Trucking News and Briefs for Monday, May 27 2024:
Shippers claim Flexport charges excessive detention and demurrage fee
Flexport is the new owner of the Convoy Platform. The company bills itself as an international shipping solution. Peloton has accused them of charging millions of dollars for detention and demurrage charges while the containers sat at the ports.
In a Complaint filed on May 3, by Peloton, a fitness equipment retailer, “Flexport failed to perform its inland transport obligations properly” from 2020-2023. Another shipper filed a similar complaint last week. Giti Tire Ltd. alleges that it has also been charged millions of dollars in demurrage and improper detention charges.
According to the Peloton complaint about Flexport, the company’s shortcomings include “failing timely to remove Peloton Containers from US Marine and Intermodal Terminals, failing timely to deliver containers to their designated locations inland and failing timely to return the empty container within the applicable free-time periods.”
Flexport still invoices Peloton for the services, according to the complaint.
It’s a proven fact that the pandemic disrupted supply chain beginning in 2020 and continued to do so into 2023. Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen was featured in CNBC and Bloomberg broadcasts and publications 15 times or more during this period to lend his expert opinion to the national discussion on supply chain challenges.
Flexport purchased the tech assets from Convoy in early 2024. Convoy was the former broker that dissolved October 2023 leaving unpaid dozens of carriers. Flexport has been able to entice back some of Convoy’s old carriers. even those who remained unpaid when the original Convoy collapsed.
[ Related to Convoy fallout : Stiffed carrier believes that freight broker’s bond should vary depending on company size]
Overdrivereporting found Flexport likely acquired Convoy’s tech assets, valued at $3.8 billion once, for less than 10 million dollars.
Bill Driegert summarized the Cass Freight Index and concluded that the market was “mixed,” citing other experts who said a rate rebound could occur later this year. The webinar included an explanation of Convoy’s automated bidding process that uses machine learning in order to negotiate with carriers.
Overdrive asked twice for an update on the load volumes moving through Convoy Platform. The question was answered.
A Flexport spokesperson promised an update on the trucking operation of the company, but has not yet delivered.
Flexport’s spokesperson in the Peloton case denied any wrongdoing and stated that “Flexport strictly adheres to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act as well as all other rules and regulation within the Shipping Act.” We go beyond the call of duty to ensure that our customers receive their goods on time and minimize any detention or demurrage charges. This is especially true in times of stress, such as the supply chain crisis many businesses faced during pandemic.
Dig deeper: Start by reading the series at this link. It details the efforts that carriers, shippers, and others have made to try and secure compensation for unpaid loads in the wake the collapse of Convoy brokerage and Flexport’s acquisition of the technology in early this year.
I-95 reopened in Philly less than a month after the collapse of the bridge
At a press conference on Thursday, May 23, Pennsylvania officials revealed that permanent repairs have been completed to I-95 near northeast Philadelphia. This is less than a month after a fatal tanker truck accident led to a fire and the collapse of an interstate.
Shailen Bhatt, Federal Highway Administrator and Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Mike Carroll were present to celebrate the completion of repairs. All lanes of I-95 in this area were opened to traffic on Friday morning, May 24. One lane was also opened on the newly constructed ramp connecting northbound I-95 with Cottman Ave.
Pennsylvania Gov. The state stated that Josh Shapiro, Carroll, and the other state, local and federal officials coordinated their efforts to reopen I-95 as quickly and safely as possible. They were also ahead of schedule at every step. A temporary road with six lanes was opened on June 23, 2020, just 12 days after the initial collapse and fire.
The new bridge and its ramp will replace those that were destroyed by a tanker truck accident and fire on June 11, 2023. The outer sections of the northbound and the southbound sides of bridge were then rebuilt, before I-95 traffic shifted from temporary center lanes to the completed outer sections of the new Bridge last November.
After the ramps to Cottman Avenue in both directions are completed, they will have enhanced traffic safety features, such as new signs and High Friction Surface Treatments (HFST). HFST is an added treatment to a road surface which creates more friction. This helps to keep vehicles in their lanes and improves stopping distances around curves and other places where wet pavement can contribute to crashes. The HFST treatment is , a Federal Highway Administration Everyday Counts invention that PennDOT has implemented throughout Pennsylvania. Data shows that the treatment reduces fatal and serious injury crashes.
[ Related to Tanker involved in I-95 Bridge Collapse: NTSB]
Trucker named Highway Angel after attempting to put out car fire
The Truckload Carriers Association named Andrew Hastie from Bryan, Texas a Highway Angel. Hastie was recognized for stopping to assist victims in a wreck, and for trying put out a fire. Hastie is employed by Decker Truck Line in Fort. Dodge, Iowa.
Andrew Hastie
Hastie, a driver from Kennesaw, Georgia was driving southbound along I-75 around 2:30 pm on April 29, when he saw a car burning in the woods about 25 yards away from the interstate. Hastie saw that people had already stopped to try to extinguish this fire. However, he also saw someone pointing at a fire extinguisher to indicate they needed more.
Hastie said, “My thought at that point was ‘I have to stop, I can’t continue going’.” He stopped, grabbed his extinguisher, and ran up to engulfed vehicle. He also tried to open the door of the driver’s car, but failed.
Hastie said, “It was the worst accident I’ve ever seen.” Bystanders helped a female passenger get out of the vehicle. She was finally airlifted to receive medical care. Her condition is unknown. Hastie suspects that the driver may not have survived the accident.
Hastie had stopped to offer assistance for about five or ten minutes when paramedics and fire crews arrived. A former volunteer policeman/firefighter in Pennsylvania, Hastie helped lay the fire hoses out to extinguish the flames.
He is glad that he stopped.
He said, “They needed a Fire Extinguisher. I had one.” “If I’d just kept going, it would have made me feel like crap.”