Streakn1
Veteran Expediter
When we first decided to get into expediting three years ago we wanted to try it out first in someone elses truck before we invested in our own. We were given a few names of fleet owners in our area by the recruiter to contact.We narrowed it down to one that seemed to be a christian based business and trustworthy (or so we thought).
We made numerous calls and had a face to face meeting with these owners before deciding to drive for them. We were up front with our intentions to try it out first in their truck before buying our own. This seemed at the time fine with them,plus they indicated they had trucks they would sell to us when the time came.
We worked hard and never gave these owners a problem from day one.Then when we turned down an offer to buy one of their trucks the relationship immediately went south on their part.Honestly, their terms on this purchase were way out of line and we weren't about to become financial fools.
Our Owner/Driver contract had two important stipulations in it:
1. Owner is to send driver(s) settlement out by the 10th of each month for the previous months earnings.
2.Owner/Driver(s) are required to give 14-days notice of termination of contract.
Once we located and purchased the truck we now drive we gave our 14-day notice buy phone and letter as required.
We were asked if we planned to run for the 14 days or were we going home.Appearantly, they had some past teams go home once they gave notice.They did not want the truck parked in our driveway not making revenue (understandably so).We agreed to stay out as long as possible with the understanding we would have to go home and clean out the truck and pick up our personal vehicle to return home in.
We were due to turn their truck in on the 4th and about four days out were offered a load to Ca. that paid almost $4000. We discussed this with the owners and told them we would be willing to deadhead back since we were paying for all of the fuel.They did not want us to deadhead and told us not to worry about being back by the 4th. Instead we were told to work our way back under loads as they did not have drivers lined up yet to go in the truck some it didn't matter if we were late.We delivered the last load late on the 5th and were left with 500 miles to their home. On the 6th per our contract we completely cleaned the inside, washed the outside and had the oil changed which took all day. We even rented a vehicle (not by choice) since they would not let us go home as needed. We turned the truck in that evening of which the owners were'nt even there to take delivery.
When my wife called to tell them the truck was being delivered that evening she was told it would be at least 2-3 weeks before our settlement would be sent out and it would only be one check. Furthermore,we were told there would be a late return charge taken from our settlement even though their contract had no provisions for it.This was in direct violation of the contract as they owned us settlement payment on a $22,000 month within 4-days The only monies they could legally withhold was the current month according to our attorney.We filed suit and took them to court. Their were two hearings and without going into detail I will tell you we got what we wanted.As for the few hundred dollars they kept, they lost much more in revenue having to come off the road for court dates.
Let this be a lesson learned for all parties involved and anyone in a simular situation.Owners, be careful who you attempt to srew, for some of us its not the court cost and attorneys fees,its a matter of principle, and cost is of no concern!
We made numerous calls and had a face to face meeting with these owners before deciding to drive for them. We were up front with our intentions to try it out first in their truck before buying our own. This seemed at the time fine with them,plus they indicated they had trucks they would sell to us when the time came.
We worked hard and never gave these owners a problem from day one.Then when we turned down an offer to buy one of their trucks the relationship immediately went south on their part.Honestly, their terms on this purchase were way out of line and we weren't about to become financial fools.
Our Owner/Driver contract had two important stipulations in it:
1. Owner is to send driver(s) settlement out by the 10th of each month for the previous months earnings.
2.Owner/Driver(s) are required to give 14-days notice of termination of contract.
Once we located and purchased the truck we now drive we gave our 14-day notice buy phone and letter as required.
We were asked if we planned to run for the 14 days or were we going home.Appearantly, they had some past teams go home once they gave notice.They did not want the truck parked in our driveway not making revenue (understandably so).We agreed to stay out as long as possible with the understanding we would have to go home and clean out the truck and pick up our personal vehicle to return home in.
We were due to turn their truck in on the 4th and about four days out were offered a load to Ca. that paid almost $4000. We discussed this with the owners and told them we would be willing to deadhead back since we were paying for all of the fuel.They did not want us to deadhead and told us not to worry about being back by the 4th. Instead we were told to work our way back under loads as they did not have drivers lined up yet to go in the truck some it didn't matter if we were late.We delivered the last load late on the 5th and were left with 500 miles to their home. On the 6th per our contract we completely cleaned the inside, washed the outside and had the oil changed which took all day. We even rented a vehicle (not by choice) since they would not let us go home as needed. We turned the truck in that evening of which the owners were'nt even there to take delivery.
When my wife called to tell them the truck was being delivered that evening she was told it would be at least 2-3 weeks before our settlement would be sent out and it would only be one check. Furthermore,we were told there would be a late return charge taken from our settlement even though their contract had no provisions for it.This was in direct violation of the contract as they owned us settlement payment on a $22,000 month within 4-days The only monies they could legally withhold was the current month according to our attorney.We filed suit and took them to court. Their were two hearings and without going into detail I will tell you we got what we wanted.As for the few hundred dollars they kept, they lost much more in revenue having to come off the road for court dates.
Let this be a lesson learned for all parties involved and anyone in a simular situation.Owners, be careful who you attempt to srew, for some of us its not the court cost and attorneys fees,its a matter of principle, and cost is of no concern!
