Who owes logistics companies money
Shippers and customers who booked freight you arranged and paid for. Customers whose goods sat in your warehouse while the storage, handling, and fulfillment charges kept accruing. Importers whose duties, port fees, and drayage you advanced. Customers overseas who count on distance to make you give up.
How logistics companies get stiffed
- Net-never. You paid the carrier on the carrier's terms. The customer pays you on theirs, which keep moving: 30 days becomes 60, then a dispute, then silence.
- The abandoned inventory. The customer stops paying storage, stops answering, and leaves the goods in your building. Now you have a bill that grows every month and product you cannot release without advice on your lien rights.
- Refused pass-throughs. Demurrage, detention, per diem, and chassis charges the customer's own delays caused, rejected with "that is your problem."
- Duties and fees advanced and never repaid. A forwarder lays out customs duties and port charges to keep the shipment moving; the importer treats the reimbursement as optional.
- The damage offset. A freight claim, real or inflated, is used to hold the entire account hostage instead of being handled as a claim.
- The customer that was always going to fold. Thin margins, slow pay, then a bankruptcy notice.
Warning signs
- Payment runs stop being predictable.
- Disputes start arriving on invoices that were accepted without comment for months.
- The customer asks you to release goods or keep moving freight while the balance grows.
- A new entity name shows up on their paperwork.
What to do before you place the account
Gather the service agreement or rate sheet, every invoice, the carrier invoices you paid on the customer's behalf, proof of delivery, warehouse receipts and inventory reports, and the correspondence on each disputed charge. If goods are still in your possession, get advice on your lien rights before releasing anything. Send one final written demand with a date, then place the account.
How we collect for logistics companies
Freight you arranged and invoices left unpaid, storage and handling charges, forwarding and drayage balances: we work them with daily contact, demand letters, and attorney escalation when needed. Customers who moved, closed, or went quiet are located by our skip tracers, who also identify assets so recovery targets the money that is there.
Debtors do not stop at the border and neither do we. Through our international recovery network we collect abroad with people who know the local laws and the local legal system: amicable collection under local law, legal handling of disputed debts, and enforcement of judgments and payment orders. Standard claims are no recovery, no fee; complex international claims may carry an alternative fee arrangement, discussed with you up front.
Common follow-up questions
Can you collect from a customer outside the U.S.?
Yes. Through our international recovery network we collect abroad with people who know the local laws and the local legal system, from amicable collection under local law through enforcement of judgments and payment orders.
The customer disputes the demurrage and per diem. Is it still collectible?
Disputed balances are part of our core work. Send the backup showing whose delay caused the charge and our negotiators work the contested amount with the rest of the account.
Will this hurt the customer relationship?
We collect firmly, professionally, and by the book. You choose which accounts we place and which we leave alone. Debtors are often more willing to work with us than with the original creditor.
Talk to us
Tell us about the accounts and we put together a free assessment, usually within one business day. Request a free consultation, contact us, or call 321-710-3530. Ready now? Place a claim and we go to work today. No recovery, no fee.