Top 5 Trucking Scams and How to Avoid Them

Freight fraud is not a fringe problem — it is a daily cost of doing business. The schemes below are the five our clients report most often, followed by the procedures that make a carrier very hard to rob.

1. The load scam

A scammer — often using the name of a legitimate carrier — books a load with a broker and immediately requests a fuel advance to cover over-the-road expenses. Professional fraudsters may even verify the request with a falsified bill of lading claiming the load was picked up. Once the cash advance lands, they disappear, leaving the broker out of pocket and still hunting for a real carrier. The more aggressive variant: the fraudulent carrier actually picks up the load, then holds it for ransom demanding an electronic funds transfer.

2. The driver in need scam

A classic truck stop play. A fraudster poses as one of your drivers — usually targeting carriers with large driver pools — and calls dispatch requesting a cash advance for fuel or a repair. The details they use are picked up from conversation or simply by loitering around a truck stop and overhearing information.

3. False freight claims

The driver is kept off the dock while loading and the trailer doors are sealed for security — which is ironic, because the sealed doors are part of the fraud. The driver was denied the chance to supervise loading, count or inspect the freight, yet is required to sign for piece count. The shortfall is not discovered until delivery.

4. The DOT scam

Two versions exist. In the first, someone poses as a Department of Transportation representative or an on-site officer during a DOT inspection and contacts the trucking company demanding immediate payment for a fictitious violation. In the second, a letter arrives requesting payment to 'file your DOT renewal' and threatens fines for non-payment. Remember: biennial USDOT updates are filed free on the FMCSA website.

5. The phony repair shop scam

The fraudster poses as a repair shop that has serviced your truck or trailer, supplying a vehicle number, plate number and the driver's name while demanding immediate payment before releasing the equipment — sometimes with a convincing phony invoice. A close cousin: an urgent demand for payment for a tow that never happened.

How to avoid trucking scams

Identity theft is at the heart of most of these schemes. The countermeasures are simple, cheap, and extremely effective.

• Validate the driver: speak to the driver whose vehicle is involved before releasing funds. Never accept a phone handover from a 'service provider' to the driver as proof of identity.
• Validate the service provider: demands for immediate payment for unscheduled service are a red flag. Confirm the provider did not simply lift information off the side of the truck.
• Ask identifying questions: full name, employee number and date of birth confirm both the driver and the equipment being serviced.
• Check the number: validate the incoming phone number against your own database, the vendor's website or a public listing.
• Send money to the driver, not the third party: have the driver pay the provider, then obtain a receipt on letterhead with a valid address and phone number.
• Use fuel cards instead of cash: fuel cards remove the need for drivers to carry large amounts of cash and give you real-time control of limits and locations.

Why fuel cards are a fraud control, not just a discount

• Eliminates the need for drivers to carry large amounts of cash
• Fuel discounts at retail and terminal locations across North America put real money back on your bottom line
• Authorized staff can add funds on the road, safely and securely, like a debit card
• Set product, volume and dollar limits — and monitor expenses so you control costs
• Security information is required for every transaction, and a lost card can be shut off immediately
• 24/7 online access gives you a real-time view of fleet activity
• Detailed transaction data flows back to the home office and makes IFTA fuel tax reporting simpler

Every QP Trucking Solutions factoring client receives a QP Card with access to the nation's largest fuel discount network — which means the anti-fraud control and the fuel savings arrive together.