Perspective Carrier Interview
 

While going through some old files yesterday I found an old list I made for “carrier shopping” back before I had my own authority. It is by no means complete, but if you are a new O/O or even if you have had your own truck for a while but not driven for a lot of companies, this list covers most of the questions you need answered to compare different companies. Sadly you will find a lot of recruiters who cannot answer half of these questions. I was always suspicious of those companies because I couldn’t fathom how you could be trying to lease people on and NOT know the answers to any questions on this list. Here it is:

-- Pay Rate (cpm or %)? Loaded & Empty? Load / unload Pay? Detention pay?

-- Does 100% surcharge go to the O/O, or is it paid at a rate per mile? Paid loaded and empty? How and when is the rate calculated? How do I find out when it changes?

-- Who pays tolls?

-- Direct deposit? Is there a Fee?

-- What is the requirement for tractors (age, weight, etc.)?

-- Are trailers provided and if so, at what cost if any?

-- Fuel discounts? Can I purchase fuel at carrier's terminals?

-- Can I use carrier's wash bay if it has one and if so, what is the fee, if any?

-- Do you offer discounts on tires, parts etc. and do I have access to your shop? What is the labor rate?

-- What fuel card do you use and is there a per use fee?

-- What kind of weekly mileage can a good solo driver or team expect to average?

-- Any drop & hook? What percentage of loads?

-- Kinds of freight most commonly hauled (avg. weight)?

-- Will I be required to go to NYC, Canada or Mexico often or at all? Is there extra pay for going to these locations?

-- Qualcomm? Do I have a choice? Is there a fee for it?

-- How is paperwork sent in to the company (e.g. TripPak, Transflo, etc.) and who pays for the service?

-- Do you provide PreePass, NorPass, GreenLight Transponders and is there a fee? What about EZ Pass?

-- Does the company provide logbooks and if so, is there a fee for them?

-- Does the company pay for the annual DOT safety inspection on tractors?

-- Who pays for the pre-employment drug screen… what about random or reasonable suspicion tests?

-- How long is orientation and will I be compensated for my time?

-- Are tractor base plates provided? If so, who pays? If I have my own base plates? What about when the lease is terminated?

-- Who pays IFTA and various state road taxes? How will my IFTA tax be calculated… will you use the fleet avg mpg or my own?

-- Do you require any escrow accounts? For what purpose and what rules govern these?

-- Longevity or performance bonus to O/Os? Sign-on bonus?

-- How hard will it be to get a load close to and back out from home? Can I take a trailer home?

-- How long am I expected to be out at a time and how long can I stay home?

That is a very comprehensive list, Musicman. It looks like you put a lot of thought into it.

There is one more thing that came to mind when I read this.

-- Do you offer advances and if so is there a fee? :thumbsup:

As of to owner operator, you shouldn't be "required" to go anywhere, you doesn't want to.
The second part of the question is legit tho.....
I wouldn't except any answer, but;-as long as you want to.

Thanks GMAN. In all my years of driving as either a company driver or leased on o/o, I do not believe I’ve ever taken an advance. Many companies charge a fee for that service and I do not like the idea of spending my paycheck before I get it. I therefore never considered adding this question to my list. I do agree though that for many this would be a good question to ask.

While I agree with you on this, many companies do not. In a way, I can see their point. If you are leased on, they should be able to count on you to get the job done as much or more than a company driver. If you are leased to a company that goes to these places, then you can expect that at some point you may be asked to go. When I was leased on, I preferred to lease to companies that absolutely didn’t go to NYC. That way, I didn’t have to worry about having to create a feeling of ill will when they asked me to go and I refused. As long as I wasn’t going to lose my butt, I WOULD go a couple of times a year (if asked) just so they couldn’t say I wasn’t a team player. There’s nothing worse than a driver or o/o with a reputation of being a whiner or being difficult to work with.


Again, you need to look at things from the perspective of the carrier. As an o/o, they are paying for your primary liability and usually cargo and sometimes trailer physical damage insurance. As a carrier, I wouldn’t be happy if you barely ran enough to cover what you were costing me. If I’m paying $600 - $800 a month for your insurance, you’d better be making me enough money so I can cover that bill and make some profit. If you want to go home every week and then stay there for two weeks at a time, you probably are not making the carrier enough money to cover its expenses.

I think most owner operators get an advance from their carrier, especially starting out. In some respects I think that it is a good idea to run on your own money. Some don't ever have the money to buy a tire if they blow one. If the carrier has a fuel card that has good discounts, it might be good to get advances starting out. The fuel savings could offset any advance charges. You are right that if you get an advance it seems like you are making less money than if you got your settlement all at one time.

Most of these questions can be answered by obtaining a copy of the carrier/owner operator lease agreement. If they're not willing to show you it before you're ready to sign, run as fast as you can.

I would add asking who pays cargo and liability insurance while under loads. Quite a few companies are now expecting (in contract) O/O's to pick up that cost, which I would never do.

It seems to be a trend for some carriers to charge a fee for cargo insurance. Some may charge a flat fee such as $5/ per load. Where some get the owner operator is in all the little fees that they charge. Revenue and profits are down with most companies. They are doing what they can to offset some of those losses. If an owner operator is expected to pay liability and cargo insurance he would be better off getting his own authority. If you are paying the full cost of insurance there is no need to give another carrier 25% or more of the revenue, depending on the type of freight hauled and whether the owner operator has his own trailer.

And they won't be disappointed, but first i should accept that run. Other wise i couldn't call myself owner operator. And IRS wouldn't think so either. BTW I practically never refuse the load cause of difficulty, only based on a profitability. That's my business after all, and i should be able to run it, as i see fit. I might help them in a bind, once in a while, but only as a favor.

I beg to differ with you on that one. Below is an excerpt from a sample lease from OOIDA. If you know anything about OOIDA you know they’d never write a contract that benefitted the carrier any more than absolutely necessary. Every lease I have ever seen or signed has included language that is similar to this as well:

Contractor is the owner of the equipment described in Appendix A to this Agreement and drives and/or will provide drivers fully qualified under all applicable federal and state laws to operate that equipment in interstate and/or intrastate commerce.

Carrier is in the business of offering and providing motor carrier services to the shipping public and desires to retain the equipment and driver services of Contractor to meet its transportation commitments. Carrier is authorized to conduct operations in interstate and/or intrastate commerce pursuant to operating authorities issued by the appropriate federal and state agencies.

Contractor desires to lease its equipment with a driver or drivers to Carrier, and Carrier desires to lease that equipment and driver(s) to meet its transportation requirements for its customers, and for good and lawful consideration, the parties agree as follows:

1. Copies of this Agreement. --- blah blah blah---
2. Receipts for Equipment --- blah blah blah--- Upon termination of this lease, or when possession by the Carrier of a unit of equipment identified in the addendum ends, the Carrier shall give Contractor a receipt evidencing the date and time of the [/B]return of the equipment to Contractor's control.[/B]
3. Exclusive Possession and Control by Carrier. Carrier shall have the exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment, and shall assume complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment, for the duration of the lease.

From the above except, we can clearly see that the leased on equipment is strictly under the control of the carrier, NOT the contractor. Additionally, the carrier’s stated goal “to lease that equipment and driver(s) to meet its transportation requirements for its customers couldn’t possibly be met it you are constantly picking and choosing where you will and will not go.

Amen to that! I've only had a few carriers try that on me, though.

Wow. I guess things have changed since I got my authority. If I’m paying the liability and cargo as a leased o/o then I need to see a higher rate of pay to cover it. Are they really getting many people to go for this?

I had a company charge me $3.60 for a “fuel card fee” every time I fueled with their TCH card. A couple of years later, I am on my own and have my own TCH account and learn that the standard fee is $1.80 per use. So this company was making $1.80 off me every time I bought fuel. Now that doesn’t seem like much, but figure I bought fuel 6 times a week and they make $10.80. Now multiply that by a hundred trucks and they were making over a $1k a week just in excess fuel card fees. That’s a nice car payment for the owner of the company.

GMAN for you and me and some others this is certainly true. The problem is that probably over half (and maybe a heck of a lot more) of all leased on o/o aren’t business people. They think that because they know how to drive a truck that it qualifies them to go into business for themselves. These are the people who end up losing their truck when they blow a turbo and don’t have $2500 to fix it or can’t replace a blown tire without an advance from the carrier. How are these people going to survive when they have to pay for their fuel up front for three of four weeks before they ever see a penny from the loads they ran? Rates are so low that I don’t see how they can factor their loads to get fast operating cash and still pay the bills.

I believe, you got it wrong. That's only after, and if, i accept the run. If i can't "pick and choose", i'm no more than a company driver on a leased truck. I'm INDEPENDENT contractor, after all.

Leases have a time period they are good for. Most are for one year. You can't say that this particular statement only applies to a situation where you have accepted a load. You are an independent contractor who has signed a contract to give exclusive operational control of your equipment and labor to another party for a specific period of time. There’s no way you could ever make this argument in court as they’d laugh you right out the door. I’ve never seen a standard lease that said you give to carrier control of your equipment and labor on a per load basis. The only situation that would fit the definition you’ve given would be a Trip Lease.

I don't know if anyone is accepting contracts with that stipulation, if so, my guess would be they are inexperienced and don't know any better, or desperate. Yes, some carriers who charge the O/O with cargo/liability are paying a higher percentage, but then the carrier has no reason to shop for insurance at the best rate. The O/O would theoretically be paying a premium based on the overall safety record of the carrier, I suppose, which could be horrible depending on accidents/violations. And I'm sure those carriers would be happy to provide you a copy of their declarations page/premium statements, to be sure they weren't "marking up" the cost on you. (Not)

Actually, i don't even remember, what's in mine. I've been leased to the same company for over 12 years. I do know tho, that my contract, could be canceled at any time, for any reason, by either party. No expiration date. And believe me, in those years, I've refused more than a few loads. But you've got my curiosity, and I'll post that example of lease agreement, on OOIDA forum for some explanations.

Most leases read that they are for a period of one year and will be automatically renewed unless one party or the other makes it known in writing to the other party that it is not to be renewed. Every lease I’ve seen can be broken by either party at any time as long as proper notice is given in writing to the other party. Some will have a few other stipulations involved with the breaking of the lease, but most I’ve seen are pretty similar.

I may actually call OOIDA tomorrow and ask the legal department there about the language we are at odds about. I could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. I have enough background in contract law to usually come to the correct interpretation of what I have read. Either way, right or wrong, I’d like to know for curiosity’s sake which it is. While I love being right, I hate being wrong even more so now I really need to know.

OK! Let us know what did you find out, and i sure will do the same.

OK! Here is the answer i've got from OOIDA.

This topic needs to be "Stickied" - great info here

I'm glad to see that you were able to get an answer from OOIDA. I called and talked to a male (I cannot recall his name) who couldn't explain why the wording would read the way it does. The whole point of having things in writing is so a point can be made with little room for debate. Nonetheless he seemed to agree with what you were told as well. It is obvious, to me anyway, that the passage as written clearly means the carrier has complete control of the equipment. If the author of that passage meant what you have indicated, he or she could have easily stated what you and OOIDA discussed. I agree that a leased on operator doesn't have to do what the carrier says or go where the carrier wants him or her to go... terminating the lease is always an option.

I will make this observation about my experience with OOIDA: They do a lot of good in our industry, but they do have their faults. They seem to be primarily set up to favor the leased on operator. I looked at the sample lease they provide to anyone who asks and realized that only a fool (as a carrier) would ever enter into that agreement without serious modifications. It would be interesting to have a contract attorney review the lease or even see it tested in court to see what the outcome is.

Since I’m not willing to pay for independent legal counsel on something that isn’t an issue with me (I’m leased to my own LLC and doubt I’ll ever sue myself) and only know criminal attorneys whom I could get free advice from, I’ll concede for now that at a minimum OOIDA’s advice may be general wisdom in our industry.

After all my experiences in the trucking business I have come to one simple yet comprehensive conclusion......THERE SHOULD BE A MANDATORY COURSE AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO BE A :OWNER/OPERATOR:!!!

It should consist of basic Math, reading, writing, and computer skills. Then you should be forced to learn things like what is posted in this thread and MORE. I swear if there was such a course the whole trucking industry would be different. People wouldn't take advantage as easily of drivers and the turn over rate would be a lot lower. Thus helping the industry altogether. But instead we have trucking schools that teach you how to shift and brake...and send you out on the road....
God help the trucking industry and the drivers who suffer cause of it.