Company is double dipping on my rate!! Illegal?

Where does it say that you are entitled to the same pay as anyone else? I don't see where they have violated any laws or employment contracts. Seems to me they can pay their employees anything they want. Interested how you would argue your case in court.

 

The way I understand it and the way I have seen several companies operate....an O/O is entitled the fuel surcharge b/c he is paying for the fuel, his truck, etc....a company driver is not entitled to a portion of the fuel surcharge b/c it isn't there fuel or truck to begin with. Fuel surcharge goes up and ( well never really down the last 4 years ) based on the price of diesel and more than likely isnt a part of your employment agreement to begin with. Without seeing it I do not really think you were scammed out of any money.

Also to note is that TTR is still the best place to get multiple different answers to your question.

 

Be be ready for legal battle if you suing for 2 years Of lost wages, you will definetly need documentation on both sides of the fence as company/owner operated wages. Then a good lawyer as well. If you have concrete evidence than go for it my father won a similar case like this about 10 years ago so it canbe done gl

 

i don't see how it can be done.

but i also don't see where the company man feels they should get the same load pay as a o/o.

i once hauled fuel, made 25% of 3000. then i agreed to buy a truck. that i had been in the whole time i was employed. and really wanted it for my own. i made 80% of $4000. for the same load going the same distance to the same place.

there are certain aspects of load rates that company drivers aren't entitled to a percentage of.

you want the same pay. go buy your own truck. plain and simple as that.

there may be laws spelling companies provide full disclosure on load rates. but most companies won't. and the majority of drivers don't know about those laws. so company gets away with hiding money. as a company employee. they can pay whatever they want. an o/o would have a better chance in court then a company man. o/o's would have a contract. company won't. all they fill out is application, permission slips for background checks. and w-2 forms. everything else about the job, is usually word of mouth. no contracts.

i've worked for 3 flatbed companies. ALL say tarp pay. have yet to see one penny. at the minimum pay some companies are paying. i've doen $10,000 in tarp pay for free. i could have been driving, making money. that sum comes up to $25,000 i could have made if i was driving instead of tarping. the first 2 companies. were tarp after tarp. 95% of their loads.

 

If you are not going anywhere and make good money doing what you are doing, then leave wll enough alone. You could possibly find yourself out of a job, along with potentially being unable to find another driving elsewhere.

 

The truth in leasing regulations allow an O/O who is paid a percentage of the load to be able to see the original freight bill. No such protections exist for the company driver.

As to the OP's situation, it could be that the "company" truck is not really owned by the company, but rather by another corporation set up to hold title to the trucks separate from the motor carrier. Those trucks are then leased to the company, and are paid at the same rate as the O/O's by the company. Then, the corporation that owns the trucks pays the drivers their percentage of what the owner of the truck was paid.

Not saying it is right, just that it could be done and there wouldn't be much you could do about it to recover the lost pay you feel you should be entitled to. If it makes it to court, the truck owner will bring in the settlement sheets indicating what the truck was paid and show that you received your % of that amount. I'm guessing whatever the case may be, they had a team of lawyers go over every detail to make sure they could get away with it, so it would be an uphill battle.

 

Shouldn't the company guy get paid on the same rate as the owner operator? In this case 21% of the original $2000, $420.
What is everyone's opinion? Please leave the "look for a new company" crap out of this. I'm looking for real answers. I am not going anywhere, I do make good money doing what I am doing.[/QUOTE]

The calculation method is not important.

What is important is the total yearly income earned for the year divided by miles driven.

How does the mileage rate compare to drivers at other companies pulling the same type of loads?

 

Sounds a little shady but I doubt it's illegal. Do you have any kind of documentation saying they are going to pay you x % of the total freight bill? It's possible they are paying 21% of the line haul to the company guys and paying 72% of the line haul plus fuel surcharge to the o/o? You're definitely going to have to show proof to win in court but keep in mind I doubt most of your replies are from guys with law degrees myself included. Consult a lawyer if you think you've been shafted.

 

It's pretty obvious most of the folks don't grasp your simple question. Before you blow everything up, a couple things to realize. You will not get paid a percentage of the fuel surcharge. If that $2k rate is an all-in rate, they are going to break out a fuel surcharge, thus lowering the line haul that you get paid on. So if they broke out $500 in fuel surcharge, 21%* 1500=$310. This is perfectly legal and acceptable. If the line haul is $2,000, contact an employment attorney.

 

May be even simpler than that. OP did say he wasn't including the FSC, which could mean that would be in addition to the $2000 line haul. In that case, it's a matter of whether the initial offer to be a company driver was percent of gross revenue, or percent of net to the truck. I'd say it's entirely possible that either the OP heard what he wanted to when accepting the job, or that the employer was deliberately misleading. In either case, what's remarkable to me is that it took two years to discover this discrepancy. Whenever I'm paid on commission, I check and double check that net pay from the beginning.

To the OP: I kind of have to agree with what Cranky posted, including the parable he linked. Until you "discovered" this, you were happy with what you had there, including your pay. Since it seems that pay schedule has been in place since the beginning, I'd venture a guess that you just misunderstood.

Don't let something like that poison an otherwise good thing you have going there. You said you were making good money doing what you're doing, after all.

I guess when you start your own carrier business, you'll be clearer to prospective drivers how your percent pay is calculated.