ab5 illinois

Yeah I've seen those beat-up trucks running around the ports. Are they really independent owner-operators who control their ELD and control their fuel cards and all that and also got to choose what load they pull... Or are they more like lease operators and therefore just misclassified employees?

God forbid companies in the port have to actually hire employees or give up control of their owner operators.

 

Portability is something our illustrious govt officials have yet to understand and it crosses over to many more issues than this one. Those who are able to are leaving Illinois and those who cannot will soon not have anything left to tax.

 

I have 75 guys who own their own trucks, buy their own fuel, have their own NJ registrations and IFTA. They spend multi-month vacations going 'home' to visit and only do the work they want, when they want...One guy bragged he has now bought (4) houses in Carteret...and they ain't cheap.

Their equipment has improved. You now need a 2010 or newer to get into the 'Port Truck Pass' system and the have been verifying the real engine age of the 'grandfathered' trucks and next year any grandfathered '97's get barred...Port drivers ain't the old road commodes with fenders and fuel tanks tied on with rope, spit and glue...those days are over.

 

I’m not a port worker but I don’t understand some of your line of thinking. I own my truck but am leased on to another person’s authority. They can log in and have access to my logs. I haul for a different company than the one I’m leased to that provides the trailers and the dedicated loads. They also provide a fuel card and with discounts of 30 to 60 cents per gallon I would be foolish to not use it. If I don’t want to work I don’t have to work, yet by your criteria you’d try and say I was an employee it seems like.

 

The fact you *must* have a fixed, non-P.O. address to have a CDL seems out of date to me. They got you biometrics, your signature, picture, etc. why can't they just use that to identify you and your residence is... well for many it could be their truck, for some it changes very frequently... mobility keeps going down and paperwork requirements every time you move makes it harder to be mobile w/o risking losing your license or some such stupid snafu.

I've seen sketchy stuff down in Elizabeth, NJ.

Now who controls their ELD? Or are they exempt?

 

I'm strictly short haul so my port drivers are all 100 air mile exempt.

Since they just deadlined the '96's last year and the 97's go down this July; there is still some older stuff but my better guys have all been updating their stuff and I can say our fleet is much better than when I came here 9 years ago...then so is my company fleet. In 2010 we had no 53 ft trailers...now we have 30 some...things improve over time.

Downside is a lot of the 04 - 07's that are grandfathered get snapped up by the newest guys. Several guys have multiple trucks and their drivers save up and go on their own as soon as they can afford an older, grandfathered horse...

 

Since the notice from Owner Operator saying that the SCOTUS isn't take it on so Cali won...I'd figure NJ's law team is already getting ready to file a motion...

I'm glad I have retired. It ain't gonna be pretty.