Watermelons cargo clam. Advise please

Have a sale in the parking lot some where. Sell them for a fews bucks cheaper than the store sells them..

 

Farmers market will have buyers that will pay $, you might have to go to a few to sell the load for more than you have to pay TQL.?

 

You probably got stuck with a bad load to begin with but the problem is you have no way to prove it. Since it was the end of the season it's possible your load was sitting in their ware house for a few days before it shipped or was just bad when picked. The problem you have is that you were late and that provided all the excuse they needed to pin the claim on you. Personally I would turn it over to my insurance and let them figure it out. They have experience and don't want to pay the claim either. Just curious, since I assume this was last week what did you do with the melons?

 

I hope thing go good from this point man. I would sell them myself

 

Like with any perishable each minute you are late is a minute less the customer has to sell the product. He can sell a lot of melons in 2-3 days. The condition of your truck and breakdowns unfortunately fall on you. Picking up in Pompano these melons come on a ship. How long were they in transit and storage? Probably 10 days or more since they have been picked.

It sounds like you got them at the tail end of their shelf life with no room for error. This will fall on you and the insurance because of the circumstances.


Checking water melons and honey dew are the same.

The melon should have a uniform shape. A dull dark melon is ripe. A shiny melon is under ripe.

The melon is mostly water and should be heavy for it's size.

The melon has a ground spot that rested on the dirt. If it's green or white it's not ripe and still good for shipping. You want a creamy yellow color to eat. The darker the yellow the more ripe it is. I bet your melons had yellow bottoms and should of thrown flags.

Then there is the thump test. A dull thud the melon is under ripe or the rind is soft and undesirable. Your knuckle should bounce off the melon with a distinct sound which takes practice to learn comparing a good melon with a bad one. The surface should be hard and firm. This test is probably what got you. I bet the skin/rind was soft and you would of had a dull thump. Hey these melons are no good and back on the phone with the broker you go.

If you are not familiar with a perishable talk with other drivers, check the internet, get on here or whatever it takes to self educate.

Don't let some slimy shipper pass the buck onto you. Sorry, but hard lesson learned.

Like baha said check the Farmers Market you might sell them at a discount.

 

The first problem is this is a TQL produce load. With produce having so many variables and things that could go wrong, such as out of grade product upon arrival, one should never haul produce loads for TQL given the problematic reputation TQL has for non-exempt dry freight.

 

Do you have an electronic log book?