Avoid Kole Trucking, Charlotte NC

I had been leased on to Mercer Transportation for almost 3 yrs. I was not unhappy but felt I could achieve the next level of revenue, challenges and variety. In fact, Mercer is a great company to work with and be leased to, I highly recommend them. After sitting for several days in East Settle TA and frustrated with sitting, I felt a change was needed. I was browsing through companies looking for high quality O/O as listed in the back section of Big Rig magazine or one of those. I was looking for companies that needed my skill-set and open-deck specialized equipment. I found Kole Trucking. I was able to make contact with James Kole. Quickly I found him to be a fast talking slick used car salesman, who's opinion seems to be the only correct one. However that did not deter me from talking with him at length for nearly a month before my own situation and frustration grew to the point of leaving Mercer and looking towards better opportunities. I did a lot research on this small company (which initially was one the many attributes I was seeking). In fact I did find a negative report even within this forum regarding his practices and operations. It turns out I should have listened. Against my better judgment I ignored the warning signs and obvious red flags of this unscrupulous company owner, liar and fraud.


After extensive out of pocket expenses, startup cost and down time with no revenue. and after working with this company for only 3 weeks he had nearly bankrupt me. If it wasn't for the fact I had savings, A+ credit for which I could borrow against my credit lines, I would have lost everything I had built for many years. While I can't go into further details here such as copies of BOL's, settlement statements, fuel statements, mileage reports and revenue statements, I will give you an overview of the facts. There is an impending lawsuit against James Kole, his brokerage and fictitious trucking operation for unearned insurance premiums, fictitious back charges, line haul revenue and fraud.


Here is the overview of what is wrong;

-Communication can be quirky to non-existing. I hardly ever got a direct, honest response to any question I asked. I have email correspondences of everything.

-During the application process James Kole lost my application information or was corrupted somehow because even after sending me a welcome letter for approval and acceptance to Kole Trucking (based on my completed application) and already deep into paying for my truck registration, custom signage/ decals, drug testing, contract signing he needed me to fill out the entire application once again, this was another example of the double talk, and he indicated it wasn't a big deal but suddenly he threatened to end our contract if I didn't immediately complete the application. This was one of those red flags, I should have realized a company this disorganized was not going to be able to professionally operate.

-The cost of custom tarps as required by Kole Trucking through Tri-City Canvas products is of a low quality at a premium price. My tarps with 8ft drops blew out and ripped on the first trip. I purchased custom jet engine tarps that I never used.

-Dispatching is awkward, non-detailed, confusing and sloppy. Load information is generic and not detailed. And every single load I hauled, I asked and asked for load details, revenue, load dimensions or load information only to be pushed off and dismissed, claiming he didn't have the time to give me that information, I was supposed to just trust him or figure it out on my own. James Kole Trucking while claiming to be transparent and open about revenue sharing is fraudulent, misleading and outright deceptive.

-Another point of fraud is the number of trucks that operate under the Kole Trucking authority. He claims to have 15 Plus trucks operating, even SAFER Web indicates 18 drivers with 17 units this in fact is a LIE he has 3 to 5 trucks operating and notice the DOT/MC number is FF (freight forwarder) number not a carrier number. When I was logged into Keep Trucking I could see only 2 other trucks within the system, additionally he himself indicated Kole Trucking had to keep up the appearance of a larger company in order to win confidence of many of his customers and obtain new business while maintaining current aviation customers. This is outright fraud in itself. I didn't know this information of the actual number of leased trucks until I was already signed on.

-My on-boarding process with James Kole Trucking was painful, tedious, sloppy, non professional. If I had not taken the initiative that I did to make things happen, it might very well never have happened.

-There are two different contracts, one is broker agreement, the other is a carrier agreement. They are nonspecific, generic, misleading and highly favorable and one sided to James Kole trucking. Essentially trying to avoid any responsibility for anything.

-Insurance I was charged nearly 1300.00 for one month of premiums, This was taken out in one lump sum. I was never given a schedule sheet or coverage details. I do not know what the premium charges covered. Additionally I was charged a different rate and cost for non-trucking, initial cost of 150.00

-Fuel discount was a joke; I have the WEX advantage card, Loves Fleet credit, Pilot fleet credit accounts and my discounts were the same as IF NOT better in some cases, especially when I use my WEX Advantage card. The only advantage in using his fuel card was getting a few extra days to pay for fuel deducted from settlements. But also every transaction had a fee, anywhere from 2.00 to 12.00 so any discount you might get was offset by fees. Each settlement was lined with various bank charges and fees.

-Tire discount program is a joke, the only tire discount you might get is from his OOIDA membership, so basically I had the same discount as an OOIDA member on my own account.

-Settlement statements, this is a core frustration and anger. a single line showing what looks like a made up number and revenue sharing at 80% of that number. Since the dispatch order never shows any line haul information, rate information, fuel surcharge info, TARIFF info, shipping details, contract line haul info you are completely in the dark about any true information. ANY number on the settlement statement is made up if it has no corresponding documentation to collaborate that revenue number.

-I hauled mostly cheap brokered freight. There was NOT the aviation or AOG freight as promised. Of the 7 loads I hauled 4 of them was brokered cheap freight. I was grossing $1.06 per mile (loaded/ empty)

-For some reason this company could not produce proper BOL manifest documentation and every load he had me filling out what looked liked duplicate handbills for his billing purposes.

-After (mutually) terminating my contract with James Kole Trucking I was left to my own resources to get back to my home city of Cincinnati Oh, He shut off the fuel card, toll transponder and pre-pass. I was in Oklahoma City OK. Just a belligerent nasty move.This could have been disastrous had I not had my own resources.

-I returned all company items including; unused handbills, original signed customer BOL paperwork, unworn tee shirts, Keep Trucking connector, transponder (elite pass) but yet the final settlement had various BS deductions like fuel permits for states I didn't even go to or would ever use again, various bank charges and fees,400.00 deduction for miscellaneous unexplained charges, mysteriously changed line haul revenue with a lower rate than verbal quote (nothing was ever in written form) example; 2400.00 verbal quoted but then changed to 1800.00 as indicated on settlement statement.

-The once a week payment schedule is designed to favor James Kole Trucking. You cannot achieve a completed long haul delivery within the time frame paperwork needs to be scanned in order to be paid that week, So consequently if you cannot complete the delivery and scanned paperwork you won't get paid that week. and the way the loads are dispatched and scheduled often you are paying for fuel and other charges on a settlement different from the original dispatched load. So fuel deductions are being applied to line hauls not dispatched for that load but for a different load. The Wednesday to Wednesday pay schedule is a huge disadvantage. It's nearly impossible to track per mile cost and revenue. You can go nearly two weeks without making positive revenue because after deductions of fuel and other charges from revenue earned for that pay period was only enough to cover fuel cost and charges.


In conclusion as my experience with this company was one of the worst mistake I have made in a long time. I was fortunate enough to see that I was going to be bankrupt in a matter of weeks. I made immediate changes and moved to a new carrier that has thus far provided professional support, accurate and complete line-haul information, actual fuel discounts, truck operation support is world class and second to none. payout and detail settlement reports, coordinator support for loading/ unloading and much more. I hope if you are a perspective O/O looking to move to Kole Trucking, I recommend you look for the signs I and others have indicated and stay clear of this company

 

Thank you. I suppose my informative and long post can be lost on some but even if no one reads it, in its entirety, I hope to have the information out there fully and with the details, so as not to misconstrue a post with false information. No one should be lied to or mislead no matter how gullible they are to the "blue sky" affect, as I was. I hope to help someone who reads this as a reference when looking for new opportunities. I wish everyone the best of luck, mixed in with a bit of skill.

 

yes Charlotte NC. The office is a small single room with two desk facing each other. His dispatcher and him. I agree, most things come around full circle.

 

LOL I wouldn't wear them anyway