Getting Paid!

[TDC]

As I'm sure this has happened to others, I was hoping for some advice here in the forum. I was driving a van for PII under a 40/60
contract(verbal only) with the owner "paying" for fuel. For 2 months he neglected to reimburse for fuel. He made any number of claims:
-panther was'nt paying him(they were, I checked w/payroll, had
been paid for 25 loads in the past month)
-said panther told him I was on vacation(nonsense, checked
payroll again)
-40% comdata advance was costing him too much (?????)
I started in Feb(slow) but averaged 1000 mi/wk for the first month. My last week was well over 2000 mi. He owes me nearly $2000.00, and I was wondering if I have any legal recourse to recover from him short of driving to Michigan(I live in PA) to file a judgement. I'm not looking for professional legal advice but am sure that this kind of thing is common in this industry, so any wisdom anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[rode2rouen]

>I was driving a van for PII under a 40/60
>contract(verbal only) with the owner "paying" for fuel.

If you had done your "homework" by reading the many related posts in the EO archives, you most likely would never have gone to work for an owner with a verbal agreement.

I may sound a bit calloused, but you left yourself wide open for the screwing you've received. GET A WRITTEN AGREEMENT BEFORE YOU START DRIVING FOR AN OWNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your only recourse, as I see it, is to take the "Owner" to court and present your detailed records for fuel purchases, trip info, etc. and hope that the "Owner" doesn't claim that you agreed to pay for fuel.

You might also consider posting the "Owner's" name so that future rookies don't get burned by the same scam.

My $.02


Rex

 

[Tennesseahawk]

In most states a verbal agreement is the same is a written one. Having said that, I have a verbal agreement with the guy I'm running for. Reason is simple... he lives nearby. He's paid everything owed so far, and has kept the truck repaired. And honestly, he's been awful patient with me because May was such a rotten month.

If the owner lives in another state, or a state that doesn't have a verbal contract law, get a written one. Cover your butt in cases where money and the law is concerned.

$2000? You can file a grievance. There are several places that ppl recommended on here, I just can't remember them offhand. Perhaps they'd be nice enough to repeat them. If you want to sue him in small claims court, you have to go to his state, or the place where the agreement was made. Don't stop at what he owes you. Go after lost wages from the time you left him til the time you get in another truck. But make sure you find out how much the small claims limit is in the state first.

 

[davekc]

I would agree to pursue what you are owed. A written contract is always the way to go. A verbal is open to intrepretation and only has a value if both parties agree to what was spoken. The possibility of it changing when there is a disagreement or misunderstanding between parties is pretty high. A written one eliminates that.
Again, it is like real estate, you don't buy a house or property on a verbal agreement. It makes no sense to suddenly have different principles when working with someone in a contracted driving arrangement.






Davekc
owner
21 years
PantherII
EO moderator