Trucking on a 1099. The real story.

Not necessarily. I spoke with a guy today who spent 20 years in prison for a mistake he made at 18. His prison record had nothing to do with his ability to operate a CMV safely, but every company he applied to, except the one I tested for today, turned him down because of his record. He passed his road test and was hired by them

 

I've made my point of view clear.

1099 companies serve a purpose. They dont screw anyone over any more than companies who hire W2. That is a false accusation.

It is not illegal for a drivers to work under 1099 with the correct filings,.. even when working 'technically' as an employee. The risk falls unto the company hiring the driver.

Are there 1099 companies that I would like to see get put out of business? Yes,.. I have one in particular that I would love to see go under. Its not my place to publicly bash them or create a bad image. In my opinion,.. I am no better then they are if I become what what they are.

Hurst

 

I fell under a similar situation,.. I lacked recent experience. Nothing was wrong with my MVR. I had no incidents, tickets or accidents. I stayed with a terrible company for 12 months. I felt it best to get 12 months to show stability and make myself able to be hired by someone else more easily. How reasonable or true that was I am not sure. Maybe 6 months was all I needed to move on,.. I dont know.

My end goal was not to stay as a company driver. I was already in the process of saving for my first truck before I ever hired on with that company.

Hurst

 

As is the case with many of us for all kinds of reasons.

 

Was it a successful plan for you?

 

Im not interested in job hopping to slightly better gigs. I make pretty good money and have virtually no expenses. I have been saving and investing like crazy. Life is good, my job sucks and a lot of bs involved. When i move on i want to take a far and high jump forward and up...


As for what held me back. I had 1 fender bender, two seatbelt tickets, and was on probation up until jan 1 st. All but the second seatbelt ticket reached beyond 3 years in january, and just a few days ago the second seatbelt ticket reached 3 years. i dont have any felonies just a few misdemeanors that would be legal in a free society but whatever gotta play the game right

 

In the end yes.

I realized after about 3 - 4 weeks that I hired on with a scum bag. It only got worse as time progressed. Towards the end when I knew I would be quitting soon, I started to push my boundaries. I started refusing to do 'things' that were expected from me.

Its a double edged sword,.. on the one hand your just trying to make it through and protect your license. On the other,.. the company wants you to do things that you know are either illegal, or worse,.. put you in a situation where you risk everything. I managed to keep my nose clean.

For me it worked to just stay mentally focused on my end goal. It sucked,.. I hated it,.. I didnt know any other way to get where I needed to be.

At the 12 month mark, I finally had enough and reached a point where I didnt care if anyone else hired me or not. I quit.

The carrier owner who I am leased to now heard my story from a TTR member here. He called and asked to hire me. He hired me under 1099 also,.. but under much different working conditions. His goal fell in line with mine. He pushed for me to become an O/O,.. offered to help finance a truck for me. I didnt want to finance,.. I felt that would trap me if I owed him for my livelihood. I ended up grossing $72k my first year with him. 3 months later I pulled the cord and bought my first truck.

So far,.. so good. Yes,.. things are working out well for me.

Hurst

 

you are correct, it is not illegal for a driver to work under a 1099. It is, however, illegal for a company to pay a driver that uses their truck and fuel as an independent contractor. They are an employee. It's plain and simple. Wether or not you can see the benefits to working under one is irrelevant. A company hiring a company driver under a 1099 is illegal. There are plenty of second chance companies that pay on a W2. 1099 has no bearing on wether their insurance company will cover a driver or not. The company pays on a 1099 to avoid paying their share of SS payroll contributions. If a company can afford to pay someone .60/ mile on a 1099, then they can easily afford to pay them .53/mi and give them a W2 at the end of the year with taxes taken out, and avoid the individual from having to pay the self employment of 15.3% on top of their regular income tax rate. I worked as a 1099 driver for a while...until I figured out just how much the company benefited from paying me that way.

Would you allow someone to post in the jobs section that the employee must run illegal and use 2 log books? How about requiring the employee to avoid scales due to unsafe equipment? Where exactly is the line drawn as to what is "too illegal"? Both the above mentioned examples, and the company paying an employee as an independent contractor on a 1099 are all illegal.

Being a small company does not relieve them from the laws. I worked for a 5 truck outfit that gave a W2 at the end of the year, because that was the legal way to do it.

 

You seem to be on a witch hunt for any company that hires drivers and put them on a 1099. I've made my view on the subject clear. You guys are beating a dead horse, repeating the same song and dance over and over.

Drivers can and will hire on under 1099. It is not illegal for us to do it,.. we will do it,.. most who are smart will make good money doing it,.. or at the very least get the "Street credit" they need in order to hire on somewhere else and use the 1099 company as a stepping stone.


Where is the line drawn for companies that hire under the W2 and do the same thing?

What your looking for is under the wrong rock.

Unless its known for a fact that the 1099 company is going to put drivers under duress,.. my advice is to get over it. Its a company hiring drivers and paying them on a 1099.

These guys are grown men. They can make their own decisions.

Hurst