have extra cash to help with the weight change and will say, “I'm sorry but can you do me a favor and still run the load?" If it doesn't put you overweight I would advise you to say YES that you are still good to run the load. This is a scenario where you recognize there is a small opportunity (A.K.A. a small detail) to politely ask for a little more cash, and it never hurts to ask. But, if it DOES put you over your weight limit I would be more pushy with the Broker and hold you’re ground and say "This is putting me over my weight limit and I can run it, but if DOT pulls me over and fines me than I'm not going to be happy. I would like for you to add the corrected weight to the Rate Con and an extra $50 bucks and I'll get this moved for you." Hold your ground and 9 times out of 10... you're going to get what you're asking for. But, as always, be polite and professional. 

At the end of the day, the real reason I'm sharing this scenario with you is for you to understand one main point, and it's not the extra cash. The point is to get all the paperwork to match. I tell everyone in this business you'll be successful if you can do 3 things: 1st) have excellent time management; 2nd) be a great communicator; and 3rd) paying attention to the details. This scenario is all about paying attention to the details. 

If you're not getting all your paperwork to match (Rate Con, BOL, and POD) it will be more work on the back end with your Freight Factor to get paid on this load once you deliver it. You'll be sending paperwork that doesn't match over to your Freight Factor and they're not going to pay you very quickly with paperwork that doesn't match up. The Freight Factor will probably take 2-4 days to communicate with the Broker (why does this not match up?). They will have to communicate with the Customer (why does this not match up?). Then they will have to communicate with the Shipper (why does this not match up?). And it's not a quick phone call. It could be 10 phone calls to each one of those people (30 calls total), or it could be over 30 emails in 2 weeks trying to figure it out on the back end (I am NOT joking). But, on the back end after the load is delivered is when the Broker, the Shipper, and the Customer care the least about getting your paperwork corrected. They will update it on their time, not your time. So, now you're having to wait 2-4 days to get paid and in the worst case scenario you could be waiting for up to two weeks because you weren't paying attention and didn't look to make sure the BOL matches the Rate Con when you were getting loaded at the Shipper. Catching this error on the front end will save you tons of frustration on the back end… Trust me.

P.S. – The same thing goes for the total # of Boxes, the total # of pallets, and the total weight of the load. DO NOT close the doors to the Truck at the Shipper until the Rate Con matches the BOL. If your Driver pulls away and then looks at the BOL and the Rate Con and then realizes they don’t match, you can’t ask for more money at this point because the BOL has now been signed with IN and OUT Times for the shipper and you’ve pulled away from the loading dock, you’re now responsible. You have now accepted the load because you’ve closed your door and have a signed BOL. It's now confirmed as Picked Up and in your possession. It belongs to you now.