Beware what you sign, owner-operators, when getting set up with a broker. So notes Transportation attorney Hank Seaton, in conversation about the curious case of a Florida-based three-truck fleet who reached out about what it saw as the strange treatment of two loads her company hauled earlier this year for Bennett International Group, both as yet unpaid. Seaton describes brokers' "right to offset" clauses in contract that should be avoided -- they give the broker the right to hold payments to offset cost of any claim, and such clauses he believes are intolerable given appropriate cargo insurance, and should be avoided like the plague. Also: Plenty more on Seaton's view of safety ratings and how they could be prioritized over the data-based scoring approach en vogue at present.