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One of the
realities of shipping to Alaska is the
high incidence of freight damage. Although
most of the equipment that we order, is
legally your property once it ships, it is
our policy, at Stinebaugh & Company,
to assist you with the filing of freight
claims when damage occurs. Hopefully, this
document will help clarify some of the
idiosyncrasies with freight and freight
claims. All
factories (including those of our
competitors) ship their products "F.O.B.
(freight on board) Shipping Point,"
"F.O.B. Factory," or some other similar
term. "F.O.B." has nothing to do with who
pays the freight! It is a legal term used
to signify who is legally responsible for
the merchandise while it is in transit.
When the equipment is quoted, "F.O.B.
Factory, Freight Collect," or, as a
courtesy to you, "F.O.B. Factory, Freight
Prepaid," the responsibility for damage
does not shift away from the carrier, or
from you, the purchaser of the
equipment. When the
manufacturer completes production, and the
shipment is loaded on to the freight
carrier's truck, the carrier then accepts
the freight, and signs for it as: 1.
Being
undamaged 2.
Having
a specific carton count (number
of pieces) 3.
Packaged
properly At this
point, the manufacturer's responsibility
ends, and the carrier's responsibility
begins. It is then the
carrier's
responsibility
to deliver the freight: 1.
Undamaged 2.
With
the piece count as listed on the
Bill of Lading When the
carrier pulls up to the dock of your
freight forwarder, it is then the
forwarder's
responsibility
to: 1.
Check
the cartons immediately for any
obvious damage 2.
Verify
the correct number of cartons or
piece count If, in the
event that something is incorrect, it is
the forwarder's
responsibility
to: 1.
Confirm
the problem, in writing, on the
Bill of Lading, and 2.
Immediately
notify the carrier, in writing,
of the problem. Please
note: The freight carriers and forwarders
may devise many reasons why they are not
responsible for your damaged freight.
However, the fact of the matter is, if
they accepted your shipment (from the
point of origin) as undamaged, with the
correct count and in correct cartons, it
is their responsibility to deliver it to
you in the same manner. When the
freight arrives at your door, it is
your
responsibility
to check for obvious damage or missing
items. In certain cases, you have
fifteen (15) days to open your cartons and
check for either: 1.
Concealed
damage 2.
Missing
or incorrect items When
receiving a shipment that is damaged,
improperly packaged, or has an incorrect
carton count, as the owner of the freight,
you must then decide whether to: 1.
Accept
the shipment, as is, and fix what
is broken or fabricate what is
missing, then file a freight
claim to recover your incurred
costs, or; 2.
Accept
the shipment, as is, and reorder
the missing or damaged freight,
and file a freight claim to
collect your money for the
re-ordered portion of your
shipment. In either case, we
strongly advise taking photos
(date stamp the photos) of
cartons and contents, and count
cartons carefully checking that
each carton is addressed to
YOU. 3.
Or,
refuse the shipment. Concealed
damage is the responsibility of either the
carrier or the freight forwarder, and you
must immediately notify them (the
delivering carrier) in writing, in detail,
of any damage. Once again, we suggest
taking photos (date stamped) of both the
cartons and the damaged
equipment. If the
shipper ships you twenty (20) cartons, and
you receive twenty (20) undamaged cartons,
and you sign for them as "OK", only to
find out three months later that four (4)
of the cartons belong to someone else; and
you are indeed missing four (4) cartons of
your own merchandise, well… guess who
is then responsible? Please make certain
that all boxes and merchandise received is
addressed to you. When you sign for a
shipment, you have legally accepted the
shipment, and any replacement cost will be
your
responsibility. Also, no
freight carrier will accept a product
unless it is properly packaged. If you
receive a shipment that is not packaged
(crated or cartoned) and rolling around
loose in the bottom of the truck, you can
bet that something is either missing or
damaged, and you should either: 1.
Refuse
the shipment, or 2.
Inventory
the shipment, piece by piece, and
list each item on the Bill of
Lading, or 3.
Before
you accept this shipment, call
the sales associate that sold you
the material and have them read
you an itemized packing list of
merchandise ordered, so you can
compare their list to what is
being delivered to
you. To avoid
freight problems, it is imperative that
everyone in your organization that is
accepting freight shipments, understand
these issues. Filing
Freight Claims can be a very difficult,
time-consuming, job-delaying and
frustrating process. We hope this
information proves useful to you in
clarifying some of those mysterious 'gray
areas' of liability and responsibility,
and serves to simplify the filing process
of any future freight claims. |
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