I received an e-mail from a contractor today that raises more questions than satisfactory answers. I'm wondering what experience, if any, others have had with shippers who insist on putting security tape on your truck door after the load is on the truck?
The security tape is exactly that, security tape. It is designed to be unremovable and only cut open when the door is opened. Removing the tape will also remove the paint.
The idea from the shipper's point of view is that intact tape will show the load has not been tampered with while in transit. That works for shippers but for the owner operators who have to pay to have their truck door repainted and suffer the down time to have it done, security tape is something altogether different.
Diane and I have never had a shipper that wanted to use security tape. We had one recently that put a label on the truck door that took me an afternoon to remove without damaging the paint.
I honestly don't know what I would do if I was at a dock with freight freshly loaded and a shipper wanting to put paint-damaging tape on the truck. My instinct would be to prohibit the use of that tape and start conversations intended to find an alternative that is acceptable. If no solution could be found, I see little choice but to have the freight taken off the truck. It is unlikely that a shipper would agree to pay for the required paint job and the down time it would take to get it.
I'm raising the question now in hopes of avoiding later that undesirable outcome.
One thing we have going for us in a TVAL truck is the door alarm that is now built in. Dispatch can tell when the door is closed and opened. Perhaps shippers would accept that as an alternative to security tape. But the problem is that a loading dock guy will not be aware. With his upcoming lunch hour in mind, he'll slap that tape on without asking or giving a second thought to who owns the truck. His job is to put the tape on after the freight is loaded and his concern would end there.
Your thoughts? Your experiences?
The security tape is exactly that, security tape. It is designed to be unremovable and only cut open when the door is opened. Removing the tape will also remove the paint.
The idea from the shipper's point of view is that intact tape will show the load has not been tampered with while in transit. That works for shippers but for the owner operators who have to pay to have their truck door repainted and suffer the down time to have it done, security tape is something altogether different.
Diane and I have never had a shipper that wanted to use security tape. We had one recently that put a label on the truck door that took me an afternoon to remove without damaging the paint.
I honestly don't know what I would do if I was at a dock with freight freshly loaded and a shipper wanting to put paint-damaging tape on the truck. My instinct would be to prohibit the use of that tape and start conversations intended to find an alternative that is acceptable. If no solution could be found, I see little choice but to have the freight taken off the truck. It is unlikely that a shipper would agree to pay for the required paint job and the down time it would take to get it.
I'm raising the question now in hopes of avoiding later that undesirable outcome.
One thing we have going for us in a TVAL truck is the door alarm that is now built in. Dispatch can tell when the door is closed and opened. Perhaps shippers would accept that as an alternative to security tape. But the problem is that a loading dock guy will not be aware. With his upcoming lunch hour in mind, he'll slap that tape on without asking or giving a second thought to who owns the truck. His job is to put the tape on after the freight is loaded and his concern would end there.
Your thoughts? Your experiences?
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