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Has anyone seen my engine? Lost in shipment.

JamesMooney

By JamesMooney
in General Mooney Talk

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JamesMooney Community Regular

JamesMooney

Posted
Posted

So I took my Mooney to the MSC to have the engine removed and sent for overhaul.

Somewhere between Texas and Missouri, the freight/logistics company handling it lost it.

It was sent on January 7. Today is February 10. 

My A&P is dealing with the logistics company (Holland). They are blaming another freight handler (YRP) they sub-contracted the near-destination delivery to. That company in turn is pointing fingers back at the long-haul firm. Holland is pointing fingers at YRP, and YRP pointing at Holland. No one knows where the engine is.

The companies' websites describe a 30-day response for claims, and a 120+ day possible window after that. Meaning these freight handlers have ~150 days to dither.

Thoughts / advice / suggestions welcomed...

  • Sad 3
Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, FlyingCanuck said:

So I took my Mooney to the MSC to have the engine removed and sent for overhaul.

Somewhere between Texas and Missouri, the freight/logistics company handling it lost it.

It was sent on January 7. Today is February 10. 

My A&P is dealing with the logistics company (Holland). They are blaming another freight handler (YRP) they sub-contracted the near-destination delivery to. That company in turn is pointing fingers back at the long-haul firm. Holland is pointing fingers at YRP, and YRP pointing at Holland. No one knows where the engine is.

The companies' websites describe a 30-day response for claims, and a 120+ day possible window after that. Meaning these freight handlers have ~150 days to dither.

Thoughts / advice / suggestions welcomed...

Wouldn't it be great if they reimbursed you with a brand new roller tappet engine? :)

  • Like 5
Hank Grand Master

Hank

Posted
Posted
Just now, FlyingCanuck said:

My A&P handled it.

Hope he put a real value on it and didn't just accept the token value that undeclared packages receive! Don't know about Holland, but UPS used to give $100 max unless you declared (and bought insurance for) a higher value. I'm very careful at work to always put a declared value on everything that I ship, even though nothing will make up for several months' lost production time.

  • Like 2
PT20J Grand Master

PT20J

Posted
Posted

Actually, this worried me when I got the Lycoming factory rebuilt. The contract was FOB the Lycoming factory which, if I understand correctly, makes it my responsibility when it leaves the loading dock. But since I wasn’t the shipper, there was no way I could purchase insurance through the freight company. I assume Lycoming would have made good on it, but I was never 100% comfortable because I couldn’t ever get anything in writing that made it clear. 

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Steve W Proficient

Steve W

Posted
Posted

This is basically the problem I ran into. Mine ended up in a ditch care of my A&P, his auto insurance didn't cover it, he had no business insurance. Luckily since it was my engine it was covered under my aircraft policy. But since I hadn't increased my policy for the overhaul yet it bumped the entire(gear collapse) repair up to my policy limit. That is to say: Good luck.

 

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Hank Grand Master

Hank

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, PT20J said:

Actually, this worried me when I got the Lycoming factory rebuilt. The contract was FOB the Lycoming factory which, if I understand correctly, makes it my responsibility when it leaves the loading dock. But since I wasn’t the shipper, there was no way I could purchase insurance through the freight company. I assume Lycoming would have made good on it, but I was never 100% comfortable because I couldn’t ever get anything in writing that made it clear. 

Skip

FOB is how almost everything is handled by commercial carriers. It requires you to handle all disputes with the carrier, Lyc doesn't want to deal with a forktruck running into your engine crate at a trans-shipping warehouse in Iowa.

If it was lost during return shipment to you, that would still be the trucking company's fault and reimbursement should not depend on actions that you or your A&P / IA took, but on whatever the shipper did. If that's $100 towards a $30K engine, then you need to pursue whoever arranged the shipment, i.e., the rebuilder. If it was lost on the outbound leg, then it's up to you and yours rather than "them."

This is why, when my G430 went in for WAAS upgrade, I flew the ~90 minutes to my "local" Garmin dealer--my fuel bill was less than shipping plus insurance. Plus it's flight time! Then I flew home with just the six pack, compass and King backup nav/com.

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Mark89114 Experienced

Mark89114

Posted
Posted

Well let me start with freight companies are criminals...They will cover their asses when you signed your tariff agreement, which is several hundred pages long and we know damn certain nobody reads those.  However certain fundamentals do apply.  

They will pay you a certain $ per pound, since our engines are almost made of gold.  

The shipper should be responsible, they are the ones providing the BOL.  

Good luck, they are awful.

 

  • Like 1
KLudwick Enthusiast

KLudwick

Posted
Posted

Fedex lost my engine for about a week back in November/December.  It apparently bounced around from facility to facility, until the logistics company that used Fedex sorted it out.  Best of luck.  +1 for sending a letter from a lawyer.

  • Like 1
EricJ Grand Master

EricJ

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, steingar said:

I hate dealing with lawyers, but they have their uses.

Doctors, mechanics, and lawyers.   When you find a good one you stick with them.

 

  • Like 4
Parker_Woodruff Grand Master

Parker_Woodruff

Posted
Posted

For all of the above recommending an attorney - that can work, but the other way is to send it to your insurance company.  They're really good at subrogating, it takes a lot of the hassle out of your hands, and you get back to flying on your terms.

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201Steve Mentor

201Steve

Posted
Posted

I run a trucking company. I do not do LTL van shipments, but I do get a good bit of business from companies who avoid them like the plague. Instead of shipping with YRC or similar, where it will be cross docked and beat into a bloody pulp, they’ll have me run it on a dedicated straight truck. We call them hotshots, but they are essentially F-350’s with either a van or a flatbed trailer. It makes sense for their products, as they ship long girder beams averaging 20-30’ long, so the extra money they pay to keep it dedicated isn’t too bad, as it’s a relatively bulky product already (justifying its own truck). 
 

LTL guys have a shit job. It’s absolute chaos and I feel their pain, but what is inexcusable is their complete lack of responsibility. They pretty much hide their insurance policies. The general liability and auto liability policies are public record, but their cargo insurer , which isn’t always the same, is not. 

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Parker_Woodruff Grand Master

Parker_Woodruff

Posted
Posted

And I'll add to my note above regarding turning it in to the insurance company...

Insurance policies require that you advise the insurance company of any situation that could give rise to a claim within a reasonable period of time.  So if the situation drags past a few weeks, they should be involved since they could be the ones eating the loss and have every right to recover damages from those responsible.

And again, they're on the hook for the expenses in investigating, making demands of the shipping company, etc.

  • Like 2
gsxrpilot Grand Master

gsxrpilot

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

Ok, we all want to know what’s going on. I now have two clients with missing engines today. 2 different carriers.:wacko:

I don't think mine has shipped yet? Fingers crossed!

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jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

Posted
Posted

I remember whenever we had our Lycoming factory engine shipped from Pennsylvania, basically, the shippers liability was like a dollar per pound. We could not buy additional insurance above that. The factory was like well this is how we do it and I’m like you know I’m not comfortable with this but we could not find anything better

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