What to do when your carrier shuts down?
- Thread starter jmcglone
- Start date
kwexpress
Veteran Expediter
praise the lord.
first step:throw your arms up in the air
second step:shout out thank you jesus.
third step:call someone who cares.
if you cant think of anyone to call look around the payphone some recruiters number will pop out.
fourth step:keep on truckin
having been through this, when conway now sold out to panther in a sudden overnight move. i would say the first and most important thing to do is not to panic and make rash decisions. treat it as a normal carrier change and do your research. check out carriers ask questions even if you are sold on where you are going. you still need to do it the proper way and not get in a hurry. also lets not forget about the loose ends that need to be adressed at the former carrier. i know i was called by a very close office person from conway then the next call was from panther informing me i was now leased to them if i simply signed the contract, almost as if they expected me to. we just stepped back, took a few days for it to sink in then researched our options and made a decision as to where to go. being sensible when this happens is the most important thing to do.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Personally. I'd call my lawyer and give him the details as to what i am owed and what equipment i have of the carriers, then let him deal with it as i take a few weeks off and then look for another carrier....
For me it wouldn't be something to really loses sleep over...for others it could be something really nasty to deal with and for those people, you can only hope that they can sign on with another carrier real quick....
Now if you are looking for a deal like what the Arrow Drivers went through, Wow...again id call my lawyer asap....
For me it wouldn't be something to really loses sleep over...for others it could be something really nasty to deal with and for those people, you can only hope that they can sign on with another carrier real quick....
Now if you are looking for a deal like what the Arrow Drivers went through, Wow...again id call my lawyer asap....
guido4475
Not a Member
The first thing I would do is call my Lawyer and inform to what has happenend, providing as much info as possible,paperwork, etc.Then have him send a letter to the proper person(s) with the intent to collect all monies owed to me, letting them know I will not tolerate them jacking me off throughout this process,giving them a certain #of days to pay, and then take then to court thereafter.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Wow spending all that time with the lawyer hum...
I would just find another carrier.
If you are owed money, most likely you will stand in line and wait and then take a loss on your taxes. The lawyer won't do a thing to recoop the money if there is a lot of creditors because you now have become one when they file. You will go through the same process as say Roto-Rooter does when they billed the company to unstuck the drain in the bathroom from that big staff party they had two days before they closed the doors.
But the only really important issue would be "Hey what happened to my escrow money?" because by law they can't do anything with that money outside of putting into an interest bearing account and withdrawing it if it has something to do with YOU.
If a carrier takes YOUR escrow money and uses it to cover bills or throw a party for their office staff where they drain got plugged up, I think as my lawyer would say "isn't that kind of like embezzlement?"
Remember what happened to Arrow is a lot different than what can and does happen to us, we are contractors. We bill them for our services to the company, we don't make an hourly wage.
The bigger question is how many expediting carriers failed who have fleets larger than 15 trucks?
I would just find another carrier.
If you are owed money, most likely you will stand in line and wait and then take a loss on your taxes. The lawyer won't do a thing to recoop the money if there is a lot of creditors because you now have become one when they file. You will go through the same process as say Roto-Rooter does when they billed the company to unstuck the drain in the bathroom from that big staff party they had two days before they closed the doors.
But the only really important issue would be "Hey what happened to my escrow money?" because by law they can't do anything with that money outside of putting into an interest bearing account and withdrawing it if it has something to do with YOU.
If a carrier takes YOUR escrow money and uses it to cover bills or throw a party for their office staff where they drain got plugged up, I think as my lawyer would say "isn't that kind of like embezzlement?"
Remember what happened to Arrow is a lot different than what can and does happen to us, we are contractors. We bill them for our services to the company, we don't make an hourly wage.
The bigger question is how many expediting carriers failed who have fleets larger than 15 trucks?
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
All that time "with" an lawyer!?!? A single phone call would do it to get it started and maybe a few followups, but no face to face time at all....besides, he is on retainer for all of my wifes and my other businesses, so he could at least do something for what he is paid each yr......
And yes, chances are you'd be down the line as far as creditors, and probably only get pennies on the dollar....but you have to do what you have to do.....
And yes, chances are you'd be down the line as far as creditors, and probably only get pennies on the dollar....but you have to do what you have to do.....
transporter
Expert Expediter
Every expediter driver, o/o, independant should have already have a company that they ready to jump on board with. just incase something happins
I'm really not believing all this git a lawyer crap in this thread. It's only a "job change" for most. And many have done it a few times before. So..... In this business it's not IF you git stiffed, it"s WHEN, for those of you that are concerned about things like that. Anyway treat it as if your significant other shuts down, and find anuther.
The Po driver/Contractor BS is truly getting weary on me.
The Po driver/Contractor BS is truly getting weary on me.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Breeze wrote:
Chef Dennis wrote:
He gets paid if he does nothing or handles 5-6 different issues....
Col wrote:
its all about getting the "judgement"....as i said, you might get pennies on the dollar, but what you don't get is also a write off....they all add up to not paying taxes....
Chef Dennis wrote:
He gets paid if he does nothing or handles 5-6 different issues....
Col wrote:
its all about getting the "judgement"....as i said, you might get pennies on the dollar, but what you don't get is also a write off....they all add up to not paying taxes....
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Chef,
The reason I wrote that was because i had to collect a few times and even with a lawyer who is working cheap, it was a pain in the a**. After a few times, I decided to just write it all off and deal with the IRS if it ever came up.
But it seems that a few of us have the lawyer option, many are still on the hand shake in place of a contract thing. Most don't even consider a lawyer until they get into trouble or need advice.
The reason I wrote that was because i had to collect a few times and even with a lawyer who is working cheap, it was a pain in the a**. After a few times, I decided to just write it all off and deal with the IRS if it ever came up.
But it seems that a few of us have the lawyer option, many are still on the hand shake in place of a contract thing. Most don't even consider a lawyer until they get into trouble or need advice.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Greg wrote:
That is their 1st mistake.....
When you go into business, and i don't mean THIS business, but any business there are certain things you do, legal advise, accounting , bbusiness plan, contracts...just to name a few basics....my lawyer gets his retainer in January of each yr and he may not be used at all or he may be used for several things, but he is there and unless an issue gets over the top, i have never paid hom a dime over his retainer fee....
as for this issue, it is no different then collecting any recieveable.....and if you aren't working to collect them, and or reducing your tax exposure because of the loss of whats owed to you, then thats on you as a business person....I've had to collect on contracts, has you said, most of the time you never get whats totally owed, but the rest is a loss and a writeoff, and for me, screwing over the IRS and lowering my exposure as low as possible is part of the game...i can show you tax filings for one of my businesses that my tax able income was $.33 for the yr.......for me that is the key...so if a few calls to my lawyer to make the effort to get what is owed or a judgement is worth the efforts......
That is their 1st mistake.....
When you go into business, and i don't mean THIS business, but any business there are certain things you do, legal advise, accounting , bbusiness plan, contracts...just to name a few basics....my lawyer gets his retainer in January of each yr and he may not be used at all or he may be used for several things, but he is there and unless an issue gets over the top, i have never paid hom a dime over his retainer fee....
as for this issue, it is no different then collecting any recieveable.....and if you aren't working to collect them, and or reducing your tax exposure because of the loss of whats owed to you, then thats on you as a business person....I've had to collect on contracts, has you said, most of the time you never get whats totally owed, but the rest is a loss and a writeoff, and for me, screwing over the IRS and lowering my exposure as low as possible is part of the game...i can show you tax filings for one of my businesses that my tax able income was $.33 for the yr.......for me that is the key...so if a few calls to my lawyer to make the effort to get what is owed or a judgement is worth the efforts......
The problem is when a carrier shuts down there will be a lot of contractors trying to make that move . With today's economy will other carriers have a need to sign them on ?