New OTA Brochure urges carriers to raise rates

ntario Trucking Association
In response to recent surveys of its membership which found that carriers themselves are as much and often more to blame for low freight rates than their customers, the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has launched a new information campaign to encourage carriers to build a more profitable relationship with their shippers — including charging reasonable rates for service.

The message comes in the form of a brochure, entitled 5 Steps to a More Profitable Relationship with Your Shipper. OTA will send a copy to every carrier operating into, out of through and within the province. The brochure, developed by an OTA committee established to look at the current relationship between carriers, their customers, consignees and 3PLs, has been endorsed by the Freight Carriers Association of Canada and asks: Can your shipper risk losing your service?

It encourages carriers to always bill shippers for unreasonable wait times/delays for
unloading/loading. It says carriers should refuse to pay compliance penalties that are not clearly spelled out in the conditions of carriage and not to accept rate reductions saying “you are not responsible to resolve all your customers’ business problems.”