What should I ask about a trucking company’s detention and waiting time with shippers?
Ask whether waiting time is tracked at all, who bills it and how often customers actually pay. Time spent idle at a dock costs the company drivers’ hours and truck use. Find out which shippers cause the most delay and whether the contracts let the company charge for it.
Begin with the records. Do drivers log arrival and departure times, and does the office compare them with appointment times? If nothing is tracked, the company probably absorbs the cost without knowing it. Ask for a sample of loads at your own choice and look at the gap between booked and actual times, both at pickup and delivery.
Next, ask how the company handles billing for the delay. Is there a written term in customer agreements, and is it invoiced routinely or only when someone complains? Ask how much of what was billed was collected, and which customers push back. Habitual disputes may point to a relationship the owner has been protecting by staying quiet.
Then think about the effect on people. Long waits frustrate drivers and may be tied to turnover. Ask drivers, if you are allowed to speak with some, which docks they dread. Ask the seller whether any customer has been dropped for waiting problems and whether any lanes are only profitable because the delay is ignored. Your advisors can test whether the numbers hold once the delay is counted properly.
Key takeaways
- Check whether arrival and departure times are logged and compared with bookings.
- Ask how much waiting time is billed and how much is paid.
- Ask drivers which shippers cost them the most time.
- Ask whether any customer or lane was dropped because of waiting problems, and what changed afterwards.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
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