Boat Held Hostage By Marine Transport Company

[tropicalescape]

As a former "nobody" ....I told you so...he he hell..go get your boat! if you cant ,give me some money(just a little) and I will ...I hate it when (good)people get taken advantage of...

[keepondancin]

I would venture to guess that the beam of the boat is over 8'6''. That would require over width permits. Might have to be 9' to be over width, but still, your beam is probably more than that. See if there is a way to track what permits were taken out, and that would give you the route. I also believe with over width that you can't travel on weekends. I would contact Law enforcement along the expected route even if you say he is just missing. Just don't make a false report. If he wants money, he would have to give you an address to send it to. Refuse to do pay pal, or credit cards. The escrow account is probably the best way, and a responsible business person would accept that. If not, you know what category he isn't in.

[foggysail]

Where is Sammy the Bull when you need him????

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Where is Sammy the Bull when you need him????

You might have too ask Don Lucas ...I suspect he has got a few contacts with Whitey Bolger or the Winter Hill Gang...hoo humm..

[Rocketman]

What happened to Creole-Belle the OP? There are many unanswered questions here. From what was originally posted, it appears you are getting scamed.

From what I know about over the road trucking, a load of 20,000 lbs is nothing to be concerned about. Trucks travel with much more weight than that, so legally the weight shouldn't be an issue. The beam of the boat might be however. I would guess that at least a wide load sign would be needed. Some states may require permits, and some not.
If you know where he had the boat repossitioned, I would start there. Ask the yard exactly what happened and when he left with your boat.

You need to document everything, every phone call, text ect. ect.

I would guess that something has gone wrong, broke down, in jail, maybe the boat is damaged.

Without more information from OP we can all guess all day long and be of little help.

[justwaiting]

You need legal advice, but having said that do not agree to anything in writing as it may be constructed as an agreed varaiation to the contract or a new contract.

I dont know anything about US law but as far as i can see State law for each State that the truck has passed through needs to be considered as well as the potential for Federal laws to be applicable. In other jurisdiction entering into a contract does not pass legal title so i would not discount the possiblity that criminal law may be applicable. A matter such as this can be both a criminal matter (an offence against the state) as well as a civil matter. I therefor would be contacting law enforcement in the state that the journey was comenced from as you do not know where your property is.

Have you considered the possibility that your property has been damaged - agreement to pay for the damage to the contractors vehicle may in effect be agreeing that any damage to your property is also your fault.

First rule of insurance law - never admit liability

Lastly a dumb question - is the boat registered in your name?

[Dragon Lady]

I don't know about the legal side of the argument, but from an engineering point of view it is ridiculous to claim that a 30% overload for 250 miles would cause that much wear and tear.
It sounds like his rig was not up to the task in the first place or he is trying it on.
Good luck I hope it has a happy ending for you and your boat.

[Mr B]

20,000 Lb is 7.34 ton, That is not an over weight load on any trailer,

This boy is screwing you,

Put it into reality, it is almost 4 X 2 ton Pallets, A decent truck load is 8 or 10 X 2 ton Pallets,

So where did he get his over weight crap from, I think he had a small trailer not suited for your Boat,

Now thats his full responsibility, His truck breaking down, mechanically in any way is still his full responsibility, Not yours,

[Coops]

As Rocketman said, the OP does not seem much interested in the responses so far. There could be mitigating circumstances for that of course, but if it was me in that predicament i would certainly be responding and at least saying thanks for the considerations given so far.

Coops.

[Me-and-Boo]

Along with all the other advice, have him text pictures to you of his rig, the boat, the tires, the "repair bills", and any other thing you can think of; perhaps a copy of the day's El Paso newspaper next to your serial number would be good.

The whole thing sounds like he is ripping you off for all sorts of goodies; next might be a new tractor.

[cburger]

The whole story stinks. The boat was lifted from the water at the disembarcation point and then the driver decides it is impproperly loaded and drives 250 miles to another location to have the load adjusted and weighed.
The moment it was determined that the boat was heavier than what you had stated the driver had a responseability to notify you if it was going to be a problem. The fact that he went driving off down the road knowing full well that the truck was overloaded is a violation of the law, but he decided to risk it, his problem not yours.

If it was me I would be on the phone to the authorities ASAP, they might have a very dim view of whats going on here, and it won't cost a dime. I would certainly initiate a call to the shipping company to find out what type of outfit they are running, maybe they have no knowledge of whats going on and might resolve it for you quickly. If this doesn't get the result you need hiring a lawyer to go after the shipping company may be money well spent, certainly should be more cost effective than paying thousands of dollars to the driver.

I wouldn't offer to give this extortionist another dime as it could be construed as an admission of guilt. I don't think there is going to be a court in the world that will award damages to this jerk for repairs to his equipment after he decided to start hauling the so called overloaded truck down the highwayand if it comes down to this you may get your initial deposit back for your problems.

As mentioned print out every correspondence you have with this guy. I would probably break off any contact with him at this point and rely on the professionals for advice. Unfortunately this is one of those time sensitive issues that you need to nip in the bud, good luck and I am sorry for your troubles.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

reading this whole thread, it makes me glad that I bought a boat (and truck) that I could tow myself. It is good for future reference to watch out in the future.
Best of luck to solving this.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Coops

As Rocketman said, the OP does not seem much interested in the responses so far. There could be mitigating circumstances for that of course, but if it was me in that predicament i would certainly be responding and at least saying thanks for the considerations given so far.

Coops.

+10

[Paperbird]

Tangential post. Just so all truckers don't get tarred with the same brush. We contracted with a small firm to haul our boat from Houston to MD. Everything went very smoothly. We met them at the MD end. Driver was professional and pleasant. Firm was easy to work with. Contract was straightforward.

I hope the OPs situation is a very rare exception.

[Captain Bill]

It may be that the OP did contact a lawyer and the lawyer told him to let him handle it and not to discuss the situation in a public forum. OP if this is the case please say so and we can close this thread.