FedEx Custom Critical ???? Are they what they say they are??

Dabus1952 · Mar 13, 2011

In the good old days you had CB wars, guys would drive for miles balbling on and on. Now with the computer, and note pads, and I phones, droids people do it on here.As the old saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink.There are times in life you can talk until your blue in the face and not change a persons mind. I think this is one of those cases.

ATeam · Mar 13, 2011

It is amazing that so many people who I would expect to know better are falling for the bait Pookie throws out. He shows up to me as a troll, having fun at your expense. He's pretty good at it too, pushing people's buttons and keeping the thread going and going and going.

layoutshooter · Mar 13, 2011

ATeam said:
It is amazing that so many people who I would expect to know better are falling for the bait Pookie throws out. He shows up to me as a troll, having fun at your expense. He's pretty good at it too, pushing people's buttons and keeping the thread going and going and going.

More posts is a good thing. Better for advertising!!

dieseldiva · Mar 13, 2011

ATeam said:
It is amazing that so many people who I would expect to know better are falling for the bait Pookie throws out. He shows up to me as a troll, having fun at your expense. He's pretty good at it too, pushing people's buttons and keeping the thread going and going and going.

Hey now.....I mean no offense but you were right here with everyone else.....just sayin'

scottm4211 · Mar 13, 2011

I imagine those poor dogs lying there with their paws covering their ears.

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

lease has no mention of load acceptance %......we have to maintain.......once again this shows some think they know something about something....LOL....but what I'm not sure.............I've heard some company's have some % that they want you to have........That will be challenged at some point.....

it's not really cherry picking as it is gambling.....you hope something better will come...sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't......you never know....and you would have to have crystal ball to cherry pick....LOL...is that a good one?

Oh I didn't know there was an EO mafia.....hahahahah....well I only write on this thread.......except one time for a tech tip.......so feel free to explore else where

chefdennis · Mar 13, 2011

I believe ATeam has it right and we have seen it for a while..anyone remember the guy that was going to borrow money on his home to buy 2 ST's a while back..he knew more then anyone on here, but wanted advise...this poster reminds of the same type of mindset...its his way and everyone else is wrong....

And I also believe the influx of newbies we see from time to time asking the same redundant questions are also troll and that they are coming from our "banned friends" over at another site....Just my gut feeling...no facts to back it up....

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

yea dogs are peed off....LOL....they keep blasting me with a bunch of hot air......but I'm used to that in this forum.....hahahahaha was that a good one.....

Hey I said what I wanted to the question in post...all the pom poms and know it all's......want to defend or show off that they know better.......

I have ton's more to say but believe it or not I'm holding back.

ATeam · Mar 13, 2011

dieseldiva said:
Hey now.....I mean no offense but you were right here with everyone else.....just sayin'

That's true, until I saw what was going on, then I disengaged.

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

you guys have no facts to back up info.......

troll? whats that mean?

so you think your special because you have pack of friends on EO and you guys want to show newbies the ropes......LOL.....this forum is no good as any newbie says something the EO mafia has to jump in.....what's the point of having forum then? why jump on someone? just say that's ashame that happened to you.....blah blah blah and my company runs like this or that.....by jumping in so strong to deny and defend sets off big red lights.......

So the 15 or so old time b units I met over the months don't know what they are taking about either? they all said don't bother calling fedex.....they won't help.....just be quiet.....the pay is good......just put up with it......do as they say.....that's just how it is? Hmmmmmmm well not for me.............

EO mafia BLING BLING.....lol

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

sometimes I ask question even if I know the answer to see what one tells me........it's a way to gauge level of knowledge......hmmmm this guy knows what he's talking about....I'm gonna listen to him......or this guy is a little off....I'll just let it go through my ears......

scottm4211 · Mar 13, 2011

Do you annoy yourself?

LDB · Mar 13, 2011

I don't call FedEx unless I am on a job and the call relates to the load I'm on. Any other time for anything else I email my recruiter or my CC and get a reply in writing within 24 hours.

cheri1122 · Mar 13, 2011

ATeam said:
It is amazing that so many people who I would expect to know better are falling for the bait Pookie throws out. He shows up to me as a troll, having fun at your expense. He's pretty good at it too, pushing people's buttons and keeping the thread going and going and going.

Or maybe, just possibly, we are having fun at HIS expense, and keeping the thread going because [as a few of the longtime members noted] it's more entertaining than it's been for awhile.
We don't think it's a troll, or the banned members that some see hiding behind every third new member,

and if it is, we don't care - it's interesting - people are participating, lots of them, and that's great, IMO.
No banter here, just lively give & take - thanks, Pookie.

zero3nine · Mar 13, 2011

ATeam said:
Neither is a FedEx Custom Critical contractor. We can decline any load offer we wish.

Nor can a FedEx Custom Critical contractor.

That is not correct. Our lease permits us to run loads for other shippers independent of FedEx. We can also run loads that we find on our own and run under our carrier's authority through their "Home Run" program. Diane and I seldom do so because it is more trouble than it is worth, but it can be done without putting our lease in jepordy.

Your premise is incorrect on two counts. First, Independent contractor status is not determined by how you buy your insurance or who you get it from. You are legally required to have it no matter what kind of authority you run under. For IRS purposes, your source of insurance is irrelevant in determining independent contractor status. If our insurance was given to us by our carrier and we had no other choice as to where to get it, that would be different. But as FedEx Custom Critical independent contractors, we buy our own insurance from souces we deem best.

Second, we can indeed get loads off load boards like the ones you mentioned. Diane and I have done that very thing when finding freight on our own. Again, we seldom do it, but it can be done.

You are mistaken. Insurance coverage varies from contractor to contractor. We are not required to buy our insurance through FedEx channels. We are only required to have insurance as a condition of maintaining our lease. Many contractors buy their insurance through FedEx because the group policy costs less than individual coverage and the claims service is generally good. Having such coverage does not preclude us from buying additional coverage from other sources if such coverage was needed to run freight for someone else while also maintaining a lease with FedEx Custom Critical.

So could Diane and me if we jumped through the same hoops you did. We do not do so, not because we can't, but beause the freedom we enjoy and the good money we make at FedEx Custom Critical makes it unnecessary to do so.

Understood. You are not saying we are not good expediters. But you are incorrect when you say we are not independent. We are free to find and haul our own freight, interact directly with customers, buy our own insurance, set our own rates, etc. Just because we do not do so, it does not follow that we can't.

Diane and I could do the very same things while also maintaining a lease with FedEx Custom Critical. If we decided to do so, such administrative actions are well within our capabilities and we would have it done in short order. We already have completed five of the items on your list. It would not take much to complete the rest.

You are splitting hairs to establish a distinction without a difference.

When an independent contractor carpenter contracts to build a house, does he become "only" a contractor because the customer tells him how to build it?

When an own-authority, independent-contractor dump truck owner operator hires onto a construction job, he or she loses his autonomy to the general contractor who tells him where to be, when and where to go and when. Does that reduce the dump truck person to "only" a contractor?

No matter what kind of contractor you are, you always lose autonomy to the customers you serve. It is no different with independent contractors who lease their trucks to FedEx Custom Critical. In that case, FedEx is the customer and, by virtue of the contract FDCC and the independent contractor entered into, the contractor cedes a certain amount of autonomy to the customer.

The IRS recognizes this in its independent contractor definition. Autonomy is not absolute. It is a matter of degree. The trick to maintaining independent contractor status is to maintain enough autonomy in the relationship to satisfy the IRS definition.

For IRS purposes, the term "Independent Contractor" is not split. There is no such thing as a contractor that is different than an independent. There is no such thing as an independent that is different than a contractor. The two words combined -- the phrase -- describes a single entity.

"Independent Contractor" is used as a noun in this context. Your error is made by separating the two words. You are using "independent" as an adjective and "contractor" as a noun. In other contexts, that would be legitimate. But for the purposes of business relationships defined by the IRS, "Independent Contractor" is a noun.

Mistakenly so, as I suggest above.

I am sure that is true.

In this discussion, let's be careful about blending topics. In your final paragraph you speak about new regulations, type of truck and how freedom is affected by them. Those are different topics than independent contractor.

But since you raise the new regulations and freedom topics, allow me to offer this.

Diane and I entered the business in 2003 and have driven Class 8 straight trucks the entire time. As I think about it, our freedom has been diminished as follows:

- FedEx Custom Critical mandated that our truck be speed limited to 65 mph because of new regulations in Ontario and Quebec.

- FedEx Custom Critical required the installation of the Qualcomm MCP200 in our truck, an electronic logging device. We did not want it and it costs us $5.00 per week more than the unit it replaced.

- With the electronic logs and the ability they give our carrier to more closely monitor the truck, FedEx Custom Critical limited our personal conveyance time tighter than the law permits.

- CSA 2010 came along and later became known as CSA. While CSA is changing the enforcement techniques by using technology in a new way, it did not change the rules that are being enforced. We were compliant before CSA and remain compliant now; thus, the new program did not affect our freedom.

- Security concerns have driven many freedom-limiting changes including longer waits at international border crossings, required TWIC cards, IAC training requirements, required passports, required fingerprinting for HAZMAT endorsements on your CDL, etc. But most of these do not limit your freedom as much as they increase the time and cost of compliance. We remain free to enter and leave Canada. We remain free to haul HAZMAT. It just costs us more time and money to do so.

- For a variety of reasons, truck routes and bridge weights have become more restrictive. Sometimes rules are changed to force us to drive on toll roads we would prefer to avoid.

These are items that come off the top of my head. There are probably more that are not coming to mind at the moment.

It's a nice slogan but in fact you are beholden to everyone. You don't build your truck yourself or the highways you drive on. If you want to drive safely down the highway, you must follow the same right side or the road rule everyone else does.

You can move into the woods to live off the land, but if you want a gun and some Velcro, a society is required for you to obtain them.

You are dispatched by someone else. Not independent.

You do not have your own authority, you can run loads "on your own" but not really. You don't have your own authority, you are not independent.

You are not a trucking company. You are a truck owner, leased to a trucking company. You are a contractor.

I am a trucking company. I can lease drivers to me, in fact I have four drivers leased to me. They operate because I say they do. I am independent, they are not.

Yes, someone else built my van and my trucks. You talk about me switching subjects, and you go off on some anti-society rap like I'm the friggin' unabomber living in a shack in Montana? Come on now, who's the one splitting hairs?

I am an independent contractor, you are not. So you say you can get your own loads. You have somebody else's tracking device on your truck. You have no choice in the matter, you said so yourself. You're not really independent. That is the distinction I am drawing, it's really very plain.

Call yourself what you like. I am the CEO, CFO, CTO and COO of my company, and 51% shareholder in the Corporation. I control every aspect of the operations, absolutely. I am truly independent, I dispatch myself when and where I see fit. If I want to, I can dispatch whoever I want from my beach chair in the Caribbean. I have access to over 25,000 CSA compliant carriers, so I can do literally anything I want to.

Enough said, I'm going back to entertaining myself watching Pookie the troll string everybody along... nobody wants to read this.

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

tisk tisk zero........wow where did that come from?

I give you praise for having your own company...I know it's a lot of work and you are risking everything......but I believe to be a business owner you have to have other people working for you running the entire business....or that you could leave for a year and come back and the business still would be same or better.......if not your self employed........but either way don't get ahead of yourself......LOL.....your doing good....most people won't understand what it's like to do what your doing.......I made a lot of money....I spent a lot of money....and lost a lot of money.....in the end you only have health....

hey read this EO MAFIA:

about bus accident killing 14
Official: Riders say NYC bus crash driver swerved - Yahoo! News

in middle says NTSB is looking to see if company had a fatigue management program.......HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.......maybe I do know what I'm talking about.....don't let that happen to you guys.......be safe

pookie8me · Mar 13, 2011

Fedex does not have one..............but I do!

dabluzman1 · Mar 14, 2011

zero3nine said:
You are dispatched by someone else. Not independent.

You do not have your own authority, you can run loads "on your own" but not really. You don't have your own authority, you are not independent.

You are not a trucking company. You are a truck owner, leased to a trucking company. You are a contractor.

I am a trucking company. I can lease drivers to me, in fact I have four drivers leased to me. They operate because I say they do. I am independent, they are not.

Yes, someone else built my van and my trucks. You talk about me switching subjects, and you go off on some anti-society rap like I'm the friggin' unabomber living in a shack in Montana? Come on now, who's the one splitting hairs?

I am an independent contractor, you are not. So you say you can get your own loads. You have somebody else's tracking device on your truck. You have no choice in the matter, you said so yourself. You're not really independent. That is the distinction I am drawing, it's really very plain.

Call yourself what you like. I am the CEO, CFO, CTO and COO of my company, and 51% shareholder in the Corporation. I control every aspect of the operations, absolutely. I am truly independent, I dispatch myself when and where I see fit. If I want to, I can dispatch whoever I want from my beach chair in the Caribbean. I have access to over 25,000 CSA compliant carriers, so I can do literally anything I want to.

Enough said, I'm going back to entertaining myself watching Pookie the troll string everybody along... nobody wants to read this.

Amusing but mis-guided........are you and pookie related?

ATeam · Mar 14, 2011

zero3nine said:
...you are not independent.

I disagree for reasons stated above. We have both offered our points of view. I'm content to let the readers decide. I trust they will find our discussion to be informative.