To answer the question that I assume that was directed towards me. I have been a company driver since Dec 00. I started with M.S.Carriers and then moved on to several other less noteworthy companies. I have never worked as a "lease driver" or "leased on driver" or "owner operator leased on to some one's authority" and never will. Nor will I borrow money to purchase a truck and "trust" some company that they will pay me for delivering a load. That's just my personal choice. If it works for you then so be it. I won't be happy if I do everything right and come to work some day to hear I'm out of a job because my boss didn't pay his bills. Or he was shut down for something out of my control. I would be stressed beyond my capacity to know I had to make a truck payment with no job. Making payments on a truck that I can't afford and/or leasing on to someone is a step below insanity. But once again that's my opinion and we all have one. Like I stated I believe it should be one of two ways. 1. You are a common company driver. Or 2 you have your own authority. Which allows you to have one truck one trailer or an infinite amount of each. But no leases in any shape form or fashion. If you have too many loads or can't pull one for some reason then you take a loss or your allowed to broker it out. I guess I will read between my own lines for you. I have been ROYALLY SCREWED by trucking companies that I've worked for in the past. Once to the tune of $2500. I wasn't paid for a full week for over a month then the company shut down and the owner was not available for comment. In knowing this I DO NOT trust trucking companies or owners of the same. Even though I still want to own my own company. I guess it will be my way of personal satisfaction knowing I'm not the TYPICAL scum sucking trucking company owner. If we all would share that sentiment then maybe this industry would be better to work for. But then again I'm just a self-righteous bigot. Right???? Gees why is it so hard to just think with common sense instead of playing follow the leader. Get in debt, lease your truck, and "trust" someone else if you wish. It won't be me playing that game. To all of the owners that are legit please accept my appoligies. I really get my blood pressure up dealing with the typical brain dead steering wheel holders that think they have a leg up just because they can spell a word over 10 letters long. I'll see your truck on EBAY soon when you get screwed by your lessor. Trust me theres hundreds on there. Go look for yourself.

 

I reread my comments. I typically don't spout off like that. It's just I despise/feel sorry for most of the "Owner Operators" i see driving up and down the road. Leasing onto some company doesn't change a drivers status. They are still a company employee.The fact is companies want to hire on owner operators because it lowers the companies over head, expenses, and responsibilities. You might get the big head and think you "own" something, but you don't. My frustration gets compounded because debit in my mind is dumb. It was said the other day on the news that debit is the monkey wrench in the gears of our future's growth. Plus your basically a slave to the company because you will be screwed if you quit or get fired. Why must you treat yourself to this punishment? Just to make payments on a truck? Do you feel a since of accomplishment to pay $1200 or more to fill up that extended hood at the fuel island? I don't love any company owner enough to pay for a truck and expenses for him. If I'm going to do that then It will have my name on the door and no one elses. I don't blame the administration/government either. I believe Obama is correct in going after company owners that lease trucks onto their authority. They are trying to pass the load of responsibility to the employee/ owner operator. It's just not right to pass the burdon of expenses/responsibility off on someone else. Fedex has been sued and rightfully so. They put a huge load of responsibility off onto their independent contractors. I've talked to a few and they say they didn't understand how bad it was until they contracted. Then they had too much invested to back out. The companies are seeing less profit but they don't want to do any extra work to make the same amount of money as before. We are becoming a society of fat slobs that wants to whine and force the government to fix us. Meanwhile we go buy everything we see on credit and then default when the bills get too high. It all comes down to personal responsibility. As far as the trucking industry goes. I say be a company driver if you can't afford to pay cash and become your own boss. I talked to a trucking company owner in Memphis about a year ago. He said he started with one truck one trailer and one load. Now he has over 200 trucks and hundreds of trailers. He also said he loves owner operators because he doesn't lose sleep when their engines blow. Listen to my mentor Dave Ramsey. You will hate him at first but then you will see the light. He tells it like it should be most of the time. Some things i don't agree with him on, but he will change you for the better. Debt is dumb and cash is king. Don't be normal. Normal is broke dumb and buried in debt.

 

They are not going after the people who didn't pay their taxes, they are going after the carriers to whom these people where contracted. They should be going after these lease operators, drivers and owner operators who failed to pay their taxes rather than the carriers to whom they were contracted. These people just want to avoid taking responsibility for their own taxes. They spend the money that they made rather than paying their taxes. Now they want to cry foul and have the government bail them out.

 

sounds like you fell for a lease purchase scam and of course didnt make it, you dont understand the difference between lease purchase and being an owner/operator, you just know that your failure was someone elses fault and if you cant do it, no one can
BTW, I have my own authority, but find it more profitable to lease to a company, you just have to make sure to find a good company

 

They can make all the rules they want, enforcing them is another thing.

 

There are some good carriers who lease on owner operators. There are a few whom I would probably not want to lease to, but I think most are honest. If they were not honest they would not have survived the ups and downs of this business. I know of some who have made more money leasing to a carrier than running their own authority. If a carrier is solid there is no reason to expect that they won't pay you what is owed. If you owe the carrier when you leave then you will be responsible for paying that back to them. For instance, if you buy your base plates through your carrier then they will deduct that amount before they send you a final check.

 

you just have to do your homework before you lease on, I always run my own tags, that way, if I get pissed on and leave, I dont owe them
I wasnt very happy right after leasing on and was going to leave, the terminal manager called me and we talked for a long time, he asked what the problems were and he actually fixed them, now I am doing fine and am happy to be here

 

I just don't understand how you keep saying that the lease drivers are not paying taxes. If your under lease for a company they pay you and deduct taxes from your check. Unless they pay you 1099 style which is old skool. I don't know of any company except for Billy Bob's in Backwoods W. Virginia that still pays 1099 style. So wheres the problem with so many not paying taxes???

 

If you are a lease operator or owner operator you should not have taxes withheld from your settlement. They are considered independent contractors and should be sent a 1099. I would expect from the lawsuit that was made against Swift that these people failed to pay their taxes. That is part of the problem with some people. They don't want to take responsibility for paying their own taxes, even though they may have signed a contract to that effect.