If you were concerned that this whole Pilot Flying J debacle was going to blow over without any repercussions, without any justice being served, worry no more. The Freeh Group has just been hired to investigate Pilot Flying J. The name might ring a bell; not only are they the internationally respected firm responsible for publishing a scathing report during the Penn State sex abuse scandal, but the founder, Louis Freeh, is the former Director of the FBI.

The Freeh Group was hired by a group of trucking companies that have filed class action lawsuits that allege that Pilot Flying J cheated them out of their promised fuel rebates. They are one of the most respected independent firms who specialize in complex legal issues. According to their website, their team members are made up of many experts including “former FBI agents, prosecutors, [and] forensic accountants,” all of which should prove useful in this case.

This news was broken by ABC news who spoke with Mark Tate, the attorney who is representing the class action members against PFJ and its owner Jimmy Haslam. “I can confirm and I am pleased that the Freeh group is supplying the victims of the apparent Haslam scheme with support they need to hold Haslam and his company fully accountable.”

It is extremely interesting that Tate references Haslam directly instead of just referring to Pilot Flying J. Jimmy Haslam has been making a valiant effort of distancing himself from any wrongdoing while condemning the unethical business practices that he says he had no part in. He recently even went so far as to say that the behavior that was reported in the affidavit released by the FBI was “really sickening.”

You may recall that the very same affidavit he references also contained fairly damning testimony that seemed to indicate that not only was Haslam aware of the rebate scheme, but actually approved of it.

Haslam – whose nasty habit of saying “truthfully,” “candidly,” “honestly,” and other such phrases before everything he says makes him seem anything but truthful, candid, and honest –has been receiving support from local newspaper ads paid for by civic and political leaders in Tennessee, the state where his brother is currently the Governor.

Besides his family and their supporters, it seems that Haslam’s list of friends is running short. Other lawsuits are piling up as trucking companies take PFJ to court over their unpaid rebates. The sheer volume of cases being brought will no doubt put a strain on the PFJ legal team, but now that they have a former head of the FBI picking through the company’s dirty laundry, their job just got a whole lot harder.

Next Story: Least-To-Own And Sign Away Your Rights

Source: newsnet5, overdrive, tennessean

Image Source: nj

Most of us know that the infamous “lease-to-own” agreements that some companies push on their drivers are generally a terrible, terrible deal. If you didn’t know that, think about it like this: If the company offers the program, it’s to make them more money. If they’re making more money, that likely means that they’re shifting costs away from them… and on to you. The lease agreements that they have drivers sign are generally pretty ironclad; there’s usually no backing out of one once you’ve put pen to paper. One particularly unscrupulous company has raised the bar for shady lease-to-own contracts in an almost impressively immoral way.

Green Fleet Systems, a trucking company that serves both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, had your general run-of-the mill lease-to-own program going on. Drivers were paying so much in leasing fees and maintenance that they were barely breaking even every month with their paychecks.

It had become so intolerable that four drivers approached the California Labor Commissioner, a government office in charge of enforcing labor laws, and filed wage-and-hour claims against Green Fleet, asserting that they were in fact employees, not independent-contractors, and had been unlawfully misclassified. The labor commissioner agreed with the drivers, and determined that Green Fleet owed them a combined $280,000.

This is where it gets really shady.

In an attempt to keep their other drivers from doing exactly the same thing, Green Fleet required every lease operator to sign new leases that were supposed to limit their rights even further. The new leases said that if a driver ever does claim to be an employee, he or she will not only defend and hold the company harmless, but that they also agree to pay the company’s defense costs. So drivers could possibly be reclassified as employees, but only if they waive their right to demand back pay and pay for the lawyer that would argue against them.

Another section stated that any dispute regarding the lease would have to be settled by an arbitrator chosen by the company.

To top it all off, Green Fleets and nine other companies then filed a lawsuit that would prevent the Labor Commissioner’s office from enforcing the very laws that it was created to uphold. Specifically it would prevent the office from “investigating, processing, or proceeding to hearing on any claim” made by those ten companies’ drivers.

Of course, none of the changes that were made to the leases would hold up in court, their real goal is to prevent an uninformed driver from attempting to go to court because “hey, it says right here in your lease agreement that you can’t.” Fortunately, just because you’ve been able to get someone to unintentionally sign away their rights, doesn’t mean that those rights are actually gone.

It’s actually a good thing that those companies tried to shield themselves from impending lawsuits, it just makes it even clearer how guilty they really are.

Next Story: Take A Driver Parking Survey And Be The Voice Of Progress

Source: citywatchla

The story of Jason Rivenburg is one that most drivers know well. Jason’s Law and the tragedy behind it has become a rallying point for the huge issue of the lack of safe truck parking. Hope Rivenburg, Jason’s wife, has inspired a driver-led movement that is dedicated to getting better, safer parking for trucks across the country. In partnership with the USDOT, Hope has created a survey that is being conducted in order to get a clearer, more specific view of the needs of truckers when it comes to safe and reliable parking.

The goal of the survey is to highlight the extreme need for safe parking in the hopes that the government will finally hear an organized and unified call to action. The creators of the survey also add that they hope it will give lawmakers an idea of where the need for improvement is greatest.

Across the country public rest areas are being closed left and right as woefully underfunded state budgets are struggling to make ends meet. In desperation, many states have considered rest-area privatization in a final attempt to keep public rest areas open. Drivers on the whole seem to be against the idea, as without government funding a for-profit rest area could bring price gouging or unsafe conditions without any fear of repercussions.

Last year’s Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21) highway bill mandated an examination of the truck parking issue, but did not demand that any action be taken once the research was complete. If the response to this survey is great enough, the combined voices of truckers will be very hard to ignore.

With this in mind, take the 10 minutes or so to fill out the form and make your voice heard. As we’ve seen in the past, truckers can do amazing things when we stand together.

Next Story: New Medical Exam Rules Proposed May Leave Drivers Stranded

Source: overdrive

On Friday, May 10^th, the FMCSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would change the form that medical examiners use when performing DOT physical exams and require the medical examiners to report the results of the completed physicals to the FMCSA by the end of that day.

The new rule would also require that the FMCSA transmit all medical information electronically to state driver’s license agencies immediately upon receipt from the medical examiner. In one way, this is beneficial since it would mean that drivers would no longer have to give their medical certificates or documents to the state licensing agencies. Fleets would also no longer have to verify the National Registry Number of the FMCSA approved medical examiner.

The downside is that since the medical information is transmitted almost instantaneously, if a driver is failed for whatever reason they will be immediately placed out of service regardless of where they are in the country, what they’re hauling, or where they’re going. This could potentially leave drivers stranded without a way to transport their goods until another driver can either take over their rig or unload and reload their freight. If the load being hauled is time sensitive, the carrier could be held responsible for the total cost of the freight lost. This could be a huge expense for any fleet, but nearly insurmountable for small fleets or owner operators.

This new rule comes on the heels of the older rule created by the FMCSA last year that established a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners and mandated that all commercial truck drivers must get their medical certification from an FMCSA approved examiner.

According to the FMCSA, the new rule will go into effect three years after it gets finalized.

Next Story: Tanker Explodes On PA Turnpike, Causes $10 Million In Damage

Source: overdrive

Image Source: dotphysicalutah

On May 9^th, a fully loaded tanker overturned on the ramp from northbound I-81 onto westbound Route 22/322. The tanker caught fire and caused an estimated $10 million worth of damage to the ramp, bridge, and roadway. Amazingly, no one was killed.

The truck was carrying around 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel when it flipped over. The tanker caught fire and then multiple explosions were reported after the 52-year old driver escaped with only minor injuries. Apparently the fire was so hot that it forced the water out of the concrete as steam, building up pressure and generating additional explosions. The intense heat from the fire and explosions warped the steel beams and damaged the top section so badly that there were initially fears that it could collapse on top of I-81.

That section of I-81 sees about 100,000 vehicles per day and the nearby Route 22-322 gets about 34,000.

“There really could not have been a worse spot for this to have occurred,” state Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said.

In order to lighten the traffic burden, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is offering a free detour around the damage for vehicles that enter and exit at Harrisburg East at Exit 247 and Carlisle Exit 226. The effected section of I-81 is between mile markers 59 and 70.

There has been no official word on when repairs will be completed, but given the scale of the damage, current estimates are starting at around 2 or 3 months.

Next Story: 45,300 Trucking Jobs Added in The Past Year

Source: landline, startribune

According to data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the trucking industry isn’t just doing well, it’s downright booming. The For-hire trucking industry added 45,300 jobs between April of 2012 and April of 2013.

The trucking industry currently employs about 1.368 million workers.

The number was topped off by a huge burst in April of 11,700 jobs. That’s just over 7% of the total national gain of 165,000 jobs in April.

April’s report is in stark contrast to the announcement in March that trucking had lost 6,300 jobs. National unemployment has dropped to 7.5 percent.

Next Story: Cross-Border Program Under Fire, A Truck Explodes In Mexico Killing 23

Source: overdrive

OOIDA is nothing if not persistent. Just over two weeks after A D.C. District court judge denied OOIDA’s attempt to mandate a closer look at the cross-border trucking program, they’re back up and at it again. And they just got two new reasons to try and kill this program: A hazardous HazMat company and a deadly fireball.

The last argument that OOIDA presented was that safety and enforcement standards for Mexican carriers are lower than they are for American CDL holders. While anyone who’s hauled in Mexico (or anyone who has read the safety requirements) can tell you that this is absolutely true, the judge ruled that the standards for Mexican drivers “would provide a level of safety at least equivalent to the American standards taken as a whole.”

This time the argument is a bit different, but still along the same lines. While American drivers are required to receive medical certification from an FMCSA-approved medical examiner, there is no such stipulation for Mexican drivers. This would theoretically make them more dangerous to have on America’s roadways.

All of these arguments are happening at a time when new Mexican carriers are still applying to be a part of the program. Just this week a new carrier, Servicio de Transporte Internacional y Local, has applied to be a part of the program. If approved, STIL would be the largest fleet – 20 trucks – to be approved so far. Their safety record is far from exemplary. The FMCSA completed a compliance review in February that found five violations including allowing a driver to operate a vehicle before a negative pre-employment controlled substance test result was returned; not maintaining an accident report for three years following an accident; failing to make drivers give them a list of traffic violations every 12 months; failing to require drivers to make records of duty status; failing to maintain completed inspection forms for 12 months after inspection dates.

Despite these violations, the FMCSA said they “did not rise to the level of critical violation.” STIL hauls hazardous materials.

To top it all off, as if to punctuate the whole situation, on Tuesday a tanker truck exploded just outside of Mexico City killing 23 people and wounding many more. According to reports, the truck was speeding and crashed into several cars and houses before exploding on the highway. CNN reports that at least 100 residents lost their homes, 45 houses were damaged, and 16 vehicles were destroyed.

Next Story: Trucker Rear-Ends Another Trucker And Gets Awarded $1.1 Million 

Source: overdrive, overdrive, landline

Image Source: cnn

We’re all too used to hearing the familiar story: A trucker is driving along when all of a sudden, someone cuts in front of them or stops suddenly. The stopping distance being what it is, even a completely alert, safe driver can’t do much to prevent an accident if they find themselves in that situation, but it’s almost always declared the truckers fault.

Not this time.

This time, George Reaves Jr. rear-ended another trucker on I-70 and not only did he not cause the crash, but he was actually awarded $1.1 million dollars by a federal jury. How’s that for a twist?

The accident occurred on I-70 back in 2010 when the other trucker stopped his rig in the middle of the roadway at 3am. Reaves suit alleged that when his UPS tractor-trailer hit the other truck he suffered serious injuries to his head, face, back, and other body parts, and lost the tip of his tongue. Reaves was then rear-ended by another truck.

The jurors actually awarded Reaves a total of $2.2 million including $1.5 million for pain and suffering, but they found him to be 50% at fault for the collision and so reduced the award accordingly.

His lawyer spoke about the trial outcome on Tuesday saying “I’m really happy about it because George got his day in court and got to tell his story and basically justice was done… Honestly, it’s a miracle he’s still alive.”

Next Story: Prices For Diesel Are Down… And Staying Down

Source: stltoday

Image Source: stltoday

Truckers who have been on the road for long enough or who drive the same routes over and over all have their favorite spots to catch some shut-eye, grab some grub, or wash away the road. But even the newest trucker knows where to stop to get the best prices on diesel. That’s a trick you learn very early on.

Recently though, it’s been getting harder and harder to keep track of who offers the best deal because prices keep changing. Happily, they’re mostly just going down. The Department of Energy reported Monday that the average price of diesel dropped again on the week ending on May 6^th, making it 10 straight weeks of declines in the national average price.

The price only dropped by six-tenths of a cent, but even those fractions of a cent can add up. Compared to the same week in 2012, the average price for diesel was a whole 21.2 cents lower.

That’s huge.

And it’s going to keep getting cheaper.

According to projections from the DoE, the price of diesel nationwide is going to keep dropping in 2013 and 2014 until it should come in at around $3.78 per gallon by the end of the year.

Though we’re still a far cry from the 4-year low of $2.09 per gallon back in March of 2009, and we’ve seen what the other side of $4.00 per gallon looks like, for now we should have relatively stable diesel prices in the $3.90-$3.70 range for the next few years. Here’s hoping.

Next Story:  Pilot Flying J Slammed With Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuits

Source: overdrive, fleetowner, eia

Image source: eia

The outburst of press conferences and public statements made by Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam just after his company was raided by federal agents two weeks ago is over. Now an eerie silence has fallen – the calm before the storm. No statements have been made by PFJ leadership as their legal counsel gears up to defend them from the hurricane of lawsuits that’s about to descend on them.

The first drops of rain have already been felt. So far one two three four lawsuits have been filed by trucking companies who feel that they have been victims of the alleged rebate fraud that may have been knowingly perpetrated by fuel sales representatives at PFJ.

The very first lawsuit was filed by Atlantic Coast Carriers and claimed that they were owed more in rebates on the fuel purchases they made with Pilot. Since then the lawsuits have become increasingly multifaceted.

One lawsuit, filed by National Trucking Financial Reclamation Services, claims that the company withheld “tens of millions of dollars in diesel fuel price rebates and discounts from customers since at least 2005.” The lawsuit includes allegations of fraud, deceptive trade practices, unjust enrichment, conversion, breach of contract and fraudulent concealment. Interestingly, the company was incorporated on April 22^nd, two days before the lawsuit was filed, and the president of the Arkansas Trucking Association is listed as the registered agent/officer of the LLC.

These types of lawsuits aren’t the only ones that are being filed.

A restraining order was filed against PFJ and CEO Jimmy Haslam by Atlantic Coast in an attempt to try to prevent PFJ agents from contacting potential claimants and getting them to settle out of court. The worry was that PFJ representatives may have been getting trucking companies to sign away their rights to bring them to court in exchange for a repayment of less than the full amount that they were owed.

The document said that PFJ’s “back-room meetings and secret attempts to pay off injured claimants should not be allowed to continue.” The restraining order also says that Haslam’s calls to trucking companies “may constitute an improper attempt to coerce parties and witnesses under Tennessee law.”

In response, a Pilot attorney called the allegations of witness tampering “absolutely outrageous. The company is trying to do the right thing and the company is trying to pay money it owes. And somehow that translates into witness tampering.”

The restraining order was rejected by a judge in a Tennessee court, and calls from Haslam and his staff to trucking companies continue.

Even before the FBI raid, when companies would catch PFJ in the act, salespeople would blame it on a computer error and then offer only a portion of what the companies were owed. W.N. Morehouse, one of the companies that was directly referenced in the FBI affidavit, was owed at least $146,000 in missed rebates. When he confronted PFJ about it, they said that it wasn’t that much, and that they would write a check for $88,000 and offer an even greater rebate for fuel in the future. Owner Curt Morehouse, a long-time member of our community here at TheTruckersReport.com, took them at their word and accepted the deal.

After the FBI raid, W.N. Morehouse requested that the full amount be paid back. On their Facebook page, W.N. Morehouse announced that “We have agreed to a deal with Pilot Flying J to make our company whole from the rebate issue. Jimmy Haslam seems to be a fair and reasonable businessman.” Then, on April 29^th, Curt Morehouse posted “Today we received a wire transfer from Pilot that made us whole from the rebate scam. We consider this matter settled and will continue to buy fuel from Pilot. Whether or not Jimmy Haslam knew about it, he has done what we feel is right and thank him for doing so.”

Morehouse was not so forgiving about the sales people who scammed him in the first place saying “The sales reps, if they knowingly did these things on purpose, I’d love to see some people get fired.”

Many of PFJ’s sales reps have been put on administrative leave, but as of right now, no one has been fired, and no one has been charged with any crimes.

Next Story: Is The Pilot Flying J Internal Investigation Beyond Reproach?

Source:  overdriveonline, fleetowner, landline, landline, landline, espn, cleveland