Talked to my dispatcher at Trans Am today...

LLC does not shield you.
You, as the driver,
You as the owner,

All parties will get sued if needed.

 

It does in NY. That is the reason so many businesses here will register in NY despite the high tax rate. The corporation assumes the debt and liability for said debt. The worst that happens is you (the corporation) has to sell all assets to attempt to cover the debt in the event of bankruptcy. The firm my wife works for does these all the time.

It turns out NY isn't all bad afterall. I cannot speak for all states.

Another neat little tip. If you put yourself as CEO with a salary that the corporation cannot cover with the current income (must be reasonable), the corporation can avoid paying taxes for up to 7 years buy showing a loss every quarter and writing off the losses. That's another little thing that they commonly do.

Have you ever heard people complain about the rich not paying their fair share? That's the most common loophole that they use.

 

Well, any attorney, which we know are greedy and hungry always names in lawsuits those that I have mentioned.

Especially when they are closely held.

I would suggest looking a little deeper in NY law concerning this. I would be surprised that they would limit the attorney as such. We always had to advise our clients of the tax ramifications of the LLC, and also tell them they were basically one and the same. Many attorneys speak with forked tongues on the issue.

 

Oh, say it ain't so!! LOL

 

LLC partners and shareholders are immune from liability excepting cases of gross negligence. The corporation is a person that can be sued in a court. Piercing the corporate veil is hardly ever done excepting cases of fraud and gross negligence.

 

What do you think that they are going to look for in a truck company accident.

It will be pierced and is open to public knowledge.

 

Wrong! I do not know where your getting this information, but there have been thousands of cases where employees injured and/or killed people in accidents while driving but the CEO isnt liable for the employees actions unless it is gross negligence AND forseeable to the CEO. For example, if Arrow hires someone with a history of DUI's and driver then kills someone in an accident while drunk Arrow's officers may be liable. Even then it would have had to be forseeable and grossly negligent on the CEO's part to have hired the driver. If CEO's were liable for their employees actions there would be no incorporation by anyone. If you are thinking of partnerships, all partners are equally liable. In the case of limited partnerships the managing partner can be held liable. As for S-Corps, C-Corps and LLC's the officers and owners will not be found liable unless as stated above they are grossly negligent.

 

A corporation is a separate legal entity–and what it *means* to treat it that way is that you hold it responsible for its legal actions, whether in the realm of contract, tort, or criminal law. And if the corporation is responsible for these things, then the individual constituents of the corporation are not.

There can be joint liability in some cases, just as there may be joint liability when an individual commits a tort, etc. But this does not mean that you can destroy the corporation’s legal status as a separate entity

So it is written, so shall it be done.

 

Trans Am is a good starter Company but it seems that they are trying to turn the entire fleet lease op. I was a trainer there and did very well, Great miles with an extra .04cpm per mile. I tried the lease from aug 2005 till jan 2006 and I still owe the IRS taxes. I sat for 2 days once and had to pay TA for the lease for the week even when I did not get a settlement for that week. The lease is great for them no Truck payment, no benefits, no insurance, no vacation time paid and no overhead when they grow their fleet. Thats to bad because the owner used to be a stand up guy.

 

Johnny was NEVER a stand up guy! I drove for them as a company driver back from Nov '03-Oct '04 Missed a full year, 1 year vacation and a bonus to go back to my old company by 1 week!

The reason I quit 1 week before the year was up was I was tired of them telling me that paper work was ALWAYS missing from the trip pak! I even wrote a registered letter to Mr. Stand Up Johnny telling him that I didn't work for free and NOT paying me for a trip was the same as working for free!

I even went to the front office and asked them why they didn't send a Qualcomm message when there was no BOL in the trip pak and the stupid broad told me they DID, but every 2 weeks! I told her AND Johnny that I scanned all my paper work into my computer before it was sealed and if there was anything missing just send me a message and it would either be emailed from right in the truck (they found it hard to believe that a truck driver actually had a computer (NOT a laptop), scanner and broadband back then!) or I would fax it as it didn't matter to me!

Still had missing paperwork and what was so good was I was at the yard and they said my Trip Pak didn't come in, but for some odd reason safety had my logs from that load??? Talk about coming unglued in the office! I had Johnny and his little boyfriend up front at the drivers window I was so pissed! Needless to say I got that pay by comm check before I walked out and that was 2 weeks before I quit after giving them their notice! AND with NO bad reference on DAC! Remember to ALWAYS give a 2 week notice!

I also went through 3 dispatchers with one writing me up because I told him I was going to kick his ### if he didn't give me a straight answer on weather he wanted me to falsify my log or log legal! He wanted it both ways and it's really hard to color between the lines when a moron can't make up his mind!

No, Trans Am is another looser story and if you knew the history of Mr. Johnny at National (Critter) (The Elite Fleet) you would understand the reason WHY TA will get flushed just like he did at National!