Bad Companies

jpalmer · Feb 15, 2011

Hey guys...

I wasn't sure were to put this. So I apologize if its in the wrong place...

I was hired onto a Medical courier company a month ago. They claimed 1500 a week and all that bull hocky. I was in a cab and wanted to get back into the courier field. So I did. I was hired. The hiring process was a whole 5 minutes. come in apply and your hired. That should have set off signals right away. Well We come to about a week ago. My first paycheck was 211 dollars. i drove 3500 miles and put 100 dollars in for gas. Well i figured since it was my first paycheck I would see how my second paycheck was. Today I get it. Its 428 dollars for two weeks!!!!!!!!!

Last Week i call in about an hour before i got off. They wanted me to pull a long haul prescription run. I called and asked how much they pay....The Guy immediately started yelling at me telling me to turn in my F'ING RADIO!...I was like WHOA!!

So, Today, I returned my phone and radio without even saying a word to them....I don't like leaving companies like this But it comes down to being able to eat or not.....

My question is. They still owe me a check. I've heard from other drivers who've quit that they refuse to pay the last check...What can I do to get them to pay?

I've been thrown around by courier companies enough. I ain't just gonna let this one go...........

I am done with being in the field...Time to get an office job in the industry!!

Bruno · Feb 15, 2011

What state is the company based out of? Did you sign a lease? You live Tx I'm assuming?

chefdennis · Feb 15, 2011

If and when the refuse to pay you, contact the attorney generals office in your state...

nightcreacher · Feb 15, 2011

you need to get intouch with the labor relations board,unless they were paying you a 1099,in that case goos luck

jpalmer · Feb 15, 2011

They are out of Arlington Texas

No, I didn't sign a lease...Just how much they'd pay and when....

Which was 45% of each run every 2 weeks..

purgoose10 · Feb 15, 2011

jpalmer said:
They are out of Arlington Texas

No, I didn't sign a lease...Just how much they'd pay and when....

Which was 45% of each run every 2 weeks..

Should have, would have and all that junk. Please check out the next carrier you sign on with. Get as much in writing as you can get.

You say 45%? Of what? Less fuel? FSC? All that stuff.

One more thing. I have a rule for myself. Never do business with a company in Texas and or Florida. I'm talking about contracting a truck.

jpalmer · Feb 15, 2011

45% of what each run pays........

Yeah, I hear you there......I'm done........Tired of this BS!

Moot · Feb 15, 2011

jpalmer said:
i drove 3500 miles and put 100 dollars in for gas.

Wow! Wow! And a holy pokers on top of the double wows! I drive 3500 miles in a cargo van and it costs me over $600. It's a shame that after careers in baseball, underwear modeling and broadcasting you end up schlepping drugs.

cheri1122 · Feb 15, 2011

JP: I had one of those jobs too, before I went to driving school, and it's a shame how they take advantage of folks' willingness to work by ripping them off.
I hope you can document everything [what they promised, what you did, what they paid], and I believe the Labor Relations Board is the correct place to pursue it. {I didn't try, myself.}

jpalmer · Feb 15, 2011

What I can't seem to understand. I am a business owner. I couldn't for a second even think about doing what they are doing to people. Its like they don't see them as humans. they don't think about the lives they effect by doing this to people who have to feed their families.

On the business side of it. Its not a sustainable business model in any sense.....It costs thousands of dollars to hire and train new people......

How can the client trust a company when they see a new face every day? Especially when it comes to high risk deliveries like blood and specimens!

I've noticed a lot of these companies eliminate the client relationship and it just turns into a package delivery..and it ends there......

Personally, i enjoy seeing the same mail man every day. The Same UPS or Fedex Man. ****! I know my Fedex man so well that He puts my packages in my garage and locks the door for me...That makes me want to use Fedex more...Even if it costs more sometimes.......

Is Low Turnover, Respect for employees/contractors and business relationships non existent in today's environment?

paullud · Feb 16, 2011

One day hopefully soon a company like OOIDA will put some political pressure on the right people to shut down companies that rip off drivers.

Moot · Feb 16, 2011

jpalmer said:
On the business side of it. Its not a sustainable business model in any sense.....It costs thousands of dollars to hire and train new people......

But it is a sustainable business model. They're still in business and most likely will continue to stay in business until they exhaust the supply of people willing to work for them. Could be a long, long time before that ever happens.

highway star · Feb 16, 2011

jpalmer said:
The hiring process was a whole 5 minutes. come in apply and your hired.

How did that cost them thousands of dollars?

Moot · Feb 16, 2011

paullud said:
One day hopefully soon a company like OOIDA will put some political pressure on the right people to shut down companies that rip off drivers.

Why wait for Superman to save us? As contractors it is our responsibility to research prospective companies, gather information from many sources, read and understand a lease or have it checked out by a lawyer, all before you do any work for that company.

jpalmer said:
I was hired. The hiring process was a whole 5 minutes. come in apply and your hired. That should have set off signals right away.

jp, Ask yourself why the signals didn't go off. When you have the answer, you will be better prepared for the next prospective company.

jpalmer · Feb 16, 2011

highway star said:
How did that cost them thousands of dollars?

Turnover costs money. You lose a lot of hours and resources hiring and retraining new employees. Everything from the cost of the salary to the paperwork the new employees sign. Like I said last night. You also have the client aspect. You can't build solid relationships with clients when you keep hiring new people. Therefore you may lose clients. You hire one bad person. Treat a client like crap. Guess what? That client won't do business with you anymore. If a client feels no relationship with a company its a lot easier for them to just say no to a company. emotionally once a person says no to something. Its impossible for them to come back...

High Turnover says a lot about a company.......

OntarioVanMan · Feb 16, 2011

Ya know...there are just a few real bad carriers out there....it comes down to which one you can work best with.....They all have different wrinkles so to speak....
Companies make mistakes, payroll makes mistakes, dispatchers make mistakes....WE make mistakes....

greg334 · Feb 16, 2011

jpalmer said:
Turnover costs money. You lose a lot of hours and resources hiring and retraining new employees. Everything from the cost of the salary to the paperwork the new employees sign.

Not really. The costs for this is minimal. The resources used for employment (which are you an employee or a contractor?) are simple and computerized. The cost may be $40, which would be covered the first night and the payroll costs are tiered so not a big deal there.

You would not believe the quality of lab drivers and others who handle blood and other high value medical stuff. I can see a company being cheap and high turnover rate in the medical business as much as I can see it happen in trucking too.

I have a couple questions for my curiosity, you don't have to answer, were they pharmacies or warehouses you picked up from?

Equipment or just medications?

paullud · Feb 17, 2011

Moot said:
Why wait for Superman to save us? As contractors it is our responsibility to research prospective companies, gather information from many sources, read and understand a lease or have it checked out by a lawyer, all before you do any work for that company.
.

It's not just a matter of reading the contract, it is the overall issue of the company following through on the contract. Just because it is on paper does not mean it will be followed and the expense of chasing these companies for the money means that they will continue to get away with it. They will start companies with a different name which means that research can be impossible at times.

OntarioVanMan · Feb 17, 2011

paullud said:
It's not just a matter of reading the contract, it is the overall issue of the company following through on the contract. Just because it is on paper does not mean it will be followed and the expense of chasing these companies for the money means that they will continue to get away with it. They will start companies with a different name which means that research can be impossible at times.

few carriers even follow a contract.....

the last line a some contracts reads "the carrier reserves the right to...."

jpalmer · Feb 17, 2011

greg334 said:
Not really. The costs for this is minimal. The resources used for employment (which are you an employee or a contractor?) are simple and computerized. The cost may be $40, which would be covered the first night and the payroll costs are tiered so not a big deal there.

You would not believe the quality of lab drivers and others who handle blood and other high value medical stuff. I can see a company being cheap and high turnover rate in the medical business as much as I can see it happen in trucking too.

I have a couple questions for my curiosity, you don't have to answer, were they pharmacies or warehouses you picked up from?

Equipment or just medications?

I delivered organs and Medications. Most of the Medication were for residences...Oh and that is a another crazy thing about this company...

They have us deliver medications to peoples doors (mostly elderly) at late hours (past midnight) and we couldn't just leave it on their porch. They didn't know we were coming. So, Guess what? they'd want me to wake them up.........

I finally just called dispatch and said "Look, If you 85 years old and your door bell rang at midnight. Would you answer it?" They said the elderly are just picky like that and told me to wake them up.....I never did wake them up...I just put it on their porch and left....

Heck, i am 27 and don't answer my door at 2:30 in the afternoon! If i don't know who it is...

I am gonna head into the Dispatch side...I know this way the drivers won't get screwed around...Because I know what its like!!