How to Avoid Falling Victim to a Phantom Hauler

It’s the early hours on Friday morning. You receive an order to ship fish from your best customer. It is December – a time of holiday shopping and an immense shortage of haulers. The demand for shipping the last goods of the year is through the roof. You find yourself along with many others hunting high and low for an available truck. You’re desperate because none of your regular truckers are available, so you place a shipping request announcement on the online freight exchanges. Suddenly, all your efforts pay off as a new message notification pops up in one freight exchange. A hauler from a neighbouring country is willing to take your load. You breathe a sigh of relief.

You have heard all the horror stories about phantom haulers – the ones who take the goods and magically disappear, leaving you with an angry customer. You stop for a minute even though you are eager to load the truck. You check their license and corresponding documents. Furthermore, you call their liability insurance company to get confirmation that the insurance policy is valid and paid. In addition, you even ask for recommendations and receive assurance from other known logistics companies that they have successfully worked with the hauler. Everything looks good. It’s fish. It’s not mobile phones or computers or other thief-attractive goods. Who would steal a full truck of frozen fish? You give the green light to load the goods. You head home for the weekend believing you’ve saved your customer from disaster.

Its Monday. New week. Fresh start. First, you must complete the Friday delivery. The truck should be near the consignee’s premises, except it’s not! The owner of the hauler tells you personally that their truck has broken down. A harsh winter storm went through Europe over the weekend – that’s plausible – and freezing temperatures have damaged the truck. In addition to that, several other known haulers report the same problems. No concerns. Tuesday. The truck is far from the delivery destination. This time, the hauler explains that customs have held them up. It happens. No big deal. Wednesday, finally, the day of delivery. The driver assures you that he is 30 minutes from the final destination. Then an hour or two passes. The consignee has lost all patience and tells you there is no truck in sight. You try to call the driver and owner of the hauler. The phones are disconnected. It’s the moment when you realize that something is wrong.

You head for the internet and look for answers. There are messages from other freight forwarders about missing shipments handled by the same hauler that same week. Suddenly you know the answer. Your cargo and hauler are gone for good. You’ve done everything right. You have checked the documents, called the insurer, and even asked for recommendations. Lucky for you, but not so much for the insurance company, you notify your cargo liability insurer about possible theft. The loss is nearly 50,000 Euros.