5 Setbacks All Freight Carriers Face

Nobody said that working on the road was easy. And much less the professionals of the transport of merchandise, who every so often must face unwanted situations. We review the most common.

Freight Carriers and Adversities

Professional transport company knows that sooner or later, they will have to deal with some unexpected incident. It may come from the road itself, it may originate from your vehicle, or it may be the result of pure chance.

Adverse weather conditions

The transport of goods with strong wind, rain, hail, or forces a type of driving requires much more caution snow. It can even cause a transport truck to stop for hours. Although freight forwarders are well trained in driving in these types of circumstances to minimize potential risks, given a choice, very few would say no to a clear and calm day. Adverse weather conditions lead to increased vibrations and, for example, in wet surfaces, lengthen braking time. Visibility is reduced, and the risk of an accident increases.

Mechanical breakdown

A transport truck is a vehicle subjected to significant stress over many hours and many days of the year. Breakdowns on the road are among the greatest fears of transport company, who can see how the work of hours or days to get merchandise to arrive on time is ruined. The best way to prevent these situations is to strictly comply with the manufacturers' maintenance dates and carry out periodic preventive reviews of essential maintenance vehicles to transport pallets. Fluid levels, transmission, or suspension are vital points.

Robbery attempts

Unfortunately for freight carriers, the increase in thefts from parked trucks has not decreased in recent years. What's more, there has even been the appearance of some robbery techniques in motion by the so-called 'surfer method,' which consists of making the truck slow down and jumping from a moving car to the back of the trailer, breaking the doors and transfer the merchandise to various vehicles. In any case, most of the abductions occur at night, when friends of others take advantage of the fact that the drivers are asleep.

Failure of the air conditioning in summer or the heating in winter

Modern transport vehicles are equipped with autonomous air conditioning and heating systems in the cabin for the driver to use while driving. When it is time to sleep, and temperatures are very high or very low. That either system breaks down during a journey means a severe setback. In addition to affecting driving conditions, it is challenging to rest and sleep that freight carriers need to carry out their long working hours. The solution may be to find an accommodation that offers this service, with the consequent increase in spending. Until the truck returns to the starting point, it will not be possible to verify the fault and repair it, which can mean a wait of several days if the truck is many kilometers from home.

The dreaded stoppage of a load

The stoppage of the load is not among the inconveniences that can arise due to bad fortune, but it causes severe prejudices and is one of the greatest fears of professionals. A long delay from the carrier is a real setback for a transport company. 

This financial compensation would remedy the hypothetical costs of not making another scheduled delivery with another customer. At the moment of truth, the truth is that the excess loading and unloading times is one of the usual claims by transport associations. According to these, fewer complaints are filed than due for fear of disturbing the shipper, resulting in added pressure to arrive on time for the following collection or delivery.