Caught my carrier photoshopping rate cons and stealing money, what should I do?

FBI.gov: “Business fraud consists of dishonest and illegal activities perpetrated by individuals or companies in order to provide an advantageous financial outcome to those persons or establishments. Also known as corporate fraud, these schemes often appear under the guise of legitimate business practices.”

You’re a victim of Corporate Fraud and you can prove it. Contact the closest FBI office.
Also, the carrier is governed by the federal government. Call the FBI

 

It's not criminal, it's a civil contract dispute. Can be litigated, but expensive, time consuming and exhausting.

If the broker is willing to cooperate, the first step is to check any other rate cons the OP has pulled from that broker in the last year or so.

The most leverage the OP has is that the other 50 drivers don't know yet how crooked the company is. My recommendation would be to find out as much as you can. Hire a temp book keeper and see if brokers are willing to participate in an "audit" of their account with the carrier. Once you have a clear picture of the extent of the fraud, walk into their office with legal papers (ready to serve the owner at the meeting), and a written settlement offer. Give the owner two choices: settle the fraud with you, or publicly defend the allegations. Accepting a settlement would involve a "non-disclosure" clause which would prevent you from communicating to the other O/O's what happened. Their choice would be to be outed to all their drivers, or to pay you off.

Before all that, switch carriers, of course.

 

But the photoshopping part... surely altering a contract in such a manner is fraud right? An illegally altered contract is a pretty big red flag and should not fall within the realm of a contract dispute .
I am no lawyer but I would look into that. Suing someone with more money than you have is a pretty tough deal.

 

We can all internet lawyer the F out of this, but contact a real lawyer. Preferably one that has trucking industry experience. If this is 100% able to be proven a good lawyer is going to eat them alive, and they they need to be hurt hard enough that they will never want to do that again or put them out of business so they can't.

Screw the "I'll settle and go away" stuff. Find a lawyer that will put the screws to them.

 

BTDT. My partner at the time didn't want to get into litigation so we just moved our trucks. I would have liked to exact some retribution, but it can be a long/expensive road. Consult a lawyer.

 

First i would go thru whoever sent u the rate con inside the company u lease to, whether it be dispatcher/agent, whoever sent u the rate con, that should be your first contact.... i would confront them about it, then work ur way up thru the ranks of the company, until u get a definitive answer as to why u are getting bent over . Then follow with legal actions..... It may be difficult to solve, if your company is brokering the load to you from the other broker, essentially adding an extra middle man in the transaction, which is shady enough... but like i said start from the person who u got the rate con from and keep working ur way up to find out who in ur company is doing that ####...sorry for ur luck, this business is tough enough when u aint getting bent over by ur own people... hope it all works out for u.

 

I think you will find the coppers will look at it as a civil dispute and refuse to get involved. I could be wrong, but I very much doubt it.

While a lawyer can get you in front of a judge or jury, it will be extremely unlikely there will be any punitive awards -- in other words, best case scenario, you get "made whole", which is a judgment for them to have to pay you what you should have been paid. Which you then have to try and collect. You may, or may not, get an award for attorney's fees, which may or may not cover all your expenses going to court. Which you then also get to try and collect.

So, if the best case scenario after all the expense and effort of involving the law is merely a chance at trying to collect what you are owed, doesn't it make more sense to try and settle without going through all that?

 

The Feds have a law in place for this it's called, "Truth in Leasing." If I were you, I would immediately sever my business ties with the carrier and hire a lawyer. Maybe the one in the link below can help. I'd also press Fraud charges as well.
Trucking Law: Transparency in Truth-in-Leasing - Joe Larson Law.

 

CFR 376.12 Common called truth in leasing. 376.12(g) states what we all know, provide you with documentation if paid percentage.

 

And? He gets paid percentage. He has a right to see the actual paperwork proving such. A decent lawyer will make swift work this and eat that carrier for dinner.