common contract carrier vs common carrier

Nov 27, 2014 at 07:49 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Could someone tell me the difference? i haul grain commodities and want to choose the correct carrier type for my MC #. please help

Replied on Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 08:57 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. You should choose common carrier for what you are doing

Replied on Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 09:48 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Honestly Icant tell you the difference in today's marketplace. I haul grain and flat bed freight. I have Contract authority. I am never asked which type I have when booking a load. Most of what I do has a rate confirmation sheet / contract to sign. But if your just hauling on a verbal contract it's still a contract but definitly harder to enforce if there are issues. Contract authority does not necessarily mean your contacted for more than just that one load. I think in the old school way of thinking contract was better in that you HAD to have a contract to haul the load. However I don't know how much enforcement is done today to make that so. Either way which ever you choose ask for a confirmation sheet to put in writing the rate ect ect. So much easier to defend in court if you do have an issue.

Replied on Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 09:48 AM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Honestly Icant tell you the difference in today's marketplace. I haul grain and flat bed freight. I have Contract authority. I am never asked which type I have when booking a load. Most of what I do has a rate confirmation sheet / contract to sign. But if your just hauling on a verbal contract it's still a contract but definitly harder to enforce if there are issues. Contract authority does not necessarily mean your contacted for more than just that one load. I think in the old school way of thinking contract was better in that you HAD to have a contract to haul the load. However I don't know how much enforcement is done today to make that so.
Either way which ever you choose ask for a confirmation sheet to put in writing the rate ect ect. So much easier to defend in court if you do have an issue.

Replied on Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 05:37 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Since deregulation,it doesn't matter..

Replied on Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 11:57 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Common authority is for carriers that provide for-hire transportation to the general public. Common carriers must file both liability insurance and cargo insurance. Contract authority is for carriers that provide for-hire transportation to specific individual shippers, based on contracts. Contract carriers are only required to file liability insurance. We are both, there are other differences but that is the basic of it all. Most in the industry just choose the common carrier option, but we have found it to beneficial to be both. There are some contracts that we perform that the customer picks up the tab for the cargo above ours. By having both you are not limiting yourself to the value of your standard cargo. Hope this helps.

Replied on Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 11:57 AM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Common authority is for carriers that provide for-hire transportation to the general public. Common carriers must file both liability insurance and cargo insurance. Contract authority is for carriers that provide for-hire transportation to specific individual shippers, based on contracts. Contract carriers are only required to file liability insurance.

We are both, there are other differences but that is the basic of it all. Most in the industry just choose the common carrier option, but we have found it to beneficial to be both. There are some contracts that we perform that the customer picks up the tab for the cargo above ours. By having both you are not limiting yourself to the value of your standard cargo.

Hope this helps.

Replied on Tue, Dec 02, 2014 at 06:40 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. A common authority..is pretty well gone except maybe in ltl..you have to have a published tariff..then with the ICC..today most is contract..there you and the shipper or receiver agrees on a rate to do X..a verbal contract..as in I will haul your hay for 50 dollars a ton..or I will haul your load from here to there for X. Common authority with your published tarriff would be like where you would haul plastic pipe by the weight and size.and if you had ten pieces of plastic pipe,you would pay a different rate than the ten pieces of steel pipe setting right next to it..and different than the aluminum pipe next to it..or that roll of paper that you have on the back..this is one positive thing that deregulation has gotten rid of,as you would need a tariff person in your office,that just figured out what your load was worth to charge the customer.AS IN what LTL companies still do..I remember many years ago..I hauled Styrofoam..like for beanbag chairs insulation etc.Napa ,Calif to LA was 200.._steel same distance was 150..different rate. So just to make your life a little simpler and easier..CONTRACT!!

Replied on Tue, Dec 02, 2014 at 06:40 PM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

A common authority..is pretty well gone except maybe in ltl..you have to have a published tariff..then with the ICC..today most is contract..there you and the shipper or receiver agrees on a rate to do X..a verbal contract..as in I will haul your hay for 50 dollars a ton..or I will haul your load from here to there for X. Common authority with your published tarriff would be like where you would haul plastic pipe by the weight and size.and if you had ten pieces of plastic pipe,you would pay a different rate than the ten pieces of steel pipe setting right next to it..and different than the aluminum pipe next to it..or that roll of paper that you have on the back..this is one positive thing that deregulation has gotten rid of,as you would need a tariff person in your office,that just figured out what your load was worth to charge the customer.AS IN what LTL companies still do..I remember many years ago..I hauled Styrofoam..like for beanbag chairs insulation etc.Napa ,Calif to LA was 200.._steel same distance was 150..different rate. So just to make your life a little simpler and easier..CONTRACT!!

Replied on Tue, Dec 02, 2014 at 07:05 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. If you are only going to haul under contract for a select group of customers where the contract consists of more then one laod a to b for x then you should go with contract carrier. In most cases setting yourself up as a common carrier can be much more beneficial in the fact that you have more control of your business. You then have more freedom to pursue customers and set up your own insurance. You are not riding down the road hoping that your customer has put the proper amount of liability to cover your a.. I prefer to spend the extra money and cover all of my loads as well as protect myself at the end of the year when my frieght base figures are intirely different from years prior. I got slammed my first year in an audit for being set up as a contract carrier which for all of my outbound loads I was. What bit me was all of the one time here and there return loads that set off a red flag with mr d.o.t. Again this is just my opinion for whatever its worth, there are many more on this site who have been doing it a lot longer then myself so hear them out. Best of luck to you whichever route you take.

Replied on Tue, Dec 02, 2014 at 07:05 PM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

If you are only going to haul under contract for a select group of customers where the contract consists of more then one laod a to b for x then you should go with contract carrier. In most cases setting yourself up as a common carrier can be much more beneficial in the fact that you have more control of your business. You then have more freedom to pursue customers and set up your own insurance. You are not riding down the road hoping that your customer has put the proper amount of liability to cover your a.. I prefer to spend the extra money and cover all of my loads as well as protect myself at the end of the year when my frieght base figures are intirely different from years prior. I got slammed my first year in an audit for being set up as a contract carrier which for all of my outbound loads I was. What bit me was all of the one time here and there return loads that set off a red flag with mr d.o.t. Again this is just my opinion for whatever its worth, there are many more on this site who have been doing it a lot longer then myself so hear them out. Best of luck to you whichever route you take.

Replied on Wed, Dec 03, 2014 at 12:04 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. No disrespect to anyone,but the ICC has been abolished basically..Before deregulation you had to publish a rate with them,so it did matter what your ICC authority was ie:contract or common carrier..How you obtain your DOT# now is just that..No office to enforce contract or common carrier authority any longer...Just sayin.

Replied on Wed, Dec 03, 2014 at 07:13 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. I would just check both of the boxes for contract and common. It doesn't cost anymore for both and that way you know your covered.