Monday morning checked with bank. No deposit and no deposit pending. Week 5 no pay, not even the re-imbursements of 238.00 he owes us that we had to pay to get the truck out of the detail shop when we originally picked the truck up.
TIP FOR NEWBIES: If a new fleet owner wants you to do anything out of pocket or out of the ordinary without compensation before you get into one of his or her trucks, it is a near certain sign of trouble ahead. Run away.
A good fleet owner will present you with a truck that is clean and in perfect mechanical condition before putting a new driver or team in it. Travel at your own expense to get to the truck is common and your responsibility. When you get there, the only thing that should be expected of you is to go to work.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for some fleet owners to take advantage (abuse) new drivers by having them drive the truck in for certification at your fuel expense, take the truck in for repairs, clean the truck so it can be lived in, and do other such things without compensation. That is a huge tip off that the fleet owner views you as someone whose time and labor is not respected and a huge reason to run away.
The fleet owner that will run you around for free may well be the same one who finds it difficult to give you full pay when you are 1,000 miles from home, properly calculate your fuel surcharge, fail to notice that the money you earned and that the carrier paid is lingering in the fleet owner's bank account, and find it easy to withhold all or part of your damage deposit when you turn the truck in.
People sometimes ask in this forum, how do you tell the difference between a bad fleet owner and a good one? Again, if the fleet owner wants something free from you before putting you into a truck, you are probably dealing with a bad fleet owner.
I know it is not easy to do after leaving another job or fleet owner to start with a new one. But if the new one is showing signs of being a bad one, the sooner you part company, the better. Your best defense is to cut your losses and flee.
This is one of the biggest reasons to enter the business not broke but with a healthy financial reserve. If you are broke, a bad fleet owner can lead you around like a monkey on a leash. There are fleet owners out there who are skilled at doing exactly that. They identify broke people, put them into a revenue producing position and then jerk them around for all they are worth.
If you have money in the bank, you can turn the truck in at any time and head home to start over. That in itself will make it less likely that you will fall prey to a bad fleet owner because he or she know you can easily cut ties. If you have to use the money to get home, it will be far cheaper in the long run to take that loss and get quickly into a better situation than to stay connected to someone who is ready, willing and able to help himself or herself to your money and labor.
