Am I liable for costs as a 1099 employee

You are not a company driver. You are a 1099 independent contractor, based on what you said. You must have a contract with them and that spells out the terms of your relationship. It sounds like you were either conveniently allowed to believe you are an employee and then treated as a subcontractor, or you got into something without asking the right questions.

I'm not an attorney, so I defer you to go to either legal aid, or letting some of us know what your service agreement says.
I'm experienced with business contracts, but as a no

A

Start with 15.3 percent just in Medicare and soc. Security

 

Non lawyer, would be happy to interpret your situation. It starts with a written and signed agreement.

 

They are allowed because there are people willing to do anything to make a buck.

 

You need a lawyer for the state you were hired in, Specific Labor Law Attorney, You can check with the states BAR association.

 

You wont have money for the pending taxes....

 

The money your earned isn't gone, you can file a complaint with the state but you most likely get nothing.

As for taxes, you have to prove what you paid them for, other than that, call the IRS and talk to them to see if you can get them to move against the company.

 

If he has a negative cash flow with expenses, he shouldn't have a tax liability.

 

They are only willing to work for said companies because they are uneducated to legal hiring practices and don’t realize it’s a scam.
No different from any other scam that millions of people fall for every day.
The best preventative action is education and a public relations campaign to get the word out and help individuals understand.

 

I see a lot of people say get a lawyer... So how much money are you talking that you lost? Simple question can you pay a lawyer 33% of what your trying to get back plus court costs plus lost wages for actually having to go to court. Some people are fine running for "those guys in Chicago getting paid 1099" you just need a good accountant & life goes on. Also those guys get subsidies from the government so you ain't going to do anything to them, worse case scenario they open shop with new numbers the next day simple as that.