Fighting Fraud in Transportation: What your broker may not be telling you

The Bad Seeds

It happens in every industry, logistics is not isolated from fraudulent activity. In fact, you could say that freight brokerages have quite a reputation when it comes to misbehavior. It happens when a bad seed gets the idea to set up a phone and a computer to begin accepting freight from poor unsuspecting manufacturers with the intent to scam everyone involved. Let's call this imaginary freight broker B.S.B. for Bad Seed Brokerage. They've set up shop and begin soliciting business from manufacturers, retailers, and other shippers whose ears perk at B.S.B.'s promises. Guaranteed availability? You can beat my current provider's price by 10%? Sounds great!

Bam! Hook, line, and sinker. B.S.B. has their first load. Next, they arrange a poor unsuspecting trucker to haul the load. His ear perks to B.S.B.'s promises, too. Guaranteed quick pay? You can increase my take home by 10%? You can get me this load every week?  Bam! You've got yourself a truck!

Who Ends Up Paying?

Did you ever hear the expression when rolling with pigs in the mud, you both get dirty and the only one that had any fun was the pig? It's kind of like that when you deal with B.S.B., they're the pigs that laugh all the way to the bank as they cash their check from the shipper, skipping out on the trucker's bill. They'll get a new phone number and set up shop again, pulling scam after scam until they're caught.

The trucker has two choices, and both options cost him time, headache, and potential lost wages.

1. They can submit their invoice to the shipper and insist on payment, and the shipper is then forced to pay twice for the same shipment. Bet that 10% savings doesn't look so great now, does it?

2. They can file against B.S.B.'s Surety Bond. That's a little like an insurance policy for those who work with freight brokerages. It's required by law by the FMCSA in order to legally operate as a transportation broker, and helps to fight fraud in our industry. The carrier can file a claim against the bond in order to receive their settlement. Only $10,000 is required by law, but if New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta gets his way, it will be increased to $100,000 by the proposed bill H.R. 2357: Fighting Fraud in Transportation Act of 2011. Trinity holds a $250,000 Surety Bond just to remove any shadow of doubt about the type of company we are. We represent honesty and ethics in the workplace and in our dealings with our shippers and contracted carriers. Trinity wanted to set our business apart from the bad seeds out there, and we demonstrated it by investing in $240,000 more than what was required of us by law. 

Trinity is a 5 Diamond Broker, the highest rating possible.
Our MC# is 205157



Our History

Trinity started out as a freight brokerage and has since emerged to offer much more to our clients than just arranging movement of their truckloads and LTL's (less-than-truckload). We're now into freight management and providing cloud software services to enhance visibility, reporting, and automation. With our roots firmly entrenched in freight brokerage, however, its important to educate our customers and motor carrier providers on exactly what constitutes a good freight broker from a bad one.

The Tell Tale Signs-How to Spot a Bad Seed

• How long have they been in business?
• Are you insured by surety? Ask for a copy of their bond and check it, too.
• Who vouches for them?
• Are they members of the TIA?
• What's their credit history like?

Think closely before you select your chosen freight broker. At your request, we'll send you a free copy of a white paper that reviews 10 Questions to Ask potential freight brokers. I also invite you to check out a leading industry blog about this topic written by trucking advocate and activist Allen Smith.

Trinity Saves the Day and Delivers the Dough! Pizza Blends Case Study

www.PizzaBlends.com

Client

Pizza Blends is a a pioneer and industry leader in custom flour blending for over 25 years. They are the largest manufacturer of proprietary blended product for the pizza industry in the United States. Pizza Blends offers dry and frozen flour based products. products. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, their manufacturing locations are in Portland, Oregon; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Schenectady, New York.

Pizza Blends' Premix Product

Challenge

Hurricane Irene lashed the east coast, excessively flooding Uno’s highest volume distribution center in Pittston, Pennsylvania. The storm damaged their supplies of Pizza Blends’ premix dough product, used in UNO’s Bar & Grill restaurant locations.  Pizza Blends came to Trinity to solve the problem quickly to accommodate their client’s needs for a rush replacement shipment.

Solution

Trinity quickly lined up a shipment to load and deliver the same day! Our solution replenished the product from their Schenectady, New York plant to the locations in Metuchen, New Jersey and Ellicott City, Maryland that badly needed it. Instead of moving the pallets in separate shipments, they were combined onto one truckload to expedite delivery same day. Later, when it was decided the first stop off should route to Perth Amboy, New Jersey instead, Trinity switched gears quickly and accommodated the routing.
“Trinity saved them a few hundred dollars and provided fast action in the transit time. We secured the carrier same day and kept in contact with the driver, Uno’s, and Pizza Blends thru the evening until the last delivery was made,” shared Rita Osborn, Trinity Account Manager.

Results

Pizza Blends was recognized with the Customer Service Crisis Management award for outstanding service in their time of need. The announcement was made at Uno's Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia, which was attended by 400 vendor partners, franchisees, franchise operators, Uno's general managers and corporate executives.

 Bragging Rights 

“Trinity's thorough knowledge of Pizza Blends factories, personnel, and distribution partners allows us to maintain efficiencies by staying cost competitive and more importantly RELIABLE. Pizza Blends relies on dependable service from suppliers like you to help us satisfy our customers.”

Tina Dudley, Customer Service Manager

“Our relationship with Trinity is truly exceptional! Everyone I speak with knows us by name; they treat us with respect, friendliness and urgency. Their rates are in line with or better than other providers that quote the same lanes. They are ready and willing to help in any instance that they can whether it is getting a load delivered earlier/later, helping mitigate excess expenses (i.e. detention and layover changes reduced or omitted),
or working around problems with plant pickup schedules.”
Tanja Prentice, Customer Service Representative
 

“Everyone at Trinity really does an amazing job. I have absolutely no complaints with them. Whenever there is an issue, they jump on it right away and take care of any issue that presents itself. They go above and beyond what I think would be asked of them, they not only help out with all issues, but help solve them in a timely matter.”
Brian Schrader, Production Manager

Trinity Logistics is a leading solutions provider for supply chain professionals and others who don't have the time to be. We provide freight management services including but not limited to transportation procurement, supply chain consulting, process efficiency improvement, and transportation management systems. Let's not forget we also have some pretty awesome freight brokerage services for truckload, LTL (less-than-truckload), and intermodal (rail) shipments. Email us for your free consultation, the choice is yours. What do you have to lose? Oh yeah, that's right, more time and money if you continue to forge on alone. Call Trinity, we can help, and we're fun folks to boot, which is like icing on the cake.

Trinity Rewards Top Carriers

Trinity offers quality freight, quick pay options and genuine appreciation. Every year Trinity awards our top 500 carriers and drivers for their hard work. Awards are given to carriers who continue to build relationships, maintain good status, and deliver great service. We know that you have choices when it comes to booking freight and we would like to help get your truck loaded. For more information about our carrier services visit www.TrinityLogistics.com/Carriers.

Tajima is Floored by Trinity's Freight Management Solutions: Reduced spending and increased efficiency

Client

Tajima Global Flooring Solutions is a market share leader in high design luxury tile, plank, sheet, and loose lay flooring products. Headquartered in Conifer, Colorado, their major distribution center is in Calhoun, Georgia and their manufacturing location in Tokyo, Japan.

Tajima Installation: MCG Energy

Challenge

Tajima’s commercial flooring sales and national customer base were growing rapidly and putting increased pressure on logistics. Their freight quoting process was manual and time consuming. They lacked visibility into their freight spent and were unable to generate accurate shipping reports. Lastly, verifying shipment deliveries was labor intensive. In addition to their process inefficiencies, Tajima needed to be more competitive with their delivered sales pricing.

Tajima Installation: Glenbrook High School

Solution

Trinity performed a complementary freight analysis on Tajima’s historical freight information and processes. The first step was negotiating direct LTL pricing on their behalf, resulting in a 15.7% savings! Afterward, using a collaborative service model, Trinity led Tajima through a seamless transportation management system (TMS) implementation and trained their customer service team on the web based tool.

Results

Tajima Installation: MCG Energy

The quarter following their implementation of Trinity’s solutions, Tajima enjoyed their highest sales volume since their company began in 2008. The best part? It was handled without having to add on any additional logistics personnel. Tajima has doubled their sales revenue from the year before, and are seeing increased profits as a result of the partnership with Trinity.

 Bragging Rights 

“I want to advise how wonderful our experience has been with Trinity. From the very beginning, the level of service we have received has been outstanding and continues to be outstanding. Trinity has helped us to streamline freight quotes to our clients, lower the freight costs and simplify logistics. I cannot say enough about Trinity's level of commitment to excellent customer service and how very satisfied we are with the services that Trinity provides us. Trinity has helped our company and has also helped us improve our service to our clients.”

Char Libel, Customer Service Manager
“Tajima ships commercial grade flooring products and sometimes our customers have very unique delivery needs to schools, retail locations, construction sites, government installations, hospitals, churches and commercial flooring contractors around the country. The group at Trinity has always been available to provide the best and most importantly the most economic freight solutions for these situations. They also follow up with us to ensure we know our product has been delivered without any issues.”
Denise Johnson, CFO 

Trinity Logistics is a leading solutions provider for supply chain professionals and others who don't have the time to be. We provide freight management services including but not limited to transportation procurement, supply chain consulting, process efficiency improvement, and transportation management systems. Let's not forget we also have some pretty awesome freight brokerage services for truckload, LTL (less-than-truckload), and intermodal (rail) shipments. Email us for your free consultation, the choice is yours. What do you have to lose? Oh yeah, that's right, more time and money if you continue to forge on alone. Call Trinity, we can help, and we're fun folks to boot, which is like icing on the cake.
 

Defeating Your Transportation Opponents

The 2012 season is shaping up to be one of the most difficult in recent history.

There are many strong opponents on the schedule and teams that are not fully prepared will struggle to have a successful year.

Opponents like capacity, fuel prices, and driver shortage, all proved to be very difficult in 2011 and look to present even more of a challenge in 2012.

The first three opponents will prepare you for your most difficult rival, Rate Increases.

Rates have continued to rise in the last two years and if you can only defeat one opponent in 2012, this needs to be the one.

The final opponents on your schedule for 2012 are Legislation, Risk, CSA, and Equipment Shortage.

These opponents should not be overlooked; they are very dangerous and can ruin your season.

Do you want to defeat these opponents and maintain your perfect season? Request your FREE 2012 Transportation Playbook and learn how Trinity can help you defeat your rivals by clicking here!

Drivers React to Hours of Service Changes, Shippers Brace for Delays

Wow how time flies! A few weeks ago we were celebrating Christmas and now the New Year is upon us. The New Year will bring many changes to the trucking industry and the first major change drivers and shippers will notice is “how time flies” when they’re delivering product to the market this year.

In 2010 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed a change in the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. One of the major and most controversial changes proposed by the FMCSA was to reduce driving time from 11 hours per day to 10 hours per day. The proposed change could take away a potential 300 miles a week from a driver and possibly delay many shipments. A reduction in driving time could lead to increased costs for shippers, carriers, and consumers.

“We’re concerned that the federal government is imposing too many union rules upon those who aren’t required to be in a union”, said Jay Fuoss, who is a driver that represents a carrier based in Indiana.

On December 22, 2011, after a long overdue announcement, the FMCSA released the specifics of the new HOS regulations. In the end, the proposal to reduce driving time by an hour per day failed to be adopted, and driving time will remain at 11-hours per day.

Although the FMCSA did not reduce driving hours, they have announced many other changes and updates that will have an effect on drivers and shippers.

11-Hour Driving Limit

The FMCSA will not be reducing driving time by one hour; however, drivers that do drive for 11 hours per day must have 10 consecutive hours off duty. This will help to reduce driver fatigue and will help reduce the number of accidents.

14-Hour Limit

The 14-hour limit will not allow drivers to drive beyond the 14^th consecutive hour after coming on duty. The 3-hour difference between the 11-hour driving limit and the 14-hour limit gives drivers the opportunity to complete various non-driving duties such as loading and unloading their truck, receiving required inspections, and re-fueling, as well as non-working duties such as meal breaks. After completing an 11-hour driving limit and a 14-hour limit period, the driver will be required to take10 hours off-duty.

60/70-Hour On-Duty Limit

The 60/70 Hour On-Duty limit will not allow drivers to drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver will not be allowed to be on-duty for more than 60 hours per 7 days or 70 hours on-duty per 8 days. A driver must take 34 or more consecutive hours off duty before restarting a 7/8 day consecutive period.

Sleeper Berth Provision

Drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus a separate 2 consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.

“They are focusing too much on safety rather than the struggling economy”, said Vlad Maksimov, who is a driver that represents a carrier based in Oregon.

Although the FMCSA did not reduce the driving time by one hour per-day, the other changes to the Hours of Service regulations have the potential to interrupt the transportation process and have the potential to increase already rising costs. Trinity’s clients have a partner to help them navigate the new regulations, locating carriers with ample hours of service to ensure prompt delivery and avoid product delays. Trinity has an extensive carrier database where we can match the right carrier that fit your needs. Experience the Trinity difference today! For more information about our services or for a quote visit http://www.trinitylogistics.com/request to have one of our sales representatives contact you.

A New Year-A New Name-Solutions Focused

As we close another year, our company reflects on all that we have been able to achieve and celebrate in the past twelve months. I’m writing to you in order to personally extend our heartfelt thanks for your business, entrusting our team to serve you.

Thanks to your continued business, Trinity was able to rise above the competition, arranging over 200,000 shipments in 2011. While others in our industry were either closing their doors or being acquired by larger suppliers, Trinity gained market share and utilized our experienced team to deliver on our promise to you, logistics solutions.

Another area we grew stronger is in our vision for our future. Always striving for improvement, we listened to suggestions from our clients, team members, and suppliers. Our future strategy will leverage and build upon our strengths, and is beginning January 2012 with a name change to Trinity Logistics.
 
This change reflects a true representation of our business, serving as a solutions provider for our customer’s logistics needs, ranging from Truckload, Less-Than-Truckload,  Intermodal, freight management with a Transportation Management System (TMS), or other designed services. The name change from Trinity Transport Inc. to Trinity Logistics will help communicate our ability to offer a variety of transportation solutions. Trinity Logistics is led by the same dedicated and committed leadership team as it has been since 1979.

We look forward to serving you as Trinity Logistics, and I welcome you to visit our FAQ’s on our website.
Customer FAQ's or Carrier FAQ's

Best wishes for a great and successful 2012,










Jeff Banning, CTB
President & CEO