Boat Held Hostage By Marine Transport Company

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Let me see if I have this right...A guy steals your boat, hides it in a yard and you are suppose to pay the storage fee?

You assume the hauler has hidden the boat in a secure facility. For all anybody knows, it could be parked on a city street, being stripped of anything of value right now.

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Have you asked him for a weight ticket from a scale? He has to prove his weight to you. You need to see his gross weight and his tare weight. Also if the travel lift weighed it, then by all means, get that weight from them.
Do you know the size of truck and trailer he's using? How many axles and wheels? 19,500 lbs is not a lot of weight and neither is 30% higher if he's got the right equipment.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Let me see if I have this right...A guy steals your boat, hides it in a yard and you are suppose to pay the storage fee? And after knowing the load was not right for the trailer (supposedly) and moving it anyways, the trucker has some kind of "right" to be paid anyways? I think it is best that he contacts his Insurance company and let them deal with it. Way too many internet lawyers.

I dont think he stole it ,he has a problem with the payment and as such in the eyes of juris-prudence he has a right to litagate this issue... with the contract leaving so much to interpitation I think the guy with the boat will at the end of the day win!Always right down everything you expect to see when entering a contract! My waiver for flight instruction states that if people get bit by a snake while ground handiling the glider they cant hold me reponsible! It also states that if you still decide to sue me you will give me $50,000.00 before you sue me! We cant go on handshakes anymore because people will look at you as if you are weak and an easy target!Always have A hard copy contract signed and dated with all expectations initaled...you must protect your interest ,dont expect the other person to do it for you on a handshake ,get someting that will hold up in court!..This guy has stole nothing!Sorry for the man that got involved with this mess but he is 70 yrs.old, I have contracts on everything that involves money ,we all should for protection of ourselves and others involved in business deals..good luck to the owner of the boat...

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

You assume the hauler has hidden the boat in a secure facility. For all anybody knows, it could be parked on a city street, being stripped of anything of value right now.

If this is the case and the owner can find it he can take it ..If the truck driver dropped it off on some st he can be arrested for conversion...

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I dont think he stole it ,he has a problem with the payment and as such in the eyes of juris-prudence he has a right to litagate this issue... with the contract leaving so much to interpitation I think the guy with the boat will at the end of the day win!Always right down everything you expect to see when entering a contract! My waiver for flight instruction states that if people get bit by a snake while ground handiling the glider they cant hold me reponsible! It also states that if you still decide to sue me you will give me $50,000.00 before you sue me! We cant go on handshakes anymore because people will look at you as if you are weak and an easy target!Always have A hard copy contract signed and dated with all expectations initaled...you must protect your interest ,dont expect the other person to do it for you on a handshake ,get someting that will hold up in court!..This guy has stole nothing!Sorry for the man that got involved with this mess but he is 70 yrs.old, I have contracts on everything that involves money ,we all should for protection of ourselves and others involved in business deals..good luck to the owner of the boat...

All of this stuff about what Creole should have done is arm chair quarterbacking.
My dad who is the same age as Creole, might have done the same thing, they grew up in a time when you hired someone to do something a handshake was good enough.

I talked with my insurance guy about this situation, he told me that if this was my boat in this situation, he would recomend to me to get a police report, in his view the boat is stolen, until a police report is filed they wouldn't be able to do anything.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

You assume the hauler has hidden the boat in a secure facility. For all anybody knows, it could be parked on a city street, being stripped of anything of value right now.

Ya...for all we know it's in a 7/11 parking lot

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Ya...for all we know it's in a 7/11 parking lot

I don't know why we or the OP would assume that the hauler, clearly in need of money and clearly not particularly honorable, would go to the trouble of storing the boat at his expense, despite what he claims he has done.

[S/V Illusion]

Sounds more and more like an imaginary troll story. Hearing only one side of the story which is never a good basis on which to make a judgment, we are led to believe someone would entrust moving a valuable boat with nothing but an email arrangement. Either a troll or someone who doesn't comprehend the concept of due diligence, both of which bringing out the pseudo-legal minds of the internet.

[CREOLE-BELLE]

At your recommendation I was able to contact the lift operator that "reset' the boat. It actually was not a reset but a transfer from one trailer to another. Was done on September 21th. So, texts from the road, reports of failed transmission are all fabrications. The boat was still on the east coast and for that matter still may be. Still sorting it out. Need to log off until this evening....Thanks everyone

[CREOLE-BELLE]

One would entrust moving a valuable boat only with an email arrangement if you were as dense and trusting as I. The thing is that's worked for me for 70 years.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by CREOLE-BELLE

One would entrust moving a valuable boat only with an email arrangement if you were as dense and trusting as I. The thing is that's worked for me for 70 years.

Sounds like you are old enough to have heard what being trusting gets some people. You've also heard the expression "trust but verify" aka -- due diligence which would have included a performance based contract.

Why would you not do this??????????

[maytrix]

Glad to hear you are at least making some progress. Please keep the updates coming as you can. Really want to hear how this turns out and hope it all works out well.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Sounds like you are old enough to have heard what being trusting gets some people. You've also heard the expression "trust but verify" aka -- due diligence which would have included a performance based contract.

Why would you not do this??????????

I'm sure this guy is kicking himself plenty right now, he doesn't need you kicking him while he's down too...

[lostsheep]

It sounds to me like the "trucker" really isn't a trucker. Sounds like Bubba with a 1-ton pickup and a trailer.
Granted, an aforementioned Bubba could have a DOT number, lots of them do. You see them hauling a goose-neck 5th wheel trailer with a couple of cars on them, or a flatbed with freight on them. We call these guys "hotshots", because they often go into the oil fields hauling smaller loads of drill pipe and machinery parts. They have to have a DOT number, insurance (both cargo and unladen) and the proper licensing. This sounds like the type of truck he contracted.
I would never allow a hotshot rig to haul my probably overwidth home afloat. I would want a bona-fide marine carrier such as Dudley or Joule. If he has contacted a boat transport broker, and went with the cheapest, no telling who he actually got.
As a flatbed trucker, indeed, according to the regs in 39CFR, an open deck is supposed to stop within the first 50 miles to do a cargo check (because the freight often will 'settle, and required adjusting the tie-downs)and every 150 miles or 3 hours afterward. Most of us stop more frequently, some don't. It depends on the load. A solid block of something probably won't budge, a load of loose iron will walk around and drive you nuts.
The overweight issue is actually equipment related. On a class 8 truck, most states allow 20,000lbs per axle, 12,000 for the steer axle (because it only has single tires and depending on the tire rating), 34,000 lbs on a set of tandem axles with dual tires. A 'spread-axle' like mine can handle 40K on the spread, but no more than 20K on each axle (this on a trailer). So, if the equipment in question is a hotshot, he may well have exceeded his axle rating, an which case he should have known this.
The OP as the customer is not responsible for the truck repairs, or the repositioning of the boat. The repositioning should have been done the same day, at the same facility that loaded it. Repairs to a damaged trailer only are paid for by another party if they damage it, such as a guy stabs the forks of a forklift through the wall of a trailer, or drops the cargo through the floor, then the loader/unloader pays for repairs. Not the customer that owns the freight, unless they are the ones loading it. Damage from shifting freight is on the trucker.
They've hijacked his boat.
The OP is being el-screwo-ed.

[lostsheep]

It would be real nice if he left a cell phone on board, or the GPS. It might be possible to track it down via them.