So Many Bottom Feeders, So Little Time....

CORRECT! On the Old Dominion Website warns of such: http://www.odfl.com/employment/qualDriversCompany.shtml

11. Must be able to frequently load and unload full trailers of freight weighing as much as 50,000 pounds. This could involve moving 100 pound containers to and from floor level to carts, stacks, conveyors or platforms, over four feet high, balancing 300 pound drums on their rims and rolling them into position or stowing cartons or other merchandise overhead that weigh as much as 100 pounds each. This type of activity could precede or follow as much as 11 hours of driving.

So long as I am getting my $15.00 + time-and-one-half after 40 hours per week and benefits, I will operate a forklift or operate a push broom. I am not too crazy about having to unload 100 pound containers after 11 hours of driving, but only about 250 or so of them can be in the trailer due to weigh restrictions.

 

While it is true, there is no law for any worker being liable for working as a 1099 contractor. However, it is NOT necessarily true in all cases that for the business paying a worker as a 1099 contractor IS always legal. In fact, a give case is judged according to no less than twenty questions by the IRS as to whether 1099 or W-2 is proper.

1. Must the individual take instructions from your management staff regarding when, where, and how work is to be done?
2. Does the individual receive training from your company?
3. Is the success or continuation of your business somewhat dependent on the type of service provided by the individual?
4. Must the individual personally perform the contracted services?
5. Have you hired, supervised, or paid individuals to assist the worker in completing the project stated in the contract?
6. Is there a continuing relationship between your company and the individual?
7. Must the individual work set hours?
8. Is the individual required to work full time at your company?
9. Is the work performed on company premises?
10. Is the individual required to follow a set sequence or routine in the performance of his work?
11. Must the individual give you reports regarding his/her work?
12. Is the individual paid by the hour, week, or month?
13. Do you reimburse the individual for business/travel expenses?
14. Do you supply the individual with needed tools or materials?
15. Have you made a significant investment in facilities used by the individual to perform services?
16. Is the individual free from suffering a loss or realizing a profit based on his work?
17. Does the individual only perform services for your company?
18. Does the individual limit the availability of his services to the general public?
19. Do you have the right to discharge the individual?
20. May the individual terminate his services at any time?

Actually, I thought there was a 21st requirement: Does the individual earn the majority of his income from you?

Part of the reason I described the third consideration in my original post as 'rouge' is because of the payment structure was more like a W-2 employee (not my truck, company paying lumpers, fuel, and tolls, steady work schedule, I cannot refuse a load, etc.) than it was as a 1099 contractor.

Furthermore, no less than FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery are wrestling with the W-2 vs 1099 issue as in the case Estrada vs Fed Ex Ground Package System, INC 354 California 4th Appellant Court 1. 2007

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&..._7E7nm&sig=AHIEtbR95IC4xGjFJdAdD7pz2IwuMzAqwA

 

HEY--is your moniker pronounced "DeeNoMite" Well, DY-NO-MITE!

Just stay east of the Appalachians and west or the Rockies any you will not have to worry about me running you over. Oh, and by the way, on the Skills test, I am zeroing the pullup and 45 degee backing---I get 4 points on the right turn, but hey, I never said I was the be-all-end-all DINOmite trucker. Kinda grind the gears a bit downshifting, but I have another 12 lessons, so....no other real problems. <p><p>

I am confidant that I will be able to do my part driving--the reality check comes in when I sit a truck stop for three days waiting for a load or the same three days with a broke down truck in the yard, or throwing my back out after lifting two-hundred one-hundred pound containers after driving eleven hours, or when I actually only see $0.20/mile on my statements, or when I am over 100 pounds on an axle which shoot the wad I was going to earn that day, or a tail light being out costing another day's pay.

Lastly, anything happening to me in a GOOD way is not so much a 'reality check' but more of a 'blessing'. 'Reality Checks' are typically disappointments and dream shattering events--See the "REPORT A BAD TRUCKING COMPANY HERE" forum.

Bring on the Jake Brakes and 550 hp Cats---that is a reality I would love!

 

I am not sure about the Carl's Jr.'s in your area, and there are none in my area. What I CAN tell you, is that the Mickey D's, Burger K's, KFC's, White Castles, Taco Hells, etc. is where you may get a promotion to assistant manager. As such, you will still only make about $22-24k/year - the promotion is more to give the individual more authority over workers than it is a pay raise. To make good coin at a fast food restaurant, you have two choices: 1) Be the Owner, or 2) Be the Store Manager.

I am conceding that in the first year, one may be better off earning $8.65/hr, the current minimum wage here in Chicagoland. I will further concede that working at a fast-food joint will grant you more home time. I still await your sketch on hour to maintain a home on $8.65/hr. You may get a free $7.00 meal working at a fast food join, but you always have a free $45-60 hotel room non-day cab trucking.

What I believe I win this debate on, is that in year 2, I should be pulling in a minimum of $40k per annum. Granted, still the 70 hour weeks trucking--but assuming a 3,500 hour year (50 weeks x 70 hours/week), the hourly rate is about $11.43/hr. While the fast-food worker need not work such long hours to make $22k, $40k is only within reach of the store manager.

Finally, my relatively is an adverb describing the indeterminate amount of money I expect to make in year 2 means that compared to what messenger or fast-food workers make, or even other workers with low paying jobs. 'Relative', as you used it, is as a noun meaning an absolute amount of money, which is a completely different meaning.

 

Yeah--I am generally full of angst and frustration--but I will be even more so if I screw up and sign-on with a CRE for instance which I almost did two years ago---TTR saved me!

I called Gordon today and the recruiter says he had 'hundreds' of applications from Recent Graduates in the Chicago Area on his desk. While he did not explicitly say he was NOT hiring, I can take a hint that I am not going to really have a good chance of getting hired. I got one bird in the hand (Schneider) and one more in the bush (Old Dominion), but I thank you for offering another bird instead of flipping me the bird.