Legal definition of "truck abandonment"

Discussion in 'Trucker Legal Advice' started by brandond, Dec 5, 2009.

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  1. brandond

    brandond Light Load Member

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    Hmmm.0-1 year. You sure speak with wizdom. Go to work for them. Make it clear you will not run illegal. see how far you get drivin. And how much you will make.
     
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  3. brandond

    brandond Light Load Member

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    Well if that is in fact true, thats on them then anyway.
     
  4. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    If they towed it from your property, you're done !! Did you record the phone call Legally ?? If not, you may be in trouble. But hey, with all that experience you have, plus your ripe old age--I'm sure you did the right thing !!!
     
  5. southernpride

    southernpride Gone But Never Forgotten

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    now i no there are some interstate layers out ther that say there are laws that protect the driver in such cases if one of those attorneys will kindly send me a copy of said law i would apreciate it , as far as i no there is NO SUCH LAW.

    and a trucking company could care less about the law legal or otherwise if you upset the cart there going to stick it to you, can you fight it sure you can you can get an attorney and sue them, you got the time and money for all that. didnt thinkso and that is what they depend on, thats how they get away with it.

    as far as you and the law well here is a flash for you,legally you have the wright to quit your job any time anywhere you please that is the law , your wrights.

    but the company has the freedom to put whatever they want against you and they do and yes you can stop it BUT it goes wright back to the attorney thing you have to take the time and spend the money to get it done and the trucking company is counting on the fact that you cant afford to do that thats how they get away with it .
    its all a matter of money and time and compleatly your choice. and DAC is no exception they work for the company NOT YOU.

    now if there is some one out there that disagrees with me i could be wrong if you think i am please show me the law that says otherwise.

    have a safe ride .-----southernpride:biggrin_2552:
     
  6. brandond

    brandond Light Load Member

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    Well if by legally you mean telling them it would be recorded. Yes. It was sent over the computer in writing when they tried pulling this "call me" #### when I told them I would not run illegal. Made it perfectly clear that I would record the phone call because I do not play the "joe blow said he never talked to you, nor told you to run illegal" junk. And also, I am in Texas, with a Texas phone number. According to Texas law, only one person needs to know the call is being recorded for it to be legal. In this case, the person who KNEW it was being recorded, without having to go back and read those messages on the computer that were obviously ignored, was me. So yes, it is legal recording.
     
  7. brandond

    brandond Light Load Member

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    Well you are right about the time and money. But see, in the end, the company will be responsible for paying ALL of those costs. Attorneys fees, lost wages, etc. from having to take this all to court. One thing you guys who are putting the negative statements on here do not understand. 1.) They sent this "run illegal" junk over the computer inside the truck. As we all know, those messages are saved. They aren't deleted. They aren't private information for the company. They are literally pieces of evidence which can be used in court. 2.) The guy that called me yesterday was calling to find out "my side" of the story. Or so he said. He was a little rattled at several different points during our 45 minute conversation regarding the operations in the terminal which I was being run out of. The terminal manager is the one who told them (the company) that I quit and just left the truck and all of this other mess. He was under the impression apparently from communications with the terminal manager and the people who called the wrecker service that the truck had already been sitting for a week. He was astounded to hear I was not even home 15 hours before someone came to pick the truck up. So somebody lied to somebody to try covering their own hide and really got themselves in deeper dog doo than what they were in to begin with. 3.) The man tried talking me in to coming back that day. But I am pretty sure I will not go back due to the fact that I have a job I am to start tomorrow. Explained why I would probably not go back, and was told he was taking notes and would pass the information to the big wigs who need to see it. And was very firm in claiming they do not allow the acts of the driver manager, nor the terminal manager in question. 4.) The entire reason the guy even sent someone to pick the truck up is he was insisting that I take the truck to Oklahoma. While other people in the company suggested I was correct in taking it to the location I picked it up from to 100% cover my butt from truck abandonment. The guy I talked to even suggested my going and picking the truck up from the wrecker service and taking it back yesterday. At which time, I said no. Cant do it. So he was pretty upset they spent $500 to have it picked up initially, and now they must pay storage fees on top of it. And it is still sitting 7 miles from my house at the wrecker companies lot. When they were told (over the computer) it would be Friday before I could take it back. And I had just gotten home at 4 in the morning Thursday morning. By now it could have already been back to them in Indiana, getting cleaned and all for the next driver. I even offered to take a load up there for them so it wasn't a total waste of fuel. Was told no, just deadhead. No company likes that ####. So here we have a terminal manager, and driver manager who have a.) subject the company to costly fines, and definite very crucial audit to all drivers and vehicles they may have not had to undergo had they not sent that stupid junk over the computer where it is saved, b.) costed the company so far a minimum of $650 in costs associated with jumping the gun and sending a wrecker for the truck, when I could have taken it to them 8 hours later, obviously just out of spite, c.) lost a driver due to their mess. Leaving their truck empty no matter where it sits until they get another driver in it, d.) really put their own jobs in jeapordy all over insisting a driver take a load that he did not have hours for. Again keep in mind them just ASKING, much less demanding you to run illegal, is illegal. And they didnt do it on the phone, where in the norm there would be no legal record of them doing so. They sent it OVER THE COMPUTER, where it is saved. Where it CAN and WILL BE used in a court room. Where there is NO DENYING! Now you tell me. Do you HONESTLY think the company is going to risk all of that? I dont think so. Not to mention paying my attorneys fees, lost wages, etc that they will be liable for once it is all thrown in their face and settled. They know they got two bad apples in that terminal. And I am sure they will soon be on their way to the unemployment office. Not to mention the little stunt they also pulled not paying me all they owed this week. Claiming there was a glitch in their computer program, and thats why it was not paid and that it would be paid next week, "if there is no outstanding balance". Problem being, payroll was recorded saying " yes it should have been paid, your driver manager should give you a comchek to pay you". Then the payroll supervisor called saying quite the opposite. They are determined I guess to keep my money because of all this #### the terminal manager pulled in sending someone for the truck. Little do they know, I am sure the US DEPARTMENT of LABOR will see otherwise. As yes, they are authorized to hold money when you leave, for a certain amount of time from your LAST paycheck. This weeks pay was not my last check. But they managed to keep the large pay load, and pay the small one. Claiming it will be paid next week, on that check. Which I will not get until this all is sorted out due to the terminal managers b.s. Obviously, they know that one load I had coming next week, (which would be my last check) will not be enough to even get a fraction of what they spent. So they think they will pull a fast one. That will also get them fined by the U.S. Department of Labor, and I will recover that money they shorted. I didnt make their rules. I didnt bend any rules. They broke the law. Plain and simple. I am confident that I wont even have to go to court. As like I say, one hand washes the other. I just am pretty sure that terminal manager, and the driver manager will not be employed much longer. I mainly just want my #### money they owe me. They cant legally, nor ethically put truck abandonment on me. Sure they will try. I dont mind them coming in with their own computer messages during the time I worked for them and those being used against them. Would be quite embarrasing and humiliating to them I am certain. You think about it.
     
  8. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    I hope you are right, and come out of this OK. Please keep us informed. Any time that a truck is towed from a drivers resident, things are bad. Perhaps yours WILL be different......Best Of Luck.
     
  9. LavenderTrucker

    LavenderTrucker Medium Load Member

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    I choose not to work for companies like that. However, I also seek advice along the way and before I do something like tell a company I quit and take the truck home. I also wouldn't spit hairs with the company if they told me to return the truck to location B just because I picked it up at loction A.

    You're right, I am within my first year in this industry, and one of the things I have going for me is knowing that there is much I don't know.

    My company does not expect me to run illegally, but they do expect me to run effeciently with my time, routes and all. As a rookie I am getting better, however, there have been times when I thought I couldn't run a load legally, only to have an experienced driver help me and show me how to run it legally with either a different route or better time management on my part.

    I would not want to be in your position, I want to be driving not fighting with some company. Fortunately, beause I know that I know very little I am seek guidance along the way, I would of already asked whether I should quit the company on the spot and drive the truck home, I would of asked about returning the truck where they requested or where I picked it up, I would of asked whatever questions I needed to so I could make choices that would prevent me from being in the situation you are in.

    I don't see why you are even in truciking, if you have such a belief in luck. If you think that a driver either makes it or not by luck of the drawl and not through their own merit and choices, than you would have the same chance of earning a living in the cascino's as on the roads.
     
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  10. lonewolf4ad

    lonewolf4ad Road Train Member

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    I love guys who know everything, get an answer to a question. then they claim those who answered it know nothing.
     
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  11. GasHauler

    GasHauler Master FMCSA Interpreter

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    Do you have all the computer records?
     
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