The former owner of a now-closed trucking company in Illinois has been sentenced to 33 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay close to a quarter of a million dollars to his old employees for falsifying payroll and underpaying his drivers.
William Clark, the company owner, was also found guilty of ten felony counts of making false statements after nine of his former employees testified at his trial. His company, Clark Trucking and Excavation, was contracted by the government to do work on the Interstate 64 project. The government thought that Clark would be paying his workers a minimum of $35.45 per hour, but according to the U.S. District Attorney, they only ended up with $15 per hour.
Despite his company now being shuttered, the government still went after Clark to pay for his wrongdoing – a tactic that regulators in the trucking industry might learn something from.
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I wish more attention would be given to this problem. Swift did the same to me. At least they are being sued now. Ripping drivers off is probably the cause of much of the disenchantment of rookie drivers with the industry.
Why are we angry at this guy for paying his drivers above average pay? Dump truck drivers normally only get 10-12 an hour. Instead we should be angry at our government for demanding its contractors pay 2.5 times the average pay. Everyone in the industry is screaming roads! Bridges! We’ll pay more in fuel taxes and let you put up limitless toll booths, just fix our roads and bridges! And the real reason our roads and bridges are broke is because government idiots have a misguided, Mythological, and unrealistic demands that businesses can’t afford and ultimately everyone on the highway has to pay. So if $35/ hour for highway construction drivers is fair, is it fair to charge $400 to a owner op to cross the PA turnpike? Is it fair to raise the fuel tax by a nickel so that the darlings of government, the so called “single mothers” have to pay hundreds more in fuel costs every year when they can’t afford oatmeal for their kids? What about the thousands of other drivers who use that road? Is it fair that they make 1-2 cents less per mile (about $25-50 less per week) cos these f’d up government contracts are “looking out for the working man.”. When are average drivers, average workers, AVERAGE AMERICANS going to figure out that this kind of feel good regulation is costing us our freedom?
you would be right if the employer was lowering his bid accordingly instead of keeping the difference
Well for starters its a government job that means its a “prevail & wage job” what ur talking about has nothing to do with what he did thats a different part of the government.”example i’m an owner operator and this guy hires or if i work as an employee he has to pay me, ok if i make $10.00 an hour that means as soon as he has the contract to do the work on the highway and i get picked to do what ever job it is what ever your field of work is theres an average pay scale for that profession say O O’s $10.00 an hr, prevail & wage job it automatically go to $35-$40 dollars an hr.So what gives him the right to slim $20 are whatever it was he was skimming. the government pays very very good and he was very well compensated for doing the work he just got greedy just like all the rest of the big trucking company’s owners. now you talking about we all use the highway and crossing the PA turnpike no but if i am working on it and its a prevail & wage job i go from $10 dollars hr to $35- $40 an hr thats just the way it is and 33months he should get 33yrs for what he did. now that mother you were talking about couldnt afford oatmeal if she worked for him and had the task of counting the number of trucks coming and going on the job site if she usually get paid $6 dollars an hr, now she should be getting $18 – $20 an hr. oh and by the way i am an owner operator and believe me i pay enough road taxes to last me a life time, have a blessed day..
I don’t think you understand how the federal gov’t contract’s program works. It is meant to create jobs in the private sector of the businesses; which helps us during these troubling economic times. The contracts are awarded to contractors that wouldn’t normally be able to compete on the large scale of these projects as a minority and/or small business in their community. The gov’t is trying to give the little guys a chance to make money so that they can grow their business.
This guy wasn’t honestly sharing the financial growth with his employees; who he was seriously underpaying; according the bidding information (that was given or not given on the bidding contract he submitted).
I. Agree. Look. At. All the student companies. We need a minimum wage in order to protect all drivers. No driver should make under 1000. A week
Setting aminimum wage will do nothing but raise the costs of everything else. If you are going to raise the wage why not make it $5,000 a week, or even a Million $ a year. It will have zero effect when the burden of that minimum wage increase will be passed along to YOU the consumer!
How about just paying hourly to the drivers.. as EOBR’s are here to stay. and they are a time clock. Cents per mile and logbook(recorded hours) are a Double standard! for a driver who is away from the home terminal. at 168 hours a week,
10.00 an hour to babysit the rig and load,(don’t say 10 hour break, it doesn’t exist, as the driver, away from the terminal with the rig and load, is never ‘off duty’ and is always responsible for the load) is 1,680 a week.
the industry won’t even pay that, as it is corrupt and knows, even by FLSA law(1938), that it WILL get away with paying a lot less.
Screw that per mile piece work.
A driver should get 2x minimum for all hours in the truck, out of the house, in the box…
I agree with what Steve stated, “If you just do the math…Add up the hours….Most of you are lucky to be getting minim wage.” I noticed one reply; which stated, drivers should be paid $1,000 per week minimum. Most weeks, I would bring home between $1,000 and $1,400 per week; however, when I figured all the hours that I “actually worked”, I made less than minimum wage. It is sickening, when you actually sit down and do the numbers. After I accepted a job; which allowed me to be home every night, I make more money and work less than half the hours I did, when I was an otr driver.
The problem is, that drivers have to work long hours to make a decent wage. Do you think that most trucking companies care? No; because if a driver takes his time, delivering loads, they will find a driver; who is willing to run hard; thus giving him/her more miles; which results in more pay.
Another thing, that pissed me off when I was otr, was detention pay. Why should the driver have to sit more than 2 hours to start getting an hourly based pay. My detention rules were: Wait a minimum of 3 hrs, after that time, I would begin receiving $10 per hour. If I sat for 3.5hrs, I would receive no pay. I knew for a fact, the trucking company was getting $150 per hour that I sat there; so why should drivers get a measly dollar amount? Why, because we let them do it to us. I am sorry that most of you have to put up with this day in and day out.
Stay safe out there!
right in the strike zone Michael!
Who do you contact in California if you think a company is ripping you offg
Now go after the owners of western express.
People have to remember that Illinois is a Union State and that company Clark was bilking the Government at tax payers expense for those wages. Justice is served. $35 an hour is justified in any State in my book for any driver. California local drivers average the same also being a Union State same as with New Jersey and other States. In my book Companies bilk drivers for everything they can get out of them. I have never been a Union person but the sad thing is I wish I had paid more attention to them in my younger years. Driving a truck is a high stress and adds to a poor health style of living. Driver don’t get paid for the efforts they put into their jobs and for the safety regulations they have to put up with in the long run. Do not be deceived by Company owners. They could care less about you. Everyone of you could be replaced in a moment. Company owners are only looking to their own interest. Another sad thing is Trucking Industry has been on a downward spiral when it comes to paying drivers what they are worth since the ousting of Union operated companies. Drivers have to look to their own interest in taking care of their own future. Being able to take care of their own health and that of their family, and make a decent wage to pay for their children to better themselves such as college and also to have a decent retirement for them and their wives. Should Unions be re-instituted? The time is ripe and I believe they should.
Piece Work is wrong.
And is outlawed in many industries..
Trucking should be be added
Also……….
300.00 a day is good seasonal pay.