can you steal your company's customers?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by im6under, Jan 17, 2008.

  1. Joethemechanic

    Joethemechanic Medium Load Member

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    Phila Pa
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    So how long does the the former carrier or broker own the customer?

    And if there is a disagreement with the former carrier, and the O/O breaks the lease, what is the O/O supposed to do? Go out of business because the former carrier has hauled at least 1 load for every shipper around?

    Or the other scenario. This guy {we'll call him Eoj} breaks his lease with a carrier {we;ll call them Eca Hauling} and gets his own operating authority, Primary liability, Cargo, Commercial general liability, and Riggers Liability insurance. Eoj just happens to have a 30,000 pound capacity Silent Hoist forklift.

    Sam, who has used the services of Eca Hauling, owns a widget factory.
    Sam went the bankruptcy auction of one of his former compeditors and bought a "super automated high speed widget press" that weighs 22,000 pounds for $2,000,000.77

    Eca Hauling doesn't have the equipment or the trained personel to move Sam's "super automated high speed widget press" that weighs 22,000 pounds.

    Sam knows Eoj and trusts his ability to move the $2,000,000.77 "super automated high speed widget press" that weighs 22,000. In fact Sam isn't comfortable with anyone but Eoj to move his new $2,000,000.77 investment.

    So is Eoj "ethically bound" to tell Sam that he can not move his "super automated high speed widget press"??????
     
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  3. im6under

    im6under Heavy Load Member

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    1) According to the bnsf agreement: they (bnsf) are entitled to 15% commission on all traffic for a period 18 months after cancellation of the agreement. This only applies to back-soliciting customers that you were introduced to for the first time by bnsf.

    Meaning is if you had hauled for somebody before you can still haul for them. If your relationship is an exclusive result of bnsf introducing you to the customer, no, you can't quit, under-cut their price and steal their customer.

    2)You don't "go out of business" you pay bnsf a 15% commission. The argument is, if they hadn't introduced you, you wouldn't be hauling that freight. The introduction/contact is a valuable asset and you owe them for the service if you decide to use it against them.

    3) Eoj isn't ethically bound to tell sam squat. Eoj is ethically bound to pay a commission to bnsf if the above provisions are met.

    meaning... maybe Eoj would haul the load for $1.00 per mile, but because he is ethically bound to bnsf, he instead bids the job # $1.15 per mile, sending the extra funds to bnsf.

    These are all basic rules for the playground.

    Most successful large companies employ some form of non-compete or non-discloser clauses.

    Why is it hard to abide by what you have agreed to?

    If its impossible, then simply don't sign... go somewhere else and do something else.
     
  4. soundman

    soundman Light Load Member

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    Doesn't the question posed answer itself? If you steal, then you are a thief. Plain and simple. The question wasn't "is it stealing...".
     
  5. Joethemechanic

    Joethemechanic Medium Load Member

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    Phila Pa
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    I don't see how it is stealing the carrier's customers if you provide a service that they are not capable of providing.

    And believe me Eoj doesn't run his truck for anything like $1.00 a mile or even $2.00 a mile.

    And that 15% number is crazy. The standard sales commission runs like 5% in this industry.

    And what about the customers that Eoj brought to Eca hauling. Does Eca own those customers too?

    By the way Eca Hauling's clause doesn't mention a time limit. It seems that ECA thinks if they hauled a load for Sam's company 1 time, that Sam now has "Property of ECA Hauling" tattooed on his backside forever.
     
  6. im6under

    im6under Heavy Load Member

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    If you sign on with a flatbed to landstar right now, you get 73% of what the load pays. That's not 5% or 15% its 27% off the top.

    I keep responding (like an idiot) thinking you will get the underlying point.

    Apparently you don't? Some never do and I'm fine with that.

    Enjoy...
     
  7. wesross

    wesross Bobtail Member

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    Jan 8, 2008
    Las Vegas, NV
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    "non competition clauses" anyone have an example of a case where this was taken to court?
     
  8. Right Lane in Colorado

    Right Lane in Colorado Bobtail Member

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    Let me get this straight. A relationship can be owned and therefore stolen? I signed a contract with a friend in high school not to date his girlfriend. Glad he never sued.
    Relationships, thoughts, ideas or designs are not property. The tangible creation made with a design or idea is but not the information itself. To say otherwise is to claim a right on others property by limiting what they can (peacefully) it for.
    The fact that it was agreed to doesn't nor shouldn't matter. Dr. Kevorkian had contacted with the people he helped commit suicide. Rosa Parks contracted (by buying the bus ticket) to sit in the rear of the bus.
    Intellectual property is legally defined. Most have no idea what is and is not entailed in the bloated statues. Musical riffs property, recipes not property. Fictional characters, property. Fashion designs not property. It is all a bunch of BS. Get out there provide the best service for a competitive price and none of this nonsense matters.
     
  9. bzinger

    bzinger Road Train Member

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    I haul refrigerated freight for a company in Omaha out of California that sold out to roadrunner about 6 years ago .
    Same people , same freight and different company name now ..
     
  10. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    There are times freight gets REALLY interesting if you have eyes and evaluate a truck loads worth waiting shipping back somewhere convenient.

    Just ask your dispatcher, want I take these pallets back?

    They will have a period of silence while they work through who owns those pallets and so forth. But they will love you long time if THEY THINK you have a eye for finding freight.
     
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