Hi all just wondered if any one can clear this up for me
I loaded belgium 26 pallets for reed & boardall. I tipped ok but after sitting on bay for half hour or so with red light still on after they’d obviously finished i went into the office and was told there was some descrepencie with a couple of pallets and they might be putting them back on, to which i said u wont and the cocky git replied well we will. Bearing in mind im an owner driver and ths would completely stuff me for my reload, i spoke to my office and was more or less told they cant go back on. So with this in mind went back in explained situation and was meet with a face of someone who looked like they just stepped in ■■■■■■■, problem is im on bay and they got my keys, so i piped up give me my keys and was meet with “no” so now hes really getting my back up, so once again give me them bloody keys “no” so i said how far do u want to take this he said “as far as u like managers over there”, i said im not saying that what i mean is thats my truck ur refusing to hand me back my keys so now you’ve unlawfully taken my vehicle im gonna call the police. I realise this makes me sound a bit silly but other than getting really lairy about it couldnt see a way out anyway he said call the police obviously wasnt gonna do that. With that manager comes over calms things down but still no keys as it turned out they accepted pallets not because iv my doing just because?, justt wondered what legal obligations are if i had of ended up with pallets on and then proceded to drag them out via cranking strap to railing in the middle of there yard? thanks
If they refuse part of your load and write that down on the CMR
Then you have no leg to stand on, what about your office getting
organised and making plans which cater for such problems,
It can be done as we have had the same happen over here in Germany
and our office got the refused items dropped off at a company
where we picked them up later on,yes charges were incurred but
they were recovered later on,
reed boardell are normally spot on, they wouldnt reject anything without good reason, next time watch it loading and check for damage , cos its down to you
Apparently the expiry dates on the pallets differed not really something u can keep a look out for, and appreciate what ur saying brit pete but just think its bang out of line that an incident like this where im completely not at fault could end up affecting my bank balance and as for recovering losses i reckon i got more chance of getting a ■■■■■■■■ off the pope that that happening wiv this lot, still musnt grumble 
im getting some dummy keys to stop this prediciment happening again
460MC:
Apparently the expiry dates on the pallets differed not really something u can keep a look out for, and appreciate what ur saying brit pete but just think its bang out of line that an incident like this where im completely not at fault could end up affecting my bank balance and as for recovering losses i reckon i got more chance of getting a ■■■■■■■■ off the pope that that happening wiv this lot, still musnt grumble
If you do get yourself some “dummy” keys, makesure you hand in the ones without your CAR + HOUSE keys attached 
I had a right dumb ■■■ mother trucker work for me once, who did just that, gobbed off at the warehouse staff, pulled out of the D.C., legged it 50 miles north, then realised his error FFS
Best part about it, he did the exact same thing a month earlier, at another D.C., but, this time with a bunch of keys, which had his HOUSE + CAR + LOCK UP + god knows what else attached, but not the truck keys. That`s where he got the idea to “source” another set of keys for the truck 
That is all well and good,with the false keys ,However
if you forcibly leave that site and cause damage whilst doing
it, you will be right in it, get the office to do its job and
as a"" famous person once said , Be Prepared,“” how hard
can that be for the"“shiny butts”" in the office, 
brit pete:
That is all well and good,with the false keys ,However
if you forcibly leave that site and cause damage whilst doing
it, you will be right in it, get the office to do its job and
as a"" famous person once said , Be Prepared,“” how hard
can that be for the"“shiny butts”" in the office,
Agreed, but, for some reason, far too many drivers want to take the situation into their own hands, instead of ringing the “shiny butts”, who are actually paid to sort out the problems…FFS 
You see the most unlikely characters going ballistic over the slightest malfunction, when a quick phone call to HQ, would sort the problem out 
But, then again, do they know something that we don`t, i.e., their “office” is crap at sorting problems out
460MC:
just think its bang out of line that an incident like this where im completely not at fault could end up affecting my bank balance
That’s just part of the risk of being in business as an OD. If you want to know you’ll get your money regardless sell the wagon, become and employed driver and let someone else take the risk. Unfortunately being in business means you’re exposed to all kinds of risks, many of which are outside your control, that’s just how it is.
The only way to guarantee you’ll never be out of pocket for someone elses mistakes like this is to make sure you have some kind of clause in your contract to ensure the customer who has made the mistake provides some kind of compensation, but you might struggle to get them to agree with that.
Paul
Well knew id get that in the end if u dont like it become a employed driver, but the point is it shouldnt be like that, perhaps im just a bit new to this dog eat dog game but i dont like it and thats that really, u show me someone who does like it and il show u a pratt. Stanley mitchell take it that was ur wagons tipping in southend cemetery yesterday
AS you pointed out you are a O/D then it is even more
important, that you ensure that your partner who gets the
load if you do not have direct work, has a back up plan in place
it can not be that hard as you posted you required a emptey
trailer because of your next job,they can earn their money
by ensuring that the job is 100% covered.
lol partner more like master and puppet, i was geeting x amount for the reload of 26 pallets i dont know for sure but im pretty certain the couple of pallets would not be anywhere near the same amont as x. Obviously im aware of the fact i could put clauses in anything i do but what u got to remeber is i didnt come along and make this company i work for sign a contract they made me sign and after looking into other companys i know theres alot of od in the same boat, its a ■■■■ sandwhich and people like reed boardall who cant even accept a couple of pallets on the pretence they will be returned on another date/truck dont make it any easier. Does anyone think it reasonable that u should trek half way across the country trying to make a profit just to have the rug pulled out from underneath u when u get there. Fingers crossed for monday that some bloke some where who iv never meet hasnt ■■■■■■ up the order/picking and i mighty actually draw a wage this week. POOR POOR ME lol
460MC:
lol partner more like master and puppet, i was geeting x amount for the reload of 26 pallets i dont know for sure but im pretty certain the couple of pallets would not be anywhere near the same amont as x. Obviously im aware of the fact i could put clauses in anything i do but what u got to remeber is i didnt come along and make this company i work for sign a contract they made me sign and after looking into other companys i know theres alot of od in the same boat, its a [zb] sandwhich and people like reed boardall who cant even accept a couple of pallets on the pretence they will be returned on another date/truck dont make it any easier. Does anyone think it reasonable that u should trek half way across the country trying to make a profit just to have the rug pulled out from underneath u when u get there. Fingers crossed for monday that some bloke some where who iv never meet hasnt [zb] up the order/picking and i mighty actually draw a wage this week. POOR POOR ME lol
It’s a nightmare, I know there aren’t many contracts floating about when you’re an OD, and that you’re everybody’s ■■■■■.
I don’t know what the answer is, you just need Diplomacy and determination in equal measures, and if something does go wrong. Make sure you know how much you will be getting paid before you restart your journey. The other thing is, unless you’re sure that nothing is ever going to go wrong that may be construed as ‘your fault’ don’t be to hard on the customer because as the saying goes ‘what gfoes around comes around’ and ‘a favour’ is often remembered.
You may be an owner driver but you still have someone to answer to, whether that someone is a pimpled 19 year old in the planning or the bloke who signs the cheque at the end of the month. If you have a reload before you are tipped, the first customer has to sort out storage or return of his 2 pallets before you can leave, if it takes all day, charge him demurrage.
At the end of the day, you are responsible for the goods on your trailer. If the delivery destination chooses to bounce two pallets because of incorrect Best Before dates etc, then it is your responsibility to sort it. Getting lairy, and saying “I’m an O/D, you’re wrecking my chances of a reload etc” won’t help you, much better to ask them nicely to hang on to the rejected goods (but many places won’t even let you do that…)
Yes it’s a pain when you are left with goods on board but it happens all too often…
460MC:
Well knew id get that in the end if u dont like it become a employed driver, but the point is it shouldnt be like that, perhaps im just a bit new to this dog eat dog game but i dont like it and thats that really, u show me someone who does like it and il show u a pratt. Stanley mitchell take it that was ur wagons tipping in southend cemetery yesterday
Southend Cemetery…errrr NO 
a firm i used to drive for ran a policy that if goods were rejected from the drop and it wasnt the haulage firms fault then that customer was billed for the space the returned goods took up.
Its time to look at your terms and conditions of carriage, if there isnt a clause to cover this , get one!!
You were contracted to carry the goods from A-B by your client, if the goods are refused and you either have to go back to A, or too a new place C? your conditions of carriage should define this as an addition to the original contract and the client liable for any costs. the problem obviously comes if you had a higher paying load waiting which you can no longer fulfill , you may be able to write into your conditions of carriage that your client is liable for the difference if any in profit between the two loads, but if you try to claim it I doubt if you will get that much work from them in future
Rikki-UK:
Its time to look at your terms and conditions of carriage, if there isnt a clause to cover this , get one!!You were contracted to carry the goods from A-B by your client, if the goods are refused and you either have to go back to A, or too a new place C? your conditions of carriage should define this as an addition to the original contract and the client liable for any costs. the problem obviously comes if you had a higher paying load waiting which you can no longer fulfill , you may be able to write into your conditions of carriage that your client is liable for the difference if any in profit between the two loads, but if you try to claim it I doubt if you will get that much work from them in future
great in theory, but i bet you cannot get anyone with any authority to sign and agree to them. can just picture the md’s face at say wincantons, upon reading your conditions of carriage. a few months back had a pallet refused at tesco lichfield from a large company in leeds. they offered me £25 to return the pallet. fine but im supposed to be loading 52 pallets out of leicester for wakefield. i think the general thought by suppliers is do it our way or no way!