Opinion on Company getting Plates 4 Tractor??!!!!

[DreamTeam44]

OK....so today we were going to make a date for orientation, the recruiter we have been talking to for 2 weeks told us they will take care of red tape & provide our plate, easier for us as we pay back company per week on settlements until paid.....We have checked into doing this in our state for the first time and decided let's have the company do it, less paperwork and we get a new lease, orientation and back to driving and making buck quicker. NOPE!!!!!!! The recruiter tells us today that they can't get us a plate until March 1st, ARRGGGG, this has taken that air out of our sails, I have our state sending me a packet with forms in hopes this won't be as big a hassle as it seems to be, biggest problem is now we need to come up with at least $1800 cash on the barrel head when we were told this was an option the company offered. We did talk to the state DVM where this carrier is based and they had no good answer why they had to wait until March.....I am sure the recruiter is on the up and up with this news, the carrier probably sent a memo on this that got buried on a desk I dunno? We were excited about getting going, now we are not impressed and taken back a bit, I know many of you will say, just do plates in your own state, we will gladly send you the address to send that money to us, and we will bill it to our courier account.
Moral of the story is now we have a case of the RECRUITER BLUES, this will most likely put us back with the old carrier for the next 8-10 weeks til our next time off. I dunno, we dunno, do you know?

 

[charlee]

It is what the company offers....the problem you have run into is that they suspend the ordering of NEW plates until the renewels are in....and right now they are renewing plates. If you had gone thru orientation this week....they would have been able to order plates.


-charlee

 

[Lawrence]

Let me get this straight - you are a team, with a late model tractor and a recruiter is not willing to cover the plates?

 

[DreamTeam44]

Hey Charee,
Yes I understand that, but if that is the deal, and if that has been the deal, then WHY were we not informed last week, there have been numerous conversations on the subject, they have our motel and cell phone numbers, they have our email...WHY, did we just get this news today? That is not good business, unless this is the first year this has happened, this info should be told to prospects immediately, we would have had the opportunity to be there today had we known! Thanks for all your help Charee..........

 

[DreamTeam44]

Let me get this straight - you are a team, with a late model tractor and a recruiter is not willing to cover the plates?

That is correct sir, a team that needs no hometime, we stay out for 8-10 or more weeks at a time, we have an excellant driving record, never had a late delivery, we are OK with the downtime expedited brings, and our goal will to be the best we can possibly be in the expedited business....we love a challenge and adventure, we have done our homework and are ready....but as we discovered today when we called to tell 'em we would B @ orientation next Wednesday, we discovered the company is not ready for us, that was as of 2 hours ago.
What 2 do, what 2 do? Put some mustard in our shoe!

 

[Jefferson3000]

So......you are going with the big black kitties?

 

[DreamTeam44]

Back to square 1, we are reviewing all of our options, the kitty option will delay our team from making needed revenue in the month of February...we shall see but for now this dog will hunt!

 

[x06col]

Yes, we are GOLDEN, a team that has run countless miles recently, rarely go home. BUT, we don't have registration for our truck??? Why not?? Is it a company truck?? What??

Someone whom has run as much as I read about that can't afford registration when it is due?? I'm horrible confused. There is always my story, your story and the facts I guess.

 

[cheri1122]

Admit it, Col: you're not 'horrible confused', just horrible, lol. But you're right, too - if ya don't have the $ for the plates, what's gonna happen when something breaks on the road, eh?

 

[DreamTeam44]

It is usually a good idea not to assume anything, what you don't know is better left unsaid when U don't know the rest of the story, 2 assume could make an ass of U me!
There is a rest of the story, your points of view are well taken and considered to be valid, our point of view and the surrounding facts do not adhere to your criticism, so the validity of your posts are not withstanding to the intricate details of our situation$

 

[greg334]

I too also sit here confused.

I would assume that;

1- the rest of the story would be published to correct our assumptions

2 - that being the owner of a truck, like me, the plate is my responsibility and I had to pay out of pocket for it.

But because assumptions are a dangerous thing to have, I would rather guess.

 

[x06col]

Ah, I know. It's one of them deals. I've seen a lot of those "situations" and they rarely, if ever disappear.

But, I can't imagine why someone would want someone elses registration on their truck. I am truly confused. Would someone help me out here?

 

[cheri1122]

Sorry, Col, after reading the 'Dreamteam's response, I'm flummoxed, too. It's English, alright, and I know what even the big words mean, but I read it twice, and I got nothin. Oh wait - I got something: better things to do.

 

[nightcreacher]

after beeing an owner opperator for over 25 years,i can tell you the biggest mistake you can make is get the company your leased to to buy your liscense plates.I'm sorry if i sound harsh,but if you dont have money for plates.how are you going to survive on the road.this isnt Werner,your going to be on your own.Im not sure where your leasing,but im taking pretty good guess,its going to be at least 21 days after you deliver that 1st load before you get a settlement,and if your short for a liscense plate,all I have to say your going to need a lot of luck.About that plate,you realize that if you decide to change companies in 3weeks or a month,your going to owe for that plate,plus the new plate your going to have to buy.Please think this out some more before you get into something your not going to be able t o get out of

 

[nightcreacher]

That is correct sir, a team that needs no hometime, we stay out for 8-10 or more weeks at a time, we have an excellant driving record, never had a late delivery, we are OK with the downtime expedited brings, and our goal will to be the best we can possibly be in the expedited business....we love a challenge and adventure, we have done our homework and are ready....but as we discovered today when we called to tell 'em we would B @ orientation next Wednesday, we discovered the company is not ready for us, that was as of 2 hours ago.
What 2 do, what 2 do? Put some mustard in our shoe!

ok we know your able to stay out,but what good is staying out if all your doing is sitting around.This is feb in expediite,i'm surprized they are even putting any trucks on 'til march or april.but I can tell you,use a visa,borrow or beg but dont have any company buy your plates

 

[nightcreacher]

Yes, we are GOLDEN, a team that has run countless miles recently, rarely go home. BUT, we don't have registration for our truck??? Why not?? Is it a company truck?? What??

Someone whom has run as much as I read about that can't afford registration when it is due?? I'm horrible confused. There is always my story, your story and the facts I guess.

col,if you read back,they have been at Werner,running over 200000 miles a year there will keep you in debt,same way I got in debt the 3 years i was at Con-Way Now,(was there 3 years as safety diqualifed at fed ex)

 

[arkjarhead]

What they posted a few days ago about how much they make I can only say 2 things.
1. There are Sprinters running for that rate.
2. They should be getting about a dollar a mile more

They chose to run it. I don't want to assume why, but I would guess it's because they didn't know any better. They have most likely just been breaking even. Now they need to mae a move so they can try to make some money.

 

[DreamTeam44]

OK, the post was intended to point out that a credible expediting company has derailed our plan by not being clear nor genuine on the facts on dealing with the plates, now their story has changed, and, this change delays us in making our plan to move forward in a timely fashion.
We have been advised both ways from experienced expedited drivers on this plate issue, in fact, the last few days we have talked to several current tractor owners who drive for this organization, many that have this company take care of their plates with no problems whatsoever, we see the point of view of having secured our own plates and do not disagree with that reasoning.
I love the way some of you automatically assume we don't have the money, and that now if we get into expediting we will be lost little puppy's out in the big bad world on our own.
Well what do think being owner operator's for the last 14 months has been about, if you really must know, we have over $10,000 in the biz account, we have 3 payments ahead in the truck payment account, we just spent short of $4000.00 on a 300,000 mile extended warranty on our CAT C-15 motor, we have over $3000,00 in our personal accounts and at least $50,000 in business credit limits should we need it, not to mention unlimited personal credit cards(sorry not giving any loans!).
Our decision to have the company get plates was in the interest of our getting there and getting rolling, yes, we will not get a settlement for 3 weeks once we start, once we start we will have every intention of being successful and being with that company for the next decade as we are loyal and dedicated once we make a choice, since we do not get to see our mail and many important notices including paperwork the day it show up in our specified mailing address, and since we almost never get to what is our legal home base, the less paperwork we have to be responsible for the better it is for this team- we have most all business set up via internet or automatic payments.
Last time I checked, how we decide to run our business is our perogative, did you happen to see that in the first post we mentioned that our home state was notified today, and the paperwork and forms are on the way for PLATES FROM OUR STATE....that means we were and we ARE aware of our options, we will do what is in the best interest of this team and ourbusiness.

We are unhappy, dissapointed, and frankly peed off that this recruiter, his company, his superiors would not tell us the TRUTH regarding details on this important information up front, in fact they told us the opposite, so what else are we NOT BEING TOLD?
We have been on break for going on 3 weeks in hopes of making a change, the paperwork will now mean more time that we are not interested in taking off, $500 a week in a motel, now the last minute time to secure the plates, and we just heard today from R Freightliner that the power steering gearbox needs replaced @ $1500.00 for the part, so the $1800.00 4 plates not being a financial problem, though it will take time, and we will also be digging into those funds that we DO have built up for that possible catastrophic event, you know, the one you speak of when we get out in that scary expedited freight business so many of you are warning us about. Y'all take care and thanks for all the great advice, probably better if we keep the rest of our little world private from now on in hopes we can feel good about our past and future accomplishments.

 

[davekc]

I will throw my thoughts in here, but they are going to echo some of what you heard. A ....or some companies will offer you a base plate. As far as time periods or waiting 30 days etc, I have no clue. One should be able to go to the DMV and obtain a plate same day.
With that being said, it does make more sense to obtain it on your own. I am suspect in that you might want to review your current financial state PRIOR to jumping in to expediting.
Why? Because obtaining a base plate through the carrier will cost you much more than obtaining it on your own. The only advantage is that the carrier will spread the costs out over the year rather than a lump sum. If $1800 is a barrier, I would think this proposition through a little more carefully by reviewing and researching the archives and posts here at EO.
Yep.....I don't know the full story, but if you are paying more for the same thing, I wouldn't need a rock to full on my head to make an education assumption.
Lastly, if at any point you decided to leave the carrier, you suddenly have no license on your vehicle. That could be a major problem in itself if you ponder the thought for a while.
Not trying to beat up on you, but I would think through what your doing, so you get the right result the first time.

Good luck

 

[easyrider2697]

Looks to me someone dont like constructive critism...ok so take your toys and get out of the sandbox.....you came here and posted your questions, answers were provided, you didnt like the answers....so what can u do about it? Never ask a question, you are not ready to hear the answer to...Good luck in whatever choice you decide to do....