After the company I was driving for decided to get out of the intrastate trucking business and focus their efforts on their local dump truck business, I was left with the choice of working local with them or they would fly me home to Texas. I decided to give and old dispatch friend I knew from another Chicago based company I worked for a call. He had moved on and was now a stake holder in a new company called Platinum Logistics Team. He was happy to bring me on and within two days I was back on the road. Everthing appeared to be legit and I was happy that I had saved my previous company the cost of a plane ticket and I was back earning again. I must admit I was a little worried about the new dispatchers I was working with, as they were all Serbian and they were actually dispatching from an office in Serbia. I would say 95% of them had never been to America. It didn't take long for this dispatching anomaly to show it's glaring defects.
For instance... after unloading on Long Island New York I was dispatched on a load picking up in New Jersey. They could not understand how I was have problems getting to my pick up. Quote"It's only 45 miles away you should have been there in an hour". If you have ever been to the Island, you don't get to Jersey at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in an hour. it's more like 3 hours and that's if there isn't an accident. Which there is ALWAYS and accident somewhere. I was making 45 cents per mile, 5 cents less than my last company and I was having to work harder to make the same pay because the dispatching was so discombobulated. On top of this I was getting weekly deductions that I had not agreed to. $39.95 for occupational insurance and 150.00 for a security deposit.
I have been driving for 28 years and these charges would only be deducted if you were an Owner/Operator. And the occupational insurance would have been an elective deduction. But I was an employee albeit a 1099 employee. This is a very shady area in the trucking and construction industries. A 1099 employee according to the IRS would make their own decisons on where to go and how a job would be done. They would also be responsible for supplying their own tools and supplies. Now I'm driving their truck, they pay all of the assorted cost's associated with running that truck and I am being directed by the company when and where to go. The 1099 tax status is merely a convenience for the payroll department. If I were a W-2 employee they would be required under Illinois law to provide workers compensation. With this occupational insurance charge it seems they are fullfilling this requirement but at my expense. I mentioned this to Nick and told him this was illegal. On my next paycheck this charge was gone. But I'm very sure they continued to charge their other 119 drivers this dubious deduction. Why not? Most of them were from Serbia, how would they know American law? But that $150.00 deduction continued. He explained that it would be deducted until $1500.00 had been reached. American trucking companies do not charge this deduction to their employee drivers. This would be considered an escrow account and that is only done with owner operators. He assured me that the money would be refunded once I left their employ.
In march I was involved in a situation in Colorado where a Fed Ex truck was stopped in the middle of I-70. They had lost traction and were installing their chains in the middle of the interstate at 2:30 in the morning. A driver in front of us went around first and I followed shortly after. We did see the Fed Ex truck move but we thought it had slid a little. After we had passed the truck and began to make our way up Vail Pass, the two Fed Ex drivers climbed on the passanger side of the truck yelling that I had hit their truck. In the procees they assaulted my wife. Bruising her right arm and also pulling off two of her middle finger nails. The Fed Ex drivers and myself were charged with careless driving, and they were also charged with assault. It was probably two weeks after this that I had enough of the juvenile dispatching I was receiving on a daily basis. I returned the truck to the yard. I removed my belongings and left it cleaner than I recieved it.
Nick and I parted on good terms and he assured me I would get all the monies owed me on the next two pay schedules. Shortly after this they were hit with a bill for $4500, for the damage to the Fed Ex truck. I asked him how I could have hit that truck when my truck had not one scratch on it. He agreed but said he was going to hold onto my money until the courts made a decision. Not long after that the court dismissed my wreckless driving ticket. Nick told me that is all I need. If the charges were dismissed they would refund my money and fight the insurance claim. Now I can't get them to answer my calls or texts. I guess they think if they ignore me I will just fade away. Trying to find relief either through the government or a private attorney has proven to be a farce. The illinois Government is a bureaucratic debacle, and a private attorney only directs me back to the government, because the amount owed is in their eyes too small. To me that $1200 for the security deposit is a huge amount and that's not including the occupational insurance fees that were deducted, the extra money promised for the last pick up, and the promised plane ticket home. Lying seems to be part of their business model. I must admit I never expected to be treated like this by Nick. I'm just hoping that by taking the time to present my story I might keep another driver from experiencing the same B.S. I'm having to put up with. I would highly suggest not hiring on with Platinum Logistics Team.
Platinum Logistics Team, Inc. Reviews
After the company I was driving for decided to get out of the intrastate trucking business and focus their efforts on their local dump truck business, I was left with the choice of working local with them or they would fly me home to Texas. I decided to give and old dispatch friend I knew from another Chicago based company I worked for a call. He had moved on and was now a stake holder in a new company called Platinum Logistics Team. He was happy to bring me on and within two days I was back on the road. Everthing appeared to be legit and I was happy that I had saved my previous company the cost of a plane ticket and I was back earning again. I must admit I was a little worried about the new dispatchers I was working with, as they were all Serbian and they were actually dispatching from an office in Serbia. I would say 95% of them had never been to America. It didn't take long for this dispatching anomaly to show it's glaring defects.
For instance... after unloading on Long Island New York I was dispatched on a load picking up in New Jersey. They could not understand how I was have problems getting to my pick up. Quote"It's only 45 miles away you should have been there in an hour". If you have ever been to the Island, you don't get to Jersey at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in an hour. it's more like 3 hours and that's if there isn't an accident. Which there is ALWAYS and accident somewhere. I was making 45 cents per mile, 5 cents less than my last company and I was having to work harder to make the same pay because the dispatching was so discombobulated. On top of this I was getting weekly deductions that I had not agreed to. $39.95 for occupational insurance and 150.00 for a security deposit.
I have been driving for 28 years and these charges would only be deducted if you were an Owner/Operator. And the occupational insurance would have been an elective deduction. But I was an employee albeit a 1099 employee. This is a very shady area in the trucking and construction industries. A 1099 employee according to the IRS would make their own decisons on where to go and how a job would be done. They would also be responsible for supplying their own tools and supplies. Now I'm driving their truck, they pay all of the assorted cost's associated with running that truck and I am being directed by the company when and where to go. The 1099 tax status is merely a convenience for the payroll department. If I were a W-2 employee they would be required under Illinois law to provide workers compensation. With this occupational insurance charge it seems they are fullfilling this requirement but at my expense. I mentioned this to Nick and told him this was illegal. On my next paycheck this charge was gone. But I'm very sure they continued to charge their other 119 drivers this dubious deduction. Why not? Most of them were from Serbia, how would they know American law? But that $150.00 deduction continued. He explained that it would be deducted until $1500.00 had been reached. American trucking companies do not charge this deduction to their employee drivers. This would be considered an escrow account and that is only done with owner operators. He assured me that the money would be refunded once I left their employ.
In march I was involved in a situation in Colorado where a Fed Ex truck was stopped in the middle of I-70. They had lost traction and were installing their chains in the middle of the interstate at 2:30 in the morning. A driver in front of us went around first and I followed shortly after. We did see the Fed Ex truck move but we thought it had slid a little. After we had passed the truck and began to make our way up Vail Pass, the two Fed Ex drivers climbed on the passanger side of the truck yelling that I had hit their truck. In the procees they assaulted my wife. Bruising her right arm and also pulling off two of her middle finger nails. The Fed Ex drivers and myself were charged with careless driving, and they were also charged with assault. It was probably two weeks after this that I had enough of the juvenile dispatching I was receiving on a daily basis. I returned the truck to the yard. I removed my belongings and left it cleaner than I recieved it.
Nick and I parted on good terms and he assured me I would get all the monies owed me on the next two pay schedules. Shortly after this they were hit with a bill for $4500, for the damage to the Fed Ex truck. I asked him how I could have hit that truck when my truck had not one scratch on it. He agreed but said he was going to hold onto my money until the courts made a decision. Not long after that the court dismissed my wreckless driving ticket. Nick told me that is all I need. If the charges were dismissed they would refund my money and fight the insurance claim. Now I can't get them to answer my calls or texts. I guess they think if they ignore me I will just fade away. Trying to find relief either through the government or a private attorney has proven to be a farce. The illinois Government is a bureaucratic debacle, and a private attorney only directs me back to the government, because the amount owed is in their eyes too small. To me that $1200 for the security deposit is a huge amount and that's not including the occupational insurance fees that were deducted, the extra money promised for the last pick up, and the promised plane ticket home. Lying seems to be part of their business model. I must admit I never expected to be treated like this by Nick. I'm just hoping that by taking the time to present my story I might keep another driver from experiencing the same B.S. I'm having to put up with. I would highly suggest not hiring on with Platinum Logistics Team.