Transportation and Sealed loads
One of our customers has asked us to write "law enforcement opening conditions" into our shipping procedure. We ship food grade composite cans for packaging. We seal the trailers with a numbered seal which is documented on the BOL. My question. If law enforcement wants to break the seal and look into the back of the trailer they will. How do i then have the driver continue to his destination and expect the customer not to reject the load due to a broken seal.
i have googled, yahoo'd, Bing'd this question and several different word strands and can find nothing. I do have a call into the Department Of Transportation, but am not holding my breath on a return call.
Any help is, as always, GREATLY Appreciated!
Could the driver request a note from the LEO providing time and date of inspection, then apply a new seal, recording the time and date the new seal was applied along with the new seal number? just thinking...
That's what i was thinking. But does the LEO supply the seal? Do I send extra seals along with every load we send out? The cost behind that I'm not sure would add up. Have the LEO sign the log book or BOL, but if there are no seals the receiving facility is still going to reject it, understandably so.
I like that suggestion above.
Also the driver can always film or photo the LEO breaking the seal to inspect the trailer in the event that the LEO does not provide a document stating that he/she carried out the inspection.
"film or photo the LEO breaking the seal"
Some of the LEOs can get a little touchy when filmed [insert pot-stirring emoticon]
So the driver films the LEO. That shows he broke the seal. It does not prove that the load was not tampered with from the point of the seal being broken to the point of delivery.
DOT called me back last night. They had no information.So I called the State Police. This guy was a plethora of information. When they crack a trailer with a seal they actually have their own seals that they replace them with. They then fill out a form for their records and it is carbon copied and the driver gets a form also. In the event that the end customer has a question the information to contact the state police is on the paper. I asked if this is common practice in all states and he said yes. He did say that local municipalities may or may not have seals. In that case if they do not, the driver can request the officer to sign the BOL and then it is up to the receiving facility if they want to accept the load.
Thanks for the update, Brian. That is good information to know!
~Emily~
You're welcome Emily. I think I am going into transportation next! :)
Super info Brian....I'm adding this to our transportation program/procedures. Thanks!
@ Brian,
I am glad I read all the way through this topic. It will be a jewel in my treasure trove of info I horde from this site.
Thank you
You are all welcome. I was going batty trying to find the answers! :yikes:
This is great information and thank you for sharing it. We rarely have seals on our loads but are required to from time to time. Good to know the process prior to an incident.
Paul