Looking to sue my former carrier

Unless you can prove what the starting and ending milage, then I'd say you'd have a hard time proving anything. Sucks but I think this is going to be a VERY expensive lesson.

 

I guess you're not friends with the guy in Conyers any more? LOL

You best go over your settlements and contract with a fine tooth comb. A 50k mile discrepancy should sort of stick out. Put all the facts together and hand it to an attorney that will take it up on commission. Then put it behind you and heed the lesson.

You also mention they are a chameleon carrier. Even if you find them, good luck on collecting anything. They saw you coming.

 

why in the world would you buy a truck, and then turn it over to some company and not know what the heck is going on with your truck.

i don't mean to knock you down. but man, that has to be one of the dumbest things ANYONE can do.

you don't know where it goes. you don't know who's driving it. you don't know when it's broke down. dang dude. i don't think ANY o/o would do that.

also, how does your truck come to the west if it's not licensed for the states. i would think a scale would have stopped it right there on the spot. california would probably have towed it. new mexico stops you and makes you pay before crossing there scales. oregon will fine you $400 if you don't have the trip permit BEFORE crossing there scales. along with registration account. arizona and wyoming also look at your registration.

changing names makes the company a chamelion company. and fmcsa has imposed new legislation making that harder for chamelion companies to exist.

your butt could have literally been handed to you on a platter. and your worried about sueing.

 

You don't KNOW the name of the company you have been working with!? That being said, you may not have much of a case here.......

 

in most cases like this the company is going to cheat you on the rates, not the miles, to easy to figure out. some companys caught doing this pirkle ref, midwest dist.,pulley freight,and silvey ref. far as i know drivers are still waiting for there money. best case bail out do some checking and find the best company for you.

 

There is no half way in this business.

Years ago a good friend of mine bought a car hauler rig and put a driver in it. His dad was a car hauler and they were busy so my buddy thought he could run that trucking business from the office where we worked. Boy did he get an education in trucking. I think he told me he lost $40,000 that year before he sold everything and got out.

I think you may have had a case about the unpaid miles right up until you mentioned they are changing names again. Now, like others have mentioned in this thread, I see they are professional crooks and I imagine the old company is likely a corporation without any money. The new company likely has new names running the show. Even if it's the same names running the new company, you will need to go after both companies....not to mention by the time the case settles, there will probably be one or two more companies involved. As soon as you win the case, the defendant company will magically be without money to pay you.

Some people think that trucking a simple business, but nothing could be farther from the truth. There is a mountain of regulations/risk to climb and your reward for getting over that is you get to swim with sharks.

Yeah you got screwed but you got an education and a good story to tell....plus your driver didn't kill anyone so consider yourself lucky. Move on and tell all your friends that trucking is a tough business and these trucking companies earn every nickel and people shouldn't complain about how much it costs to move freight.

Reading your story kind of reminded me of when all those home flipping shows were on TV. Everyone went out and bought a POS house and thought they were going to make some money but all they did was lose their shirts. This ain't Shipping Wars out here.

 

If you want, you can find out if the company that owes you money is a corp. If they are a sole prop (highly unlikely) you may be able to go to court and win a judgement against the sole proprietor. Then you can do a title search to see if he owns a house or anything. With that, you can place a lien against his house. You can also ask the court to make him disclose his assets and from where he gets his money....maybe the court will let you garnish his wages or they may force a sale of his assets. But again, it looks like they are a corp so you are SOL I think.

 

This is why you don't invest in this industry without being in it.. You had some bait dangled in front of you and you took.. It you can't protest now that you are being fileted..

Here is the deal..You are responsible for that truck.. It is your business.. You need to check in with your driver EVERYDAY.. He needs to answer to you not them... When repairs are needed he needs to let you know... Never allow anyone else to decided what to do with your money... You are the decider as George Bush said.. You made a very poor choice when you gave the rights of yours to a company.. You must grow a set and call them today and tell them you want everything that truck does faxed or emailed to you daily.. You also need to develop a business form that your driver fills out and turns into you weekly. This should include PRO Numbers... Pick up city.. Delivery Destination.. Advances taken.. Fuel.. Parts bought.. and repairs made.. You should question any deadheads over 100 miles.. I know this is a industry norm now. BUT>>>>>

If your truck has ran 70k and only been paid for 20k... There is something fishy.. Either your driver is an idiot and is always going from Dallas to Atlanta Via Erie Pa.. or he is running freight for another company using your equipment.. If you can catch him doing the latter .. You can have him over a barrel legally.. but you have no case on the company.. Your mismanagment is not their fault... Its the person in the mirror... Grow a set and man up NOW! If you don't do it NOW! Your investment is worthless... Your other choice is to sell the truck and take the loss...

Get you a driver put the truck somewhere like Landstar where you can be involved daily in the operations.. IE finding loads and communicating with the driver... You made a very poor choice allowing your truck to be someones bank accounty

 

I feel sorry for the op but I would never do what he did.First mistake in my opinion was he let some stranger drive his truck nope no way then as others said let the company run HIS trk.
Why buy a truck if your not going to run it yourself?Just go company a lot easier.
But that's just my opinion I bought mine to be my own boss pretty much.No way would I put anybody else in there.I guess different strokes for different folks

 

This sure looks like the perfect example of why a small fleet owner should have some kind of GPS tracking on the truck. Unless worried about "driver privacy" issues, as your truck gets driven three times as many miles as you're told it is and all your money is stolen. The business side of trucking is far different than how most company drivers and unfortunately many owner operators perceive it.