Regional owner op Chicago

Yep

you need to be super careful before working with anyone based around Chicago or any company that is operated by folks with Eastern European / Russian accents .

you WILL get ripped off if you work for them.
There are plenty of threads on here about Chicago based businesses being shady .

 

For all of the hundred of thousands of trucks based out of there, it would take quite a bit of statistical oddity, to claim that eveyone is being ripped off based on eastern European accent.
I am sure you are a linguistic expert on accents and geography like many others here.

 

Like everywhere else.
Including your part of the world.

 

They say here that Chicagoland - is a shady land.
This is the biggest Midwest transportation hub. You have the highest number of truck companies in the World. Of course, many of them are shady. If you are concerned about accents then don't deal with accented individuals but there you'll have more than 50/50 chance to wind up with an owner who still has a non Anglo-Saxon sounding name, yet speaking perfect Midwestern American.
If it is true that everyone there is as bad as they say, you have little choice but do power only with JB Hunt or Schneider - they have a lot of regional work.

 

Hey I don't care what nationality anybody is as long as they pull for higher rates.

I can tell you that when the state police gave me my audit they did tell me that there are I guess you would call them gangs of serbians or Russians I think he said and they actually make fake CDL licenses.

They have a whole thing that they run trucks that are illegal and they have fake CDLs and I don't even know if those guys are citizens maybe if they get caught they just get thrown back to their own country I don't know.

They certainly don't seem to have any fear of the law.

Then again with the way things are going you kind of can see why they're eager to continue this now.

 

So when you lease on. You don't do it over the phone, do you?
You go and talk to a person, so what that he speaks with an accent, you look him in the eye and right there you know his or her soul. How could you not see someone's soul by not looking in their eyes?!
But you also ask him concrete business questions and the terms of engagement. You check safer report, you check business reviews, you check with other drivers, check the look of the office and their warehouse.
If accent is the most important prerequisite then perhaps Chicago is not the best place to find work a leased on o/o.

 

I am sure what are saying is true.
That guy was saying to stay away from any company operated by someone speaking with eastern European/Russian accent.
On the side note - It takes an expert to discern that particular accent from a myriad of other accents in Chicago area.
So I say that it takes more than that undesirable accent you hear over the phone to dismiss an opportunity.
The accent, perhaps, can be enough of a prerequisite when you call a landstar agent to book a load - there's simply no way to look an individual in the eye and see him as a person but when it comes to decide about where to lease on , there are so many more important aspects of it.
What do I care anyways?
If Chicago is so shady and everybody screws everyone else then they should stay out for the peace of mind, if nothing else or move to L.A. or Baltimore.