Anyone Using Blue Bloodhound???

Okay I am actually doing this, it is no different than being an oo as far as taxes, 1099 you fill out with every company you pull a load for, they send to you at end of year, so you might have 30 1099, you save some of each paycheck towards taxes, real easy figure out how much, and it is basically like a bounty for filling an empty seat for a load, and if you work and do this part time you will need to either print your current logs of elog, or run paper if your like me, so each log will reflect company and current truck for that day, I am actually parking my truck until the economy gets better and doing this. I met a guy at a truck stop who does it. You can make money and minus SOME of the expenses of being an oo. I drive my pov the day before a run, unless it's close enough for me to drive same day, fill out 1099 carrier checks dl and short and long form, and your off running there truck on the load, then you drive back to origin and drive your pov to what ever next load is and repeat. Seriously no one on here ever use a load board??

 

Uber nor a cab company provide cars for the driver, if they do, generally, they will be classified as employees of either. Even in situation where the driver provides his/her own vehicle, Uber is finding they are still being classified as employees but that has been rare so far.

The problem with this outfit is:
1. Apparently (I do not have first hand information but based on comments on the web), the company was telling drivers they already had carriers and loads to get them to sign up. From their facebook page, the reviews/comments seems indicate this was probably not the case, from what I can gather very close to zero loads. I am not sure lying on day one is a way to install confidence with the public, if true.
2. They are telling or implying (at least that is how I take it) that the carriers can supply the equipment to driver and they will still be "independent drivers", generally speaking I believe this to be possibly false and false commercial speech. Those carriers/drivers are in for a rude awakening, if the IRS does a tough audit.
3. Their so called service does not eliminate inefficiencies, in my opinion, it actually adds yet another layer to the process.
4. The cost to the carrier and indirectly to the driver seems quite arbitrary in nature, why $55 a run? If all they are doing is collecting the documents and verifying such, not sure why the carrier is being charged on a per run basis. Why can't the carrier just call the driver and by pass the fee? Can they? If not this is really just a temporary employment agency in the guise of a board. Not sure how charging $55 to post something on a board and being charged that say 100s or 1000s of times is efficient for the carrier.
5. What exactly is this outfit offering or providing, they have a no warranty and limited liability clause?

The problem is their statement of eliminating efficiencies is just not how I see it and I would imagine most of the carriers feel the same way. They have mentioned uber multiple times, but the industry and model are clearly not the same, nothing has been eliminated!

 

[QUOTE="michaelbunt, post: 5231993, member: 113978]and it is basically like a bounty for filling an empty seat for a load[/QUOTE]
If you mean using the carriers equipment, you and the carrier better hope you don't go through a tough audit, or someone doesn't file a complaint/report. Of course, from what I can gather on their facebook page there are no or virtually no loads anyhow.

http://www.slideshare.net/kapons/blue-bloodhound-presentation-pdf

They claim their is a huge shortage of drivers, okay, why such low pay? And whoever made that slideshow is living in a dream world, the carriers would be silly to give up any profit margin.

I agree it can be the equivalent of an existing job board, if you own your own truck, but why would a carrier want to use this board? Is there anything stopping the carrier from calling the driver up and by-passing the board and the fee? If no, than I would say this is more like a temp staffing firm.

 

Hey drivers I can answer these questions.

First off you have to join Blue bloodhound as an I/c. BBH has several loads consistently and all loads pay differently. For example I just ran from Louisville Ky to Birmingham al and back with them and made 1200. Remember it's as an independent contractor so u have to take out ur own taxes. After paying for gas to the company and for food for 2 days I made 800. That's taking out all expenses and taxes. It's not bad. I have to constantly check their website by logging in to see the loads.

What's stopping the carriers is BBH if the carrier contacts a driver directly they are in violation of terms of agreement and BBH will terminate them and sue them.

I like it because I do work when I want and etc. the only problem is u provide your own transportation to and from the customer.

You do drive the company equipment and u do get a fuel card if it's required. ( most loads I have seen and ran no fueling needed)

I enjoy it. Most of the loads do pay a low rate but for people like me it's not a bad gig.

 

I see the future. Every mega will have their own BBH type department. Some brainiac will think there is some advantage to not pay the $55.

 

Generally speaking, if you are using the carrier's equipment most probably, if the IRS comes a knocking you will be determined an "employee" under the IRC and regulations. Maybe you'll get lucky for a period of time and nobody will report this company for awhile, eventually I would think they would just get the list from the company itself via subpoena and then go after the carriers and drivers from the list. What could possibly happen is you end up paying back taxes, penalties, and interest of several times what you "think" you are earning now. Good luck with that, of course, its the carriers and drivers that are going to be covering the bill.

Exactly, a temporary employee agency.

 

Most companies already manage their employees and contracts. I don't see how this supposed "service" really does anything for the carrier, which in turn (indirectly) comes out of the driver's pocket. And its not about $55, that's on a per run basis so you times that by the number of runs. I would consider this simply a job board, but if they do in fact limit outside employment from the board, than I think they are nothing more than an temporary employee agency. At the end of the day, they are not really saving anything but they appear to be wanting to adding an additional layer of confusion. I would suggest you look at their terms as there are no warranty and limited liability clauses in there as well.

Hey, I have a new technology to manage McDonald's workers.... whenever the local McDonald's needs another basket of fries... they just post it on my board... then multiple pre-qualified McDonald contractors can select the task... I charge 55 cents per basket as I have provided the "technology". Its a great idea until you figure out the contractor is nothing more than an employee under law.

The reason why this is DOA and there are virtually no loads (at least from what I can tell on their facebook page) is because the carrier is in the trucking business and this saves nothing, and eventually the chances of a tax audit could potential disclose the illegal categorization of employees to contracts.

This is not a good idea, its actually a very bad bad idea for the driver and carrier. imo

 

Actually there are loads, just not at the time those facebook posts were posted. From what i understand, they had a business model to acquire drivers first, and then they would acquire carriers to post runs. most carriers want to see drivers that are ready to go before they post runs. I do know for a fact they have some high dollar cross country runs available right now on their board as well as quite a few local runs in the Indianapolis area. as far as insurance, all IC's are covered by accidental and occupational insurance at no additional charge to the driver. i spent a long time with one of their agents over the phone and he told me they have a dedicated team working daily at acquiring carriers for posting runs. i feel we just need to be patient with these guys as they are in there first year of business and start-up businesses need to have some time to grow.

 

According to the memo I got, we're all already patiently awaiting such "opportunities" to become I/C's.

 

Your post to me sounds like it could be a case of astroturfing, certain words and the way things are phrased makes me suspect. Regardless, I figured I would possibly enter the fray on your comments.

1. "they had a business model to acquire drivers first" The problem with this, is it is my understanding that the call center was telling drivers even last year that they had a large number of carriers and loads available. I do not have first hand knowledge of this, but I have read this on postings on the internet. If true, that has destroyed confidence in this outfit to work honestly.

2. "all IC's are covered by accidental and occupational insurance at no additional charge to the driver" From their website, it appears the load fee went from $55 to $65, there is no free ride the money is coming from the driver either directly or indirectly.

3. "over the phone and he told me they have a dedicated team working daily at acquiring carriers for posting runs" So? Why would a carrier want to be involved in this? It's a temporary employment agency where the the agency takes basically close to zero risks. As far as the driver's being "independing contractors", if you are using the carrier's truck you are taking massive risks that the tax man does not come forth and strike upon the with great penalties, interest and additional taxes.

"i feel we just need to be patient" There is nothing to be patient about, its a job board or a temporary employment agency, which provides very little incentive for the carriers to be involved. They have made the claim that this is the equivalent of Uber for trucking, but it isn't for a variety of reasons including the fact all they are doing is adding another layer to a process.... there is nothing efficient about it.

You might consider getting a tax attorney involved if you plan on using the carrier's equipment. I am not surprised that majority of carriers would not want to be involved in this for a whole list of reasons including some of the ones I have mentioned. The problem is.... the business model really doesn't make much sense, in my opinion.