JB Hunt Trucking ripoff-Lease Option Program Lies Lowell Arkansas

I am a commercial carrier and I haul freight for J. B. Hunt. I have only 1 truck. I was recruited by J. B. Hunt's "Power Only" group. I also was told the company average was 2,500 to 3,500 miles a week. I pulled their trailers for 3 months. During that period of time I averaged over 15,000 miles a month. I left J. B. Hunt because I made enough money to buy my own trailer and am now pulling it.

I miss J. B. Hunt very much. It was the start I needed in the trucking business. I recommend J. B. Hunt to all my friends who can't seem to make it anywhere else. I really enjoyed working with the folks at J. B. Hunt and would go back to them If I needed to make some quick money. They paid me within 48 hours and direct deposited my money straight to my bank account. What more can one ask? In my last 2 weeks with J. B. Hunt I made almost $14,000.

The amout of lease failures are staggering. More so to the point where you can not blame the former employees. Leases are failures for these reasons:

1. The trucks are leased to the people at over inflated prices. Many times the trucks have problems with them which require repair.

2. Because its a lease and not a buy, there is no equity in it. The leasee cannot get any money out of it when they decide to leave or take the truck to work for another company.

3. The leasee is required to run miles with that company only. If there is a decrease in miles due to a slowdown in the company, then the leasee is at a lose because they still have to make the payments on the truck.

4. The companies that promote this program get a win win situation out of this. They get the lease money, a truck that they dont have to maintain, and a driver with no payroll taxes. When the driver realizes that they didnt make any money and bails out, the company gets back the truck that they can give to a new person in the lease program, who will most likely fail while the company makes money out of this.

It is the company's responsibility to make sure that people are reasonibly sucessful in these programs because it is a company sponsored program. Do the math, and you will see most people failing in a lease program.  The people who defend this are usually company representives and claim that the person is lazy or not a business person enough to be successful. The truth of the matter is that most of these people are hungry to make money and want to drive the miles; thats why they got into the lease agreement in the first place.

How true! I am and employee and not a lease purchase driver for JB HUNT. I see LP people drop trucks off at terminals constantly. Their Louisville yard is so full of them that they don't have room for else. One LP guy I personally know still hasn't got the $3,000 back in fuel that they mistakenly assigned to him!!! Lost truck with two months to go.
Don't lease with JB HUNT or any other company (will JCT is a good one for that if you must).
Anyways they have had so many Lease Purchase people quit which means I now have to be out 3 weeks instead of 1 or 2 to cover the loads they don't have the manpower to do.
Sucks for you and sucks for me. I wish they would be honest and CH Robinson would be a better broker.
The problem is they are all owned by CH Robinson and are tax write offs which is Werner, Star, Convenient, Pumpkin Trucks etc....USA trucks.... and they own part of pilots, TA and now the flying J. They are driving down wages by manipulating these companies.
When JB Hunt, Schneider etc.... calls about their lease programs... run for the hills!
You will also only get about 1,200 miles a week and make ZERO for your efforts. You will end up broker than you were before when you show up.
Wake up and smell the coffee. You have a class action civil lawsuit against JB HUNT! Get organized and sue.

 

To lease a truck from ANY company now days is a stupid decision. I make more money than most of you lease drivers, and without the headaches as a company driver. I make .50 cpm averaging 3200 miles a week and only been driving for 3 years. I drive my a*s off -- but get payed well and home every weekend. My take home pay is about 1400.00 per week. And no I dont cheat on my logs---just drive 11 hours straight nonstop daily.

It is to a company's advantage for a driver to lease - no overhead. However, unless a driver has between 5 and 10 years experience as a company driver, it is to a driver's disadvantage to lease particularly given the volativity of fuel prices and the economic conditions today. Many inexperienced drivers go bankrupt because they don't understand the nature of the business and/or cannot manage their expenses (and there are a lot of them)!

It is to a company's advantage for a driver to lease - no overhead. However, unless a driver has between 5 and 10 years experience as a company driver, it is to a driver's disadvantage to lease particularly given the volativity of fuel prices and the economic conditions today. Many inexperienced drivers go bankrupt because they don't understand the nature of the business and/or cannot manage their expenses (and there are a lot of them)!

It is to a company's advantage for a driver to lease - no overhead. However, unless a driver has between 5 and 10 years experience as a company driver, it is to a driver's disadvantage to lease particularly given the volativity of fuel prices and the economic conditions today. Many inexperienced drivers go bankrupt because they don't understand the nature of the business and/or cannot manage their expenses (and there are a lot of them)!

chuck, if jb is so bad that their drivers are starving to death.......why do you work for them? Wouldn't you quit if you weren't making money, doesnt that defeat the purpose of a job?

jb. hunt is cruel inhumane and selfish if you dont get out the lease the next place you could wind up is a pine box they only give you a $ 100 adv a week and believe me that does not go far there has been jb lease drivers die from stravation so get out why you can

When your husband signed the lease did he fully understand what he was getting into. Being a independent contractor means you are your own company, boss, and responsible for filing your own taxes. It takes working for several months before taking a day off to succeed in the trucking company. Someone asked if he turned down loads earlier. I want to expand on this for a moment. Its best not to turn down loads for many reason. Turning down a load means that the company will not pay you for the dead head miles. You may have to go 200 hundred miles for the next available load. In doing this you are wasting fuel and not making a dime. This means you are taking a loss. Too many losses will put you in the red. Once in the red it's hard to get back in the black.

Also turning down too many loads and driving miles that don't turn over a profit is adding to vehicle maintenance. (i.e. tires, brakes, oil changes,etc..) Someone else had mention driving 70-80 miles an hour when posted speed limit is 65. They are right concerning wasted fuel! Did your husband treat the lease program like a business or a job? If he looked at it as a job and not paying mind to details then this will cause hardship. Treating it like a business and not a job will bring success. His low miles is part of the business. Could your husband finish the lease? After a lease is up he will own the truck. If it's in his lease. Their trucks have a ballon attached and they give ic's a 300 dollar credit for each month. (I believe its a month) It comes out to be under 11,000 after the lease is down. This will pay off the ballon leaving you owning the truck. He could take the truck and lease on with another company.

Just a warning, if he is having trouble with JB HUNT then he will not make it with other companies. I have researched this myself so, I know all the facts concerning leasing options. It's hard to make a living with a regular job and it's extremely hard when you are investing into your own company! I don't know all the details to your story but, I give your husband my hat for trying to invest into his own future when times are tough. Many people fear doing risky moves in times like this! Good Luck and best Wishes!

Most leas plans are technically illegal from the labor law and IRS standpoint. CR England got spanked really hard, and leases were invalidated by the feds. Many other companies have gone this way too.

I do suggest anyone in this dilemma download and fill out and submit the "determination of worker status" form from the IRS.

I can almost guarantee that it will come back with a determination that you were an employee.

The biggie is the part about an "independent contractor" being able to "offer services to anyone he/she chooses". You cannot do this with a lease, as you are under their authority and can only take the loads they give you.

A TRUE independent contractor would have his/her own operating authority and be able to book his/her own loads.

If any work rules are put in place, you are an employee. Period.

I have challenged this on 2 different occasions, and have 2 letters from the IRS and 1 from the USDOL stating that I was an employee.

Both companies had to pay fines, and make retroactive / back payments on my SS matching, unemployment ins., and workmans' comp. ins., etc. And, at that point they had to pay me for my time as my hours overall did not meet minimum wage requirements.

A truck lease program is a rip off. There are no good ones, unless it is a LEASE / PURCHASE program where you end up owning the truck.

Remember, when you lease on to a company, they own you, and your equipment, LEGALLY!

They could tell you to park your truck, and legally you must comply! This is a total ripoff!

Do the "determination of worker status" NOW!!

Hi my first advice is to go onto the Arkansas States Attorneys office web site and give them a very breif story of this scam.

quickly ask yourself these 20 questions

1.instructions does JB hunt tell you when and where and how you must work ?
2. training does JB ask you to do training programs ?
3. integration how important are your services to jb hunts success
4.service rendered personally do you personaly have to use your services to complete your task ?
5. Hiring Assistants does JB Hunt delegate and determine who and what departments will assist you?
6. continuing relationship do you work at long periods of time for jb hunt ?
7.set hours for work does JB Hunt determine you hours to work ?
8.full time required are you required to be available for work full time?
9.work done on premises do you work on JB Hunt premises?
10. order of sequence set workers whom must work in an order of sequences that are set from start to finish
11. Payment Method are you paid by hour,week or month or by the job?
if your weekly payments and salarys are almost even there is a discrepancy.
12. Expenses does JB Hunt reimburse any travel expenses ?
13. Tools and Materials Does JB Hunt furnish any tools and materials to perform service?
14.investment does using JB Hunts equiptment and facilitys not enhance your performance to complete tasks?
15. Profit or Loss does JB Hunt limit your miles and no matter how hard you work
it does not increase your profit?
16.Services for General Public-are you allowed to work for anyone else besides JB.Hunt or are your services hindered?
17. Right to Fire can JB Hunt fire you at any time or are there Contract agreements (does that contract give JB.Hunt ability to fire you over anything?)
18. Right to quit do you have the right to quit any time you want with out being held liable?
19. Reports are you required to submit regular job reports, paperwork, messages, ETA's etc?
20. Works more than 1 person at a time can you not do work for others while being with J.B.Hunt?

if you answered yes to more that 1/2 of these questions please goto the IRS and down load form 3949A report this as a possible organized Crime to defreud the government of Taxes because you may just be an employee with a truck and fuel payment! and not an Independent contractor. send this form to

IRS Fresno CA 93888
then if there are any problems where you have been asked to jeopardize your health call Arkansas OSHA at the Arkansas DOL
Also contact NLRB because there may be Rite to Union issues
keep receipts and send invoices for all money lost do to Neglagence by JB.HUNT
send copys and past Dues by Certified mail.

All the trucking companies are a total rip off. My boyfriend wanted to get into this and after further investigation I told him to find a better paying career, and he took my advice and did just that. These companies need to be unionized and forced to pay these people a decent wage and make sure they are making the miles!!!!

these companies lie about everything, including calling a sublet aka sub lease a actual lease, its not a lease, its a kind of lease, but its not a direct lease.

Ok, well any companies IC/Lease Purchase Program is not for everyone. as stated by another respondant to your message, you have to have a good business sense. I am an ex JB hunt company driver , who moved over to the LP side and COMPLETED the program(3 yrs). There are many things that you have to do to suceed in this type of program. I'm not even going to begin to try to list them here. But based on my experience I am sure that there is alot you are not telling us about your situataion. Just a few question to you:

1. Did your husband turn down loads?
2. What was if MPG and and weekley fuel costs?
3. What was is idle time and over speed?
4. Did he talk to his FM about the miles or just complain.

As for miles, JB Hunt does not make and promises on weekly miles what so ever.

"Oh they still take their truck payment, escrow deductions for truck and maintanence, highway tax, insurance to name a few" What is a few? Of course they are going to take the trk pymnt, insur, ifta and escrows! Its in the contract. I can honestly stay that the drivers who aonlu take a 6 month lease seem to get fewer miles, but the money is there to be made if the sacarfices are made and cost cutting is used.

Karen:

You've discovered these independent contractor deals are NOT for everyone. As an IC you become a businessman, you are NOT an employee. Any businessman knows there are NO GUARANTEES in their business level. Just because you had a banner week last week, does not mean you are guaranteed a similar next week. When you become either an IC or buy your own truck, you need to be both a good driver and an excellent businessman. As a businessman, you need to have enough resources to fund your operation whether or not freight levels are good. One of the common reason businesses fail is under capitalization...not having enough money to fall back on. The trucking business is tough, very tough...if you have one truck or ten thousand. The profit per load is not as much as most people think. If you do not have enough money to fund your operation when times are tough then a good businessman will need to do some soul searching...either get out of the business and invest elsewhere or become a company driver.

Many drivers become IC's thinking they will become millionaires in a year or because they are so immature and prideful that bragging about being "an owner operator" is important. Again Karen, to be a good IC you need to be a good driver but also a good businessman. To drive 75-80 mph when 65 mph will do the job wastes fuel and adds immense costs. Idling that engine and burning 1 gallon of fuel per hour (such as when waiting at the dock or when temperatures do not require idling) is just plain stupid! Nobody can give ANY intelligent reason for idling under those circumstances yet watch as you see so many IC's burning that fuel and then blaming everyone why they cannot make a profit. Remember, to be a good IC, you need to be a GOOD BUSINESSMAN and a GOOD DRIVER.

If JBHT actually "promised" 2500-3000 MPW then it was a guarantee and you should have a contract indicating this. If your contact within JBHT said something else such as "most of our IC's can get 2500-3000 MPW", thats another matter. "Can get" is much different than "we guarantee".

An experienced businessman (there's that word again) in trucking knows freight levels vary with time of the year and regions. In the begining of the year freight can be tough but usually it improves. That's why you need to have the resources to "tide you over" rather than operating on a week-to-week basis always one day from bankruptcy.

Just in case you're wondering...I am an experienced businessman and a very experienced driver, with no points, no wrecks ever. For me however, I would not invest my money in a truck or become an IC. I certainly would never get into one of those "Prime" type FLEASE ownership deals. In my view, I can make more money with less headaches doing other things.