Lumper Fee's

Hello everyone. I was wondering if I could get more information about Lumper fee's. I noticed that some companies advertise 100% reimbursement, meaning that I would have to pay them first, then be reimbursed. How often should I expect to pay them, and at what amount? Are they paid in cash, and if so do they give some type of paper work to show proof that you paid them? Thanks in advance Sue

Hey Sue,

I think it depends on the company. With Prime, from what I've seen so far, they either pre pay for the fee, or you can get a com check for the amount authorized by the company. Either way, no money comes out of your pocket.

Other companies may work differently, so your mileage may vary.

Sue, Lumper fees are very high on my mind right now. I don't understand the process, but I have handed over three checks in the last three days.

The price was not determined until the job was complete. After the job is complete, I received the amount and their federal tax number. I sent that to my company and they send an authorization number for a ComCheck.

In my very limited experience, when dealing with lumpers, it isn't just unloading or loading the truck. They are like contract warehouse workers. I had to wait while they broke the contents of the pallets down into separate outbound pallets. It really ate up my clock.

Its a big circle of money really. Big grocery warehouses mostly hire lumpers as independent contractors to avoid the cost of employing workers. No workers comp, no health insurance, no liability.

Technically you pay the lumper, your company reimburses you, the big warehouse reimburses your company. Its all a wash and the big warehouse avoids the cost of employees. Thats why it takes them so long because most of them, there are a few exceptions, but most of them are low wage workers who could care less about you or your wasted time.

Sad, really but thats how it works.