Fines, deductions and chargebacks
Many rate cons list fines that are taken out of your pay: late delivery, missed check calls, tracking gaps, missing paperwork, late invoices. Each one may look small; together they can wipe out a load's profit.
Where fines hide
Fines are usually in the fine print below the rates, or in a "carrier requirements" block that's the same on every load. Common examples:
- Late pickup or delivery, per hour or as a flat amount.
- Missing or late bill of lading (BOL) or proof of delivery (POD).
- Tracking not active or turned off; see tracking requirements.
- Missed check calls.
- Re-consignment, unapproved stops, or "service failure".
- Chargebacks passed through from the shipper or receiver.
Add them up before you sign
Read the fines as if every one applied. In the checker's sample rate con, a $250 tracking fine, $150 per hour late and a $100 paperwork deduction appear in three different paragraphs. One bad day at a receiver could cost more than the load's margin. Knowing the total turns a vague worry into a number you can negotiate.
Fines versus actual losses
A fine is a fixed amount set in advance. An actual loss is a cost someone can show, such as a receiver's documented charge for a missed appointment. Many carriers accept being responsible for documented losses they caused while pushing back on fixed penalties. Asking "what loss does this fine cover?" is a fair question.
What the Rate Con Checker flags
The checker looks for "fine", "penalty", "deduct", "chargeback" or "withhold" within a short distance of a dollar amount, on either side. It lists how many fines it found, the largest, and the total if all applied.
- Largest fine at or above your maximum (default $500; Pro users set their own): red flag.
- Fines found below that: flag.
- Penalty language with no dollar amount: flag, because you can't price it.
- None found: OK.
Text extraction isn't perfect. A fine written as "two hundred fifty dollars", or split across lines in a PDF, can slip past. Always read the fine print yourself.
What to ask for
Please remove or cap the fines listed above. I can't agree to deductions that aren't tied to an actual documented loss.
If a fine stays, ask for the condition to be specific. "Late" should mean after the appointment time plus a grace period, measured by the facility's check-in record, not "late in broker's judgment". And check whether fines can be taken from other loads; if so, that's a setoff problem too.