What Legal Grounds Do I Have?

Sorry Charlie,it normally works this way,what ever the load is paying the Broker get there cut,Then whats leftover of that then insurance,then fuel,then truck,then Driver gets a Percentage of the Leftover,thus bringin your truly 25% even lower,

You are suppose to ask all the IMPORTANT QUESTIONS about how the PAY works before you accept to be a Driver with the Company

and if he was HONEST,good luck with that he would Explain to you how it goes,but hes not REQUIRED to do ANYTHING
Hope this helps shed light on your situation a bit

and BTW if your scheduled as a independent Contractor,that also MEANS you will be STUCK paying your OWN TAXES at the end of the YEAR on that "STEADY PAYCHECK",so i suggest putting some of that CASH MONEY ASIDE,if you are getting paid with a Personal Check

Because Uncle Sam Wants his Cut

If you dont like what hes doing SIMPLY QUIT,NO ONE IS MAKING YOU CONTINUE TO DRIVE IN THOSE CONDITIONS

DONT LIKE IT ,,,THEN YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO GO BUY A TRUCK,TRAILER PAY FOR INSURANCE,WC,FUEL,MAINTENANCE,BRAKEDOWN,IFTA,FUEL TAX,2290 & so on and so on,,the List gets longer and longer,oh and then the tables will turn and lets see if a driver you hire,Bugs you about 25% plus FUEL,I CAN ALMOST Guarantee youll FIRE his A-$,so yeah u dont like the RULES,go get your OWN-$imple Problem Solved

 

I bet he's getting paid on a 1099???

This is a sleazebag operation you need to get away from. You can't win, and if certain stuff hits the fan, you could really be screwed.

 

I think Independent Contractor vs Company Employee is very relevant in the sense that under Federal Wage and Hour Regs there are very specific no-no's regarding what a company can and can't deduct, but the basically boil down to them never deducting more of your gross than the number of hours you put in would equal Federal Minimum Wage, then taxing that according to your W-4. If you cross a state line once a year and are classified as InTERstate trucker then they don't have to pay overtime either.

Independent Contractor? Well they can pay whatever they think they contracted for and your only recourse if you disagree is to sue them for breach of contract. Good argument on what they said they contracted for and what they paid and you might win. Still, it's a Court Battle. Paper talks, talk walks. Just sayin'. Might not be right but that's the way it is.

As far as Fuel Surcharge? I'm on the side w/ everyone else. FSC was put in place to compensate the one buying the fuel for the spike in fuel during the Arab Cartel oil embargo many, many (MANY? Has it really been THAT long?) moons ago. Ever since, it has generally been adjusted weekly, monthly or whatever; according to what the Department Of Energy began publishing back then as the "National Average". Mine goes up and down (lately real down National Average this week is $3.21!! Can you believe it?!) weekly. I pay for all my fuel, so I get all the FSC. See? Whoever is paying for the fuel is the one that is supposed to get the FSC. Because you are paid on percentage, you may have been misled by someone trying to get you to drive for that company as to what gross you average each week, but unless you are actually paying for the fuel; I think you will have a VERY rocky legal row to hoe trying to get any cut of the FSC that someone that IS paying for fuel is getting. Being an Independent Contractor or a Company Employee is only relative to FSC if YOU are paying for the fuel in either case. If you are truly deemed an employee, and they don't short you on minimum wage then it doesn't matter that you didn't get what you were told. Nothing the Law can do. If you are an IC and not paying for fuel . . . take that FSC shortage and roll baby. FSC doesn't even come close to covering your fuel cost. Let 'em keep it and say thank you.

You pay for fuel and keep the FSC too and give me my fair cut of all non-FSC revenue? Where do I sign? LOL!. I'm sayin' CASH FLOW BABY!!!!

Not tryin' to be mean in the least. I get OP feels jipped. Who knows. Maybe is. Sounds a lot like just not understanding FSC though, and I hoped this helped.

 

if the contract states you are an inependant contractor...why did you sign it?. if you signed it, thats the terms you both agreed to.

 

It will likely depend on the laws in your state & it could get complicated. In California the Labor Relations Board will definitely stand behind the employee. What I think you should look at is your overall level of compensation. How much do you earn per week/month/mile/hour? Is it line with industry standards? If it is, all is good, if not maybe find another job before you fight your present employer over it.

 

heres the deal the guy is getting paid percentage, the truck owner is paying him 30 per cent, but the owner is deducting the fuel surcharge before paying him his 30 per cent which is the normal way of doing it. the fuel surcharge is to offset the cost of fuel, not help pay the driver. its simple actually. you aint got a leg to stand on

 

You can't contract into being a 1099 Independent Contractor. 1099 status is granted by the IRS under certain conditions, it's not something you are locked into no matter how many dotted lines you sign. If the employee doesn't meet the standards that the IRS have set for 1099 employees than he is a w-2 employee and the employer is liable for their half of payroll taxes. The rules for 1099 employees are here: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-Defined and http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small...ependent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee

As for taking money out of your pocket for the fuel I'm unsure of that. You'd need to hire an attorney to see if your miss-classification as an independent contractor would void the contract completely or not. If not you won't recoup any financial losses, but your employer would have to treat you as a w-2 employee still.

 

Maybe a wooden one. OK, maybe a Balsa wood one. With only a few termites. Ok, ok. Cardboard. Well, yeah; prolly more like rolled up newspaper. FINE! Wet newspaper. But at least it's SOMETHING. Yeah, OK, prolly not. I think he most likely got mis-led or maybe just didn't understand the whole percentage deal when he signed on. Add to that, that trucking I/C settlements and Employee Driver pay stubs are only slightly less confusing than a game of Chinese Checkers during a Chinese Fire Drill on the deck of the Titanic when it hit that big old berg and it's no wonder he feels rooked.

OP, I suggest a very serious assessment of your current situation. If the money's still good despite the perceived shortage and they're not running you any more like a dog than the rest of us and home time suits you and equipment is nice and payday is on time and paychecks aren't bouncing; maybe not so bad. Maybe just a misunderstanding of the crazy way we get paid.

Things ain't adding up the way you need them to in any of those areas and you and your significant others are unhappy and really upset and you can't resolve the matters at that particular place? Motor on elsewhere. Court will probably be just throwing good money after bad based on that which has been shared.

Best of Luck no matter how you decide to slice that bread.

 

stop wasting you time and labor,,find an other job,,

 

The right direction is to either quit or understand your employment status. Unless you are paying for the truck,ins, fuel, maint. And all that jazz you are an employee. I would ask for receipts on everything he is charging you. That way when the irs hits either one of you there will be write offs. Tell him you need to deduct the expense of running the truck since you are a independent contractor. Then see what he says