Owner Operators Beware

Beware of the trucking company titled "Freight Runners, Inc.". They say you can make around 4,000 per week and you do not even make half that amount. They send you to pick up their trailer and will not pay you for any of the miles or the tolls used to do so. They will have you run hundreds of miles to load at the sole cost of the owner operator and tolls are the responsibility of the owner operator. The dispatchers send you your load information and if you have any questions from there, it is your responsibility to contact the company you are to deliver to or load from. They will also send you to companies that charge you to load and will not reimburse that amount. You can forget about their fuel card. It is always shutdown so you better have a fuel card of your own or you are in trouble. When you get fed up and quit, they will find every reason to charge you fees in order to keep your settlement.

 

The fuel card problem is that they are constantly shutting it off. You can use the card while you are under load which is fine however, that is when the card is usually shut off for the day!!! This company does not pay tolls, however, will tell the owner operator they will load them close to where they are at but that is not the case. They load the truck several hundred miles away and always send the truck where the tolls are the highest. that is not in the contract.....it's what they tell you to get you to sign and then do the opposite. I just want to warn people to think twice about leasing on to this company. Sometimes what is in the contract is not what is done so you can read it all you want. They know it's just not worth taking them to court for your last settlement because you will spend more in attorney fees than what is owed to you. that is why they probably do it and I'm sure they have done it in the past.

 

Nope, you are wrong...... not a new truck driver but have worked in the past for many companies that have good fuel cards that work whenever you need to use it. The route is not always as simple as you say if you are indeed a trucker for a long time. there are times you have no choice but to go toll roads or go so far out of your way it's cheaper to use the toll road. Yes, this company although I was not a company driver did want you to run the load they set up for you. If you refuse I'm sure they would leave you stuck for days before they would load you with a different load. I've also never had to pay to load or unload for a company without being reimbursed. That is their cost unless you are running under your own authority then it is different. I've done both and got tired of the costs of running under my own authority. Maybe I've just been lucky by working (leasing on) to the companies I have in the past and that is why I went back to the company I was with for the last 9 years. If I wanted to take on all expenses myself, I would reactivate my authority and do it. Also, when you lease to a company that says they have a fuel card you use...you should be able to do so.

 

Also, the company shut off their fuel card when I was under a load, otherwise it was on!!!

 

That's the problem, this company promised high paying freight but did not deliver. The deadhead miles just took away from what the freight did pay. Was not worth it and that was the only loads they seemed to have. The loading fee was for the company to load the truck. It was not in my job description to load the truck. I guess this was a fee that you paid in order for your truck to get loaded at there company. Freight Runners did not tell me there was a $50.00 fee to load. Good thing I had cash on me that day.....I usually only carry a credit card and the company wanted cash only.. Anyway, I was just trying to warn people of the type of company this is. I do not wish to get into a big debate with anyone that wishes to side with a company that treats a owner operator the way this company does. What ever happened to companies that tell the truth about what they are all about? Yes, I've been driving that long (over 30 years) and I'm glad to be retiring in two years. I will keep letting any owner operators out there know what this company is about and hopefully, it can put a stop to companies like this. Good luck to all.