More Misleading Marketing in the Trucking Industry.  

We at PSTC hate scammers, frauds, and underhanded business tactics. It gives a good industry with primarily good people and good businesses a shady side. This is why we are continuing our series of blog posts about misleading marketing in the trucking industry.

This blog is focusing on marketers who try to mislead carriers to grant access to their FMCSA portals. We have provided screen shots of two examples of companies requesting for access.

Watch for false contact information

In the first example someone by the name Christopher Robin from Gabon International is requesting access to a carrier’s FMCSA portal.  They use a fake phone number (100) 123-4567 (luckiest number in the phone book otherwise! Maybe it’s the phone number for the Hundred Acre Woods for you Winnie the Pooh fans!) and an unlikely email address of catch6325@globactive-intl.com. This should be a red flag as most companies don’t use emails that are so generic as catch6325. It would also concern me that the domain does not reflect the company Gabon International.  As you don’t know who this is, or what they plan on doing with your information once accessing it, it is safest to deny the request.

Be sure the read the information in full

The second example comes from a Contact Representative from FMCSA Monitoring. This seems like a legitimate request, until you read the reason for request “We represent shippers and brokers. You are under no obligation to accept this request. Thank you.” While they have specified that they are not truly from the FMCSA, rather reps for shippers and brokers, it seems sneaky to try and get a carrier to accidentally grant request based on the name of FMCSA Monitoring that they have put in the Company Field.

Let’s keep it honest

Let’s face it- its hard enough to run a company, keep it compliant, legal, and safe of the road with the legitimate legal rules you must obey. Then you add having to navigate the less honest aspects of the industry, and it gets even harder and trickier. We feel its important to keep everyone educated as to not get taken advantage of. By sharing information and experiences we can keep a good industry honest and fair for all.

Other Misleading Marketing Blogs

For more information on other misleading marketing tactics be sure to read these related blog posts:

• MISLEADING MARKETING: NOW TARGETING YOUR DOT BIENNIAL UPDATE
• Aggressive Marketing in the Trucking Industry
• Fraudulent and Misleading Marketing to New FMCSA Applicants
• Watch out for Fraudulent Marketing Ploys Targeting Carriers
• DOT Supervisory Drug and Alcohol Training – Scam or not?