Legally bound?

[Mrand Mrs]

Does anyone know if I, as a o/o's wife, am legally bound by a contract he has signed? He is a sole proprietor, I am not his employee or ever acted as his agent.

I am particularly interested in the non-compete clause of the contract.

Thanks for your knowledge and experience!!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I'm not a legal guru or anything, but I'll give you something to think about...

If you use those contacts, first question one should ask is where YOU got them from. If they're from your husband, then HE broke the agreement by giving them to you.

JMHO

 

[RichM]

Uh Oh this sounds heavy. I believe you are not responsible for what your husband signed. Sounds like you are going to try to utilze a shipper that the Company your husband was with essentially introduced you to.. He cannot compete but I think you can.

 

[x06col]

For what it is worth. You may get by with it for a while. But, at 15-20% of what business you realized from that shipper the bill would be sizeable when the piss'in contest is finished. Recommend you go find your own customers.

 

[Mrand Mrs]

I'm sorry, I didn't really clarify what my intention was...I was wondering if it would be illegal for me to contact them more for informational purposes. I think if I was a business owner paying a fuel surcharge for shipments I would feel cheated if I found out it didn't go to the person buying fuel. How many companies would think twice about using a carrier that is taking advantage of the rising fuel prices for their own profit? This SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, but it's not. Regardless, it is IMMORAL. Some companies wouldn't care, but I bet a bunch of them would. Maybe some of them would be so outraged that they'd contact the carrier themselves. This is a little bit about revenge but even more about the current drivers and the new drivers signing on. I think about how many people will be in our situation -broke-in 2 months, how many in 6 months? I feel so helpless!! It's too late for us but what about them?

 

[mvbn1]

The first thing you better do, prior to jumping off the bridge, is look at the contract, and see if it says anything about how much of the FSC goes to the person buying the fuel. My contract, with my carrier, does not have any information in it about who gets what. I agree, that the person paying for the fuel should get 100% of the FSC being paid by the shipper, but... unless the contract says so, it ain't happening.

 

[RichM]

I see nothing wrong about asking them whether or not they paid a FSC. Non Compete means you cannot quit your carrier then go to the shipper your carrier has and attempt to get their freight.

 

[davekc]

Requesting information from another company is not likely to cause any litigation unless it involves the aquisition of that account or business (that is expedite specific) that is aquired through a relationship that the original carrier had.

As to whether they are knowledgable to issues related to fuel surcharges is hard to tell.

I think everyone understands your frustration, and hopefully others learn from your experiences.


Davekc
owner
21 years

 

[greg334]

OK here is my 2¢

NOTE, I am not a lawyer so don’t take this as being 100% correct. Contact a lawyer if you are unsure.

Here is what my lawyer told me a while ago about a similar problem I had. If you did not sign it, you can not be held liable unless your actions result in a loss of business for the company your spouse is contracted to. Regardless what people will say, a company can get some sleazy lawyer that likes to litigate stupid cases and you will find yourself in court quickly.

There are some things that you may have to watch when speaking to the originator of the work and there may be a problem with you even contacting them that would violate any contract that they have with the party that is doing the work.

In other words (this is my thinking and is only my opinion) if there is a contract involved that company A will provide shipping for company B and there is a non disclosure agreement in place, which is common, there is a chance that you may have a problem talking to them and asking specific questions about a specific shipment. It will set off all kinds of bells and they may end up calling DHS.