Trans Am Still

I will look for that HTQ post as I think that would be very good information. I am assuming it is similar to the apprenticeship initiative that Iowa started and that TMC is benefiting a great deal from with having changed there orientation and training to apprenticeship .

Thanks again.

 

Ice Storm Warnings are in effect from the Texas Panhandle across northwest Oklahoma and into south-central Kansas beginning this evening and continuing into Saturday. Total ice accumulations could exceed 0.50 inch in portions of the warning area, which could lead to significant travel hazards. Please keep a close eye on the weather, if you will be traveling in this region this holiday weekend.

Please see www.weather.gov for the latest information.

 

I think you are talking about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, passport. It was due to expire, but there was some talk of renewing at least some parts of it.....specifically the veteran portions. You can normally find a copy of it on the Department of Labor's website. While it was a nice offset to taxable income for companies it wasn't a money making proposition either. I know many small companies that were able to take advantage of it, more so than the larger carriers. Some of the smaller companies were offering an extra $500 to $1000 head hunter fee if the guy you recruited qualified for the WOTC.

To me, the leasing program at TransAm is a far greater moneymaker than any Federal or State program. It is their own personal tax incentive and free money generator. I never understood anyone saying that being in control, being able to turn down loads and turn down swaps was such a wonderful advantage that it behooves you to go lease over going company.
What exactly is a lease driver in control of? The truck?....no The maintenance on the truck?......no. Where that truck works.....no, it stays at TransAm. Turn down loads .....really? Let me know how that works out for ya, you'll be put in the naughty corner and eventually starved out. Everyone thinks that they take better care of lease drivers than they do company drivers ....what ever gave them that idea?
TransAm has the perfect business model ....for themselves. They have contracts to haul freight....and they cut rates in order to keep those contracts all to themselves. So, they have to keep their driver pay low.....which they do by taking on new drivers, They expect them to move on after they have gained a certain level of experience.
Now we come to the issue of equipment .....they need nice enough trucks to keep their freight moving and keep their drivers happy.(Gotta look nice too) They don't have to be new trucks .....because they don't last forever and it is an ongoing expense.....but, if you buy used ones you have no idea how they have been maintained. You're buying a "pig in a poke". How about if they buy new trucks but talk people into leasing them? They pay a weekly lease payment, ( much higher than what the actual payment is on the truck), they have to pay TA accounting fees etc.etc., they have to pay the fuel costs, they have to pay the insurance, they have to pay the repairs and maintenance.....to TransAm in many cases...And yet, TransAm is in total control of the truck, it picks up TransAm's discount freight, it goes where TA tells it too, TA is in total control of the income that truck generates. If that driver decides to break his lease, they will charge him, they will go through the truck with a fine tooth comb to find things to charge the driver for......he will usually leave there with a bill. (Not everyone, but most.) Then guess what....they get to do it all over again until the truck is paid for and they hand it over to a company driver. The more times they can do that, the more money they make on the truck.
It always made more sense to me that they took better care of the company drivers.....you keep them in a truck and keep them moving, especially if they are runners. A lease driver, if you have a good one and he has a good DM....keep him moving too....that way you can point out his success. But .....the more lease drivers that you run through, the more money you generate off of your truck .....the truck paid for +, your freight moved at no expense to the company......what's not to love? My guess is that they know exactly how many drivers they have to lease a truck to in order to double their money and then hand the truck over to a company guy.
We have all known lease drivers that made it work....a couple. We have known many MANY that have failed and at least one that had been anywhere from $5000 to $10000 in the hole at different times.....lease trucks are money printing machines, they make money for TA while a driver is in the truck and when a driver leaves too! What a deal!

 

So it essentially is just like any of the lease ops other companies have? I agree if anyone goes into a lease op with the idea that they have any say over the truck then they do not understand the difference between lease op and lease purchase. I know with many of the larger carriers they are not really explaining in great detail the difference.. I would imagine this is why I see many people who rail on Trans Am and others about how it was the companies fault they starved them out . Well that would probably in most cases be a lease purchase especially with the money they stand to make by keeping the truck in there fleet but they offset that as well by having a balloon payment that is astronomically over inflated in most cases.. Now you see it with the leasing companies by becoming there own entities and are leasing entire fleets these days..

Thanks for the info greatly appreciated..

 

Started my Thanksgiving day at the house, but left by noon to pickup a QVC load at Rocky Mount NC headed to Syracuse for a 2pm delivery today. No turkey for me. The insult to injury: The Golden Corral in Carmel Church VA closed early at 4pm. Dinner consisted of two slices of Flying J Pizza and a large cup of baked potato soup. Made it to the Peelot in Pine Grove PA and shut down around 930 last night. Gonna hit the diner here for breakfast then on to the Cuse and UPS. Missed thanksgiving dinner with Jungho and her fam, but saved the paycheck for this week. Queenie, sure great to have you back. Now if Pete would only come back.

 

Exactly HTQ. Here's one for you. A guy I know leased a truck at my company. Made all his payments yada, yada. Didn't have a maintenance account (or much of one), so any time there was something major to come up, the company was only happy to help by repairing the truck and adding that to his payments. Now, just when his truck should have been paid off, major engine issues. Again, company fixed and added payments. Then, engine failed beyond what could be done so he is out all his money and has no truck. Did he learn? No. Was talking about leasing another one. SMH.

I know zero about how all that works so I can't say anything about the politics of a l/p. I know that at my company you are still forced dispatch so why have all the extra headache? And if someone does research on a company and sees that it's a bad deal and still does it? I think that's on them. Now if you know what you're doing and the company is on the up and up (I'm sure there's a few out there) then go for it.

 

I've been scratching my head and wondering how do companies get away with what is a violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act as it defines the Independent Contractor.

It is critical that business owners correctly determine whether the individuals providing services are employees or independent contractors.
Generally, Companies must withhold income taxes, withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, and pay unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee. You do not generally have to withhold or pay any taxes on payments to independent contractors.

Determining Whether the Individuals Providing Services are Employees or Independent Contractors
Before you can determine how to treat payments you make for services, you must first know the business relationship that exists between you and the person performing the services. The person performing the services may be -

Common Law Rules
Facts that provide evidence of the degree of control and independence fall into three categories:

• Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
• Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)
• Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

Businesses must weigh all these factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Some factors may indicate that the worker is an employee, while other factors indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. There is no “magic” or set number of factors that “makes” the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another.

The keys are to look at the entire relationship, consider the degree or extent of the right to direct and control, and finally, to document each of the factors used in coming up with the determination.

Misclassification of Employees- Consequences of Treating an Employee as an Independent Contractor
If an Employer classifies an employee as an independent contractor and they have no reasonable basis for doing so, they may be held liable for employment taxes for that worker See Internal Revenue Code section 3509 for more information.

Legal Info Provided by: https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Smal...ependent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee

It is Legal only by definition according to corporate law and the wording prescribed between a lessee and a lessor that transfers liability from the Corporation unto an Individual. But in reality, the Driver is actually a paid employee rather then a Independent Operator in the true sense of the word.

 

I think maybe the biggest factor in a lease deal among potential leasers is the belief that they are different than the thousands that came before them, that they can make it work thru superior driving skills, more education, prior business success (that is usually unrelated to trucking), a recruiter that gets them and would never lie, and the thought that the world owes them success. And if I was a mega carrier I would totally prey on this. Not that anyone would tho, that's just mean and unfair.

 

Everyone's expectations of success is different just like driving careers. ..what John doe cosiders successful. ..Joe smith might not.....then you have to also look at does the person leasing the truck need to be leasing(just out of school in most cases)....did I get rich on the lease no....did I survive...yes with all my bills paid at home and on the road....if anyone thinks the way to go is buying a truck...then think again...cause family emergencies will happen where you might need to take a length of time off...but the truck payment is still due whether truck runs or not....at least with a walk away lease you can give a notice and walk away

 

I didn't know the lease at green was forced dispatched. I don't really know much about the lease though. Every driver I have talked to have said their trucks were always breaking.