A quality carrier always notifies a customer.

If you are still relatively new to the drayage game, it’s important to protect yourself and your investment.

One important question customers often have and a key piece of knowledge they should possess is when the drayage or the trucking company should notify you.

Everyone wants to be kept in the loop, but this list of the essential times a customer should should be in the know can help you judge if you are dealing with a quality and transparent operation:

• Adding of an unexpected accessorial charge: We covered these types of charges earlier, but a good company will let you know if things need to be added, like certain fees.
• Delays at port: One of the hardest factors to judge is availability of the port due to outside forces whether that is nature, other shipments or human error.
• Unexpected strike at the port: Another unknown factor at the port, but labor issues do come up from time to time.
• Container on hold due to a fee not paid: This might be the easiest one to correct, but hopefully it can be brought to light quickly.
• Truck breaks down: This can be very frustrating, but it happens. The test is how well the trucking company keeps you in the loop and how it might affect arrival times.
• Container seal is broken: This can be serious or an accident, but it’s best to keep in touch about the status of the load.

A quality drayage company will have software in place to send some of these types of notifications automatically to stakeholders, such as freight forwarders, customs brokers, freight brokers, and customers shipping or receiving the container.

Technology can be one key thing to look for and ask about when you select a drayage company.