Beware of R&L Carriers

We want to warn anyone thinking of hiring R&L Carriers. We feel they are a scam.

I don’t like saying bad things about anyone or even a company. But I wouldn’t want anyone to be treated like we were, so I am using the power of the internet to help protect people that might otherwise hire R&L Carriers.

We recieved our custom built pallet crate returned on a pallet. They obviously smashed into it with a forklift. They shipped it to Dallas without damaging it. We used it at a trade show there. But after the show, the return shipment apparently didn’t go so well.

My office manager thought it odd that it was on a pallet when it came back. After all, it is a pallet crate. I had it’s own skids on it. It was custom designed to not require a pallet… because it was one.

But it was designed to be picked up by a forklift from two of the four sides. They chose to pick it up with a forklift by busting through the side that was not made for a forklift. They then put it on a pallet and returned it to us.

I arrived at the office about 3 minutes after the truck driver left. It was sitting outside our office still on the pallet. I immediately took pictures. I added descriptions to the pictures as noted below and sent them off with a claim for the damage.

R&L will not cover the claim apparently because the pictures are not date stamped.

We have been working with a Claims Analyst from Echo Global Logistics, whom we do not fault in this. They are essentially middle men that help us with our shipping needs. They provided us with the following information:

This claim on BOL #14357658 was declined because the delivery receipt was signed free and clear, indicating no damage at the time the freight was tendered to the consignee.

The processing of freight claims for goods of interstate commerce is guided by federal law and controlled by federal statutes and decisions. In determining liability for damage of interstate shipments, we look to the Carmack Amendment of the Interstate Commerce Act. This legislation codifies the common law rule that a carrier is not an absolute insurer of goods transported; and, as such, is only liable for loss or damage to the goods where it can be shown the proximate cause was due to negligent handling by the carrier while the goods were in transit.

Therefore, because the delivery receipt was signed free and clear, there is no way to determine when, where, and how the damage occurred; and/or who specifically is responsible. And, given such ambiguity, we cannot establish that the carrier alone is liable for the damage incurred and, in turn, the full amount claimed.

If you can produce additional, compelling evidence which demonstrates carrier liability, then I will promptly file an appeal on your behalf.

We could provide them with additional information. But I will not jump through hoops for them. I feel they already denied a legit claim and they will do it again. So I’ll just provide additional information here publicly… like this picture that shows the images sent from my email box to my office manager for processing. The email is date stamped on November 18th a day after receiving the return shipment. The crate photos were taken immediately before even bringing the crate in. But this was after I took the time to import the pictures, edit them pointing out the damage, and then send them off to our office manager.

Do you need more compelling information? Here is the email sent the day the shipment was recieved – November 17th, 2011. The damage shown in the pictures is clearly discussed. Can you believe that we actually paid to insure this and they still don’t acknowledge our claim?

2/1/2012 I speak with R&L Carriers. They are polite and looking into this further. I was informed, however, that I could not have purchased insurance from R&L Carriers for this freight. We will investigate from whom we purchased insurance or if I am mistaken about this. We realize there may be another party responsible for the insurance pertaining to this. We arranged for this shipment through Echo Global.

Pro # I077354127

2/13/2012
I decided to wrap this up with a report on ripoffreport.com. I wrote:
R+L Carriers damaged our shipping crate and denies responsibility. I left my custom made shipping crate on the loading dock in Dallas at a hotel that did not have a fork lift – only a pallet jack. Our custom crate was returned to us with obvious fork lift damage. My office manager didn’t read the agreement and signed for it upon delivery – even though our custom pallet crate was on a pallet provided by R+L carriers. This didn’t make sense because the crate was a pallet. But they did this because after they busted ours, it was no longer a pallet crate.

I posted about my experience with R+L Carriers on my blog and included pictures that explain the damage. I also included pictures of emails that clearly document the timing of our response regarding the damage. I then notified them about the post to make sure they had my full story including the emails that show my response time since we had a third party handling this for us… just in case sufficient documentation was not provided on our behalf. After all, I wouldn’t want to give RL Carriers a bad name if they didn’t deserve it. But despite the documentation, they still have not responded to my claim.

It has been almost three months since this shipping company damaged my custom shipping crate. I spoke with R+L Carriers company representatives directly and sent enough email. They clearly explained to me that since my office manager signed for the crate, I can not file a claim. So the lesson is, don’t sign for anything from R+L Carriers until you are certain there is no damage.

I will update my post on my blog if anything significant regarding my claim ever happens.