How is this 1099 stuff legal?

In my early years that was all I did. Once PA ran around me on US 15 near Summit and opened it in my face knowing my big cam is not pulling at 21 as it is usually is with him stuck at 16-17. he figures Im over gross.

KACHING. 1200 over.

At that time I started crossing over at Sunbury Dam and running the 14 on the east bank until 180. No scales until Williamsport or ever where I am going usually Elmira. easier running too on the flat.

Half of my trucking life is made or broken at the scales. Some good, some really bad and others whew... Louisiana is one I like to pick on. It's almost if you did not have trailers axles wider than a gator they did not know if you were legal yet with those very large numbers above 34000 on the platform. But let's write you for 45 in a 15 on my LA scale ramp before you hammered my platform next. Oh and get your logs and papers too. We be here a while.

Louisiana has always been difficult.

Virginia. Ive BROKE scales now and then. One they could only write what it read at failure, 134500. Theoratical total weight was around 145-160K in that box. This was during my first 4 months or so of trucking. So new, so stupid and so many other bad things it was a bad day. I used one bridge known for weight and I probably further damanged another slated for demo in three weeks time and two more small stone bridges bypassing Marylands new market. A normal 40 minute run took 5 hours with state cruisers piled in in the 100 cars stuck behind me crawling at 20 where possible.

HA. Run around scales. That was my life.

After a while I started hauling medicines and other things that were so light, I didnt care about the scales anymore. Come on let's put it on there. Until one day a California lady looked at my pre-filled logs from a particular spot to the west near san fran (Silicon valley) eyeballed me and called bs. Explain this?

Oh that? Showed her my timex watch deliberately preset 15 minutes off the NOAA radio official time clock. It's that darn 5.00 watch bought back in school days, I really should get a better watch. She eyeballs me a few minutes and continues through the inspection which was not easy anymore. It's better to go to some doctors for painful work than to endure what she did after.

Truth? Yes it's a violation. But I prefilled it because it's time to GO and that scale was OPEN that day after unloading on the other side of it.

Im not going to go back 15000 posts and dig up more scale stories. Some are better than others.

If a scale was not around, life is good. No problem. Especially now that you had the horses and torque to ease those hills and such on the smaller roads that happened to be near them. One on I20 east texas at he LA border, I literally pass behind it before entering interstate westbound legally without touching it. (Over weight until Dallas...) if they bothered to come out they can...

Paper logs in my life was based on buying myself a get out of jail free no ticket card at least one time if they spotted something. I had the ultimate 70 hour end problem with delivery due within the half hour prior to the end of that 70 hour rule up in Sayre NY about... 3 hollars over when I ran a hill just a touch too fast. He eyeballed me. Big bags on my eyes, spent 30 minutes going over everything (Thank god, it's averaged against HHG miles... and logged as such) came back and said this.

"Finish your day today, be empty. DO NOT come this way Ima looking for you a while. Understand?"

I sit on the NY side of the line for three days feasting on their fare and sleeping building hours while my dispatchers back in Indiana steamed, stewed and tapped foot waiting for me to call READY.

That was a long wait for them. poor things. They should be grateful. I kept them off a database for a massive logbook violation among other things.

 

If you think what happens at public scales leads to safety on the roads you have no business on public roads.

 

Ok.

33% of you folks need removed. Further posts about how evil law enforcement is just prove my point.

 

I can understand both points of view on the subject, but I will add my personal experiences. My problem with 1099 work, isn't necessarily the taxes side of the deal, it's when you're paid 1099 but treated to a T like an employee. That to me, says nothing other than the company is looking to skimp on paying taxes and passing the burden to you. I would actually entertain the thought of working under a 1099 outfit, IF they actually treated you like a true IC and the pay was WORTH it.

But in MY area, every "company" that I've talked to that pays 1099, does the same thing. They provide you with the equipment and tools to do the job, tell you where to go, when you're supposed to show up, when you can go home, etc, etc and you have ZERO say in anything. I'm sorry, but that's not the way it should be if you're paid 1099. The guidelines are clear as day on this.

Where I live, most of the GOOD W2 jobs are taken, and what's left over is bottom of the barrel hourly pay jobs, or 1099 outfits ran by folks who can barely string enough words together in English to complete a sentence. If you offered me 2000-2500 a week, with freedom to do the job as I see fit, accept or deny loads as I please, and stay home as I want etc, then we can talk.

I've come across some pretty comical offers. One offer seemed halfway decent money wise, but when they stated I'd be paid 1099, I asked what freedom I had to make decisions based on home time, what loads I want or don't want to take, where I want to fuel, park the truck etc, I was told "You 1099, you pay your taxes but do everything we say like employee" and the way I wrote that is exactly the way it was worded. No thanks, I'm not getting bent over so you can save money.

Another comical offer was to run from Austin Tx, to Arizona and back once a week. The trip would take 4-5 days with the way they set up the back haul etc, and the grand total on 1099 for your effort? 900 bucks a week. Hell after I take out taxes, I'd be better off running a dump truck locally, no thanks.

Another good one was for a O/O who went back to his local gig, and wanted to put someone in his truck in the oil field running sand boxes. I asked if it was W2 or 1099, his response? "I get paid 1099, so that's how I'll pay you." Well of COURSE they pay you via 1099, you OWN the truck and you're leased on, you're not an employee, you're a business owner, but you're hiring me as an employee and dictating everything I do, oh but becasue they pay you 1099, that's your justification for paying me 1099....makes sense.

I'm confident there are probably some legitimate 1099 outfits out there that give you the proper freedom AND pay that make 1099 worth it, but unfortunately, the MAJORITY are shady outfits looking to get over on you, like the examples above which are just a few of the MANY shady places I've come across.

 

A lot of people I met in CDL school and working in this industry think it's the company's job to look out for the employee. Whatever work you do, wherever you work, no matter who is in/out of givernment, it is your job to look out for you. The people that think someone else needs to protect them are the people that buy a house because the bank said they could afford it, smoke because someone ran a tv commercial with a doctor in it before they were born, etc, etc, etc.

Act like your decisions are important because they are.

 

Who said a thing about heavy or cheap? I go around scales if I'm empty if it doesn't add too many miles. Going across scales is gambling at some point they will find something and I've got better #### to do than mess around with scales. I have a triple axle hopper that I can load very close to legal with just my gauges but all it takes is that elevators scale to be off a few hindered here and there to really screw up your day.

 

Love the transcript ! LMAO....All of these companies like to tell everyone that they can take their pet dog, pet pig, pet horse, whatever, and also will make allowances for passengers as long as they are over 13 :-0 In theory they should be immediate family up to age 16. Then I guess after that anything works ?? I thought dang if they are getting that specific about age and familial relationships it's getting just a bit too creepy for me. I have re-homed my 7 year old German Shepard Dog with a woman who has lost hers after 13 years. Believe me when I tell you it was one of the most difficult decisions I have made in the last ten years. However, I have enough common sense to know that if I'm hauling hazmat tanker or plackarded doubles, the very last thing I need to be concerned about is my GSD. I love her and miss her, however, public safety is more important than companionship with a pet. JMHO

 

Not everyone is a child for life. Some can navigate life without needing government help to find meaning.

 

And a lot more try and cheat the system to get everything they can.

 

And those who can't seem to think those of us who can shouldn't be allowed to.