Universal Traffic Service is seeing a spike in invoices for
Truck Ordered Not Used (TONU). This is a fee a carrier charges when a shipper
requests a pickup but then does not have freight ready when the truck arrives.
We investigate every TONU to verify that (1) someone
requested a pickup, (2) a truck came to make the pickup, and (3) no freight was
picked up. We are finding that a significant number of these TONU invoices are
not valid, meaning at least one of these three conditions did not occur.
If you see a TONU charge in your shipping records, but UTS
has not yet invoiced you, it means we are in the process of investigating its
validity. Please be aware that our investigation can take 2-3 weeks because:
- Carriers often invoice a TONU several days after it
allegedly happened
- It can take us several days to investigate every aspect of
the event (especially when the shipper contacted the carrier directly, rather
than through UTS)
- Carriers are slow to reverse a TONU charge we can prove is
invalid
A TONU charge ranges from $50 to $100 depending on the
carrier. Over the past few months, UTS has reversed more than $10,000 in invalid
TONU charges. You can rest assured that our audit specialists are removing
these – and all other invalid charges – on your behalf.