Western Motor Group - Moline, IL

[Tony]

I'm undecided about this one... Upset at the least, but not sure I'm ready to fire the 'Collector' gun their way.

I booked a load that was reposted on CD a few times. It was apparent to me why it was reposted just from seeing the description. 4x 'GMC p30 utilimaster', which if anyone knows they are similar to a step-van, or postal van, or LLV's. They are fairly long and definitely tall and kinda heavy.

Well, lucky for me... I started out pulling LTL freight with my 1-ton pickup and still had my flatbed available.

So I called to book it. The dealer has recently been dropping their feedback rating on CD, so I accepted reading that it was a COD load. Being that my trailer could only fit two trucks at a time, I notified them that I would take two trips over the course of the same night. The trip is about 120mi each way... but since they had been increasing their rate on the transport, the rate made it more than acceptable to run empty back and reload.

Anyway... I get to the auction and there are 5 gate passes in the envelope. So I called the dealer to find out which one gets left behind. He asks me if I want to take it for the same individual rate (rate divided by 4 = single rate). I tell him that I don't mind the 3rd haul as long as something pops up to fill the space on the trailer. Which he says that his buyer should have something on the way soon.

I took all 5 gate passes and proceeded to load two of the vans that I had already confirmed and started heading to the drop. Within 20 miles of getting to him, I call and tell him my ETA at which time he tells me of the 6th vehicle that would round out the 3rd trip.

He had bought a shuttle bus from another auction, but one of his guys was driving it back to the lot. He said that the transmission was overheating and they stopped right along my path since they knew I would be past there. After verifying with him that it would run enough for me to load/unload, I agreed to pick it up along the way(I moved my winch off that trailer, so its winch-less). He said that it would require a jump since the guy driving it back said thats all it needed, but didnt want to risk the transmission since it was running hot, etc.

I dropped the 1st trip and headed back to the 2nd. On the way back, I spotted the bus sitting at an old closed truckstop along the way. I had decided that I would only load one of the trucks at the auction and pick the bus up on the 2nd trip. When I got there, the battery and alternator had to be dead, and it was bone dry in the fuel tank. I transferred about 5gal from my tank, but the motor still wouldn't start. After 2 hours of messing with it... I left it behind in anger and finished that run with only 1 truck on.

The 3rd trip was no better... I located my last two trucks at the auction, but one of those wouldn't start! Battery was weak since the dash wouldn't light at all. But after charging off the other running truck and even using a jump-pack, the starter on it wouldn't engage.

At this point I was furious! I called the dealer who told me I could leave it, etc... are you kidding? 2 trips with a single truck... that's insane! Since this auction couldn't fork-load, and I have no winch, I was getting worse. He asks me if I would care if he asked me to use the running truck to push the non-runner onto my trailer. Hmmmsss....

(continued)

[Tony]

He basically gave me permission to carefully attempt this feat of stupidity... but in a slight rage and with some curiosity... I agreed. As long as he verified that I would not be responsible for any damages to the bumpers, etc. Which for him meant nothing since they are postal vans with big ass rubber bumper covers anyway.

So I load the vans and get moving. Another 2 hours wasted on this load due to trying to start it, etc.

Now remember, this whole shenanigan's packed trip is COD right?
I get there with the 3rd load. Less the bus which is obvious, but now I have made a delivery of 5 trucks. I was initially confirmed for the four trucks the day previous, which took all through the night to make the 3 runs. Putting me standing in his office at about 12:30pm with 5 sets of keys and his trucks all lined up out back.

I hold out the keys and ask the guy behind the counter if he has my check...
"We mail checks for transports"

[=[ TONY RUNS SCREAMING FROM THE LOT ]=]
nah, I didn't scream... but what would you do?

I called the manager/owner right away (from his office actually, on my cell)
After a long story, etc he tells me the obvious one I've head from various "we mail checks" dealers... "The person who writes checks won't be back until tomorrow".
Due to the drop-off location, etc the trucks were obviously unloaded already. Also, how could I remove all the previous nights trucks with a trailer that only holds two.

He tells me that he will overnight a check later that afternoon. Which I honestly have to accept since I have no idea what I could do at that time. Anywho... It's now 3pm the following day and there's no check here.
I know he was back in his office yesterday since he marked the order as 'Delivered' on Central.

Grrrrrr

[T5 Trucking]

If I were you, I would not have left him keys until he paid. COD is COD....especially because you were very suspicious in the first place.

Ultimately, the broker is the one who hired you and is responsible for payment. You would have recourse with him IF his license is current and his insurance information is correct. He has a surety bond.

Also, FYI...make sure all vehicles are assigned thru Central or a new Bill of Lading. The old trick of course is to add vehicles with no written record of them and they never pay you for them. Unfortunately, we have to protect ourselves.

Anyway, I guess I would get very ugly with both people tomorrow. Give them payment options and threaten with picking up the vehicles, bad ratings, even small claims court..hopefully you have pictures of the trucks at delivery......

Also, the INOP vehicles are generally an extra charge. If you were lead to believe they were all operable, you should be able to charge at least $75-100 extra each for INOP.

Just my two cents.

[Tony]

You are absolutely right. It will be handled correctly and swiftly. Being as close as I am to them, a trailer completely blocking their lot should get their attention too. But I still have some recourse on those particular vehicles.

Thanks for the input, but this was mostly posted as a record of this company. It was just the most recent "negative" activity I've come across.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[cosgo]

I wouldve "forgot" to give him one or two sets of keys. When he called, I would tell him that I would gladly "overnight" them to him. $15 insurance policy. You get your overnight, he gets his.

[cosgo]

Come to think of it... im glad you got that load because I was going to jump on it!!

[cosgo]

Nice. Good idea.

[Tony]

Gave em the old red circle today. They promised to overnight a check, but unless their clocks move 4x as slow as mine... they lied. Big fat RED DOT... Negative sir, yes I said negative!

[Bigram]

Hit up on their bond !!

[Tony]

Hit up on their bond !!

Dealers don't have bonds :(

[Tony]

Now we're gonna have a little fun.

Spoke to the Rock Island States Attorney's office today. Do you realize that the way this went down, it can be considered Theft of Services? Hmmm... wonder whats going to happen when I go out there tomorrow to file the police reports. It could be claimed that I 'decided' to leave the vehicles behind and accepted payment terms. But since I threw a little fit and gave him 24 hours to cover his debt, I can still file it and see if it sticks. In the meantime, I'm also going to file a small claims case against him for the max amount since I'll be there anyway.

Starting to wonder what will happen when more carriers start to file cases against these dealers. A small claims case isn't really that expensive.

[short stack]

nice!!
mark

[Dorsey]

I didn't remember this post but I've hauled 2 vans on seperate occasions east and were quick pay. They paid both on time. All I seen working there was a bunch of kids. I got lucky I guess.

[cosgo]

Ive hauled stuff for them on a numbe of occasions, always a positive transaction

[LBZ]

Only did one for them a year or two ago. Delivered from their place down to LA. & the girl in the office mailed the check out when I faxed back a signed BOL. But kind of like Dorsey said, not sure if anyone in there was over 25 years old.

[Tony]

It was recent brought to my attention that I had not updated the status on this post. Since this was one of my last loads previous to the accident, I can see why.

Anyway, the following week the owner sent out a check(via fedex) for the full amount. The load was paid in full.

however, the request to remove this will not be removed as the owner states that he does not think it was marked "COD" and there was confusion. However, if you all recall... at the time we only hauled COD's. And it wasn't the first load I had hauled for him that was similar in nature(COD Check not ready). Plus with the wasted 2 hours attempting to start an "extra help-me-out" bus on the way, which we were told would start but overheated... 2 hours wasted charging its batteries from my truck, 5gal of diesel, and it was still unloadable. No consideration for the extra "help me out" time wasted.

I do realize that this was all handled nearly 2 years ago, but the whole purpose of keeping these posts is for the benefit of an accurate history. We don't remove ANYTHING(unlike CD which removes negatives regularly).
I have posted his request for removal in the Insider section to keep an accurate record.

I will reiterate that the load was paid in full the following week, and the owner made great efforts to handle the situation.

I am however curious as to why they moved from Moline, IL to Braidwood, IL ?!?!
looks like the address is wrong on central, as the only address that makes sense is that they took over Dzak's lot? (haulin?)

[haulin rv]

Yes they did, they have it packed full too.

[ccoop769]

Maybe a large donation would accidently delete this thread.... for Tony's extra time of course. So really its still somewhat unpaid.

[Tony]

Yes they did, they have it packed full too.

lol, anything worth looking at? :)

[haulin rv]

Not really. They have a 2nd gen Dodge sitting there that caught my eye but they are high on the price.

They also have a VW Euro van with the pop top. That would be cool for camping, but at $12,990 and 180k that would be a NO too.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SharpAutoTransport]

Dealers don't have bonds :(

They do, but they are a different type of fund. Basically if they refuse to make good on a lemon or something of that sort. Not for transport.

I get calls frequently with drivers saying "they didn't have my money when I delivered." I undoubtedly say "and you delivered? Why?"