Sort Of A Rant, Maybe I Need To Find Another Employer?

So, I have a good rep with my work history as in I've never held a job for less than two years. I signed up with a small o/o outfit as a 1099 and I've been working for the guy about 2 months now.

He pays me $1500+ per week and I mainly run line haul in the northeast, for the largest part he treats me with respect.

My issue right now is he runs everything in the gray area of the law, every day I'm running 2-4 hours on P.C, he had me unplugging my eld in the beginning too, and when the elog went out he was more than happy to have me manipulate my logs.

I would have told him to **** off when I first encountered this but I was broke and 6k in debt with a family member's credit on the line. I've recently become debt free and in re evaluating this job.

The issue for me is he runs me all day, to the point that some jobs I dont even have the time to use the bathroom, I was shut down by the dot for running a "covid" load for 22 hours straight a while ago, and even then the boss wasn't phased.

I recently gained weight (truck doesnt have an apu , electricals are shot) I've been oversleeping a bit due to exhaustion and I've been getting really angry calls from the boss, 3 separate alarm apps, none of them waking me up, some days I get 3 hrs of sleep twice a day, sometimes I get 2 hrs of sleep for 24 hrs.

If he tells me I have a 10 hr break I'm guaranteed to be told to roll 6 hours into it.

So I'm making good pay, and I would rather not ruin my rep from my work history, a lot of the trucking companies out of florida wont offer more than 44cpm as well and avging about 1100-1300/week.

With this boss I make 1500 guaranteed but sometimes 1700 or even 2000 a week.

Am I just *****ing and this is all just normal in trucking or should I find a new employer? Also, any recommendations on employers in florida for OTR , automatic, no touch freight, no NYC?

Elog:

Electronic Onboard Recorder

Electronic Logbook

A device which records the amount of time a vehicle has been driven. If the vehicle is not being driven, the operator will manually input whether or not he/she is on duty or not.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

Line Haul:

Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.

LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

TWIC:

Transportation Worker Identification Credential

Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.

Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Theres no gray area. This is illegal and will cost you your CDL at some point.

I make more than you solo and am not exhausted or running illegal. Leave.

Run from that shady place immediately.

1099?

Unplugging the ELD?

22 hours straight?

Why? There are hundreds of other trucking companies out here. I make a lot more than you, have all benefits, work much less, and it's all within the law.

This is neither NORMAL - NOR LEGAL.

Were you cited for your "Fake COVID Exemption"?

You're cheating by hauling under PC for hours. Being forced to drive while exhausted - which is a recipe for an ACCIDENT. And if you kill someone, and your logs are examined and found to be falsified (or a pattern of behavior) - you are going to end up in a PRISON CELL, because YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for operating outside of HOS regulations. Even if you are "coerced" - you boss might end up in the cell next to you - but you are STILL THE ONE THAT WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE.

I get that you are likely making more running ILLEGALLY - than you would running legal at a company that, well, RUNS LEGAL.

It's about risk to reward. If the extra $$ is worth the risk of being caught and cited (and put OOS as you mentioned), or worse - getting into an accident, which, even if it's NOT YOUR FAULT - you will be held responsible for, by not following HOS regs (or log falsifications) - then go for it.

The other (less obvious) issue is the 1099 thing. You're aware YOUR ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL YOUR TAXES? That's 15% of gross for FICA/Med (where typically the EMPLOYER pays 1/2 of this), plus your withholding. Hate to be YOU WHEN TAX TIME COMES AROUND.

“On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” - Fight Club. Which essentially means, eventually, EVERYONE'S LUCK RUNS OUT. The more you TEMPT FATE - the more likely FATE CATCHES UP WITH YOU.

Now - as far as it being "normal" - yeah - most small companies "push the envelope" to be as profitable as possible. They tend to skimp on maintenance (because they either can't afford it - or cut corners to put more $$ in their pocket). The downside is - as mentioned above - THE DRIVER ends up being left holding the bag for HOS violations or trucks being put OOS for safety issues.

I'd say get out while you can - but the decision whether or not to shoulder the additional risks exposure you have - will be entirely up to you.

Please let us know what you decide.

Rick

Just something to think about!!!

General rule of thumb when responsible for paying your own taxes is to put away 1/3rd of your gross income. So actually, your only clearing roughly a grand a week after taxes working all those hours.

Come tax time, if you do not have enough to pay up, the IRS and State will hit you with penalties and interest. You do not want to be in a hole with them, they are relentless and have the power to seize your bank accounts and any other assets they see fit to settle your debt

All the above advice is spot on. The only person we can control is ourselves. You cannot control your boss. Either he is not a good business person or he flat doesn’t care what can happen to himself and his drivers. Either way it is, that is not someone you want to work for.

Get out of there before something very awful happens and you completly ruin your driving career and possibly yours or others lives. Get on with a reputable company and run legal. You will still make a good living.

I will be blunt and uncaring in my response. Not disrespectful, just b****.

When some blue hair drives under YOUR trailer tandems at sunrise because your 73280# unguided missile came at her out of the sun like Mitsuo Fuchida at Pearl, YOU are the one that goes to prison for Reckless / Negligent Homicide. Not your boss. Not the uncaring customers. YOU!

You know the rules. You are choosing to break them. The simple facts that you're reporting, and saying all of the self incriminating things about sleep deprivation and disabling the eobrd on a public forum guarantees your fate. Park the truck.

Don't walk away.

RUN.

I'm in agreement with everyone. You need to RUN away from that company. With your guarantee you're sitting at $78k a year. After you pay the 15% you're sitting at roughly $66k a year. We have many members on this forum making more than that without needing to deal with the 1099 hassle. You may make less at first as you learn how the new company works but in the long run it's a much better fit. Going with a large company you'll have access to a 401k, medical/dental, paid vacation and many other perks. Gone are the days of finding ways to falsify logs. You will be expected to run legal 100% of the time and if anybody at your company tries to force you to do anything unsafe they'll be reprimanded.