National Distributors Leasing Inc 1517 Avco Blvd Sellersburg, IN 47172 Ken Campbell, Gordon West Lied, Illegal Refusal to Pay Wages Earned, Possible Illegal Tampering with Electronic Driver Logs To Avoid Paying For Work Completed, Misrepresented Equipment Quality Sellersburg Indiana

I am filing this report because my brief experience with this stingy employer has driven me to it and also because I have now seen other reports where previous employees have complained about this company.  I see good things in the company but they do have a habit of dishonesty and not paying their employees fairly, promptly, and as required by law.  Therefore, I recommend - DO NOT work for this employer, atleast until they improve their practices.  I also wish to say that after over 40 years of work history, this is the first employer who has ever refused to pay me for work completed.

Recently, I accepted an offer of employment from National Distributors Leasing Inc, 1517 Avco Blvd, 
Sellersburg, IN 47172.  I am a licensed CDL Class A Truck Driver.  They hired me to run loads out of Laredo to Dallas and back; promising me to be out 5 days, home for a 34 hour reset; weekly.  

Even though my starting pay was to be only $.34/mile and I knew I could get better elsewhere, I was initially impressed by the lady named, Mary (I believe) who repeatedly called me over a 3 day period, until I could finally touch bases with her.  A very nice sounding lady.  She transferred me to Ken Campbell who sweet talked me, as well; even telling me he is a Christian and goes to church with his wife on Sundays.  Since I am a licensed minister, that all meant a lot to me. When someone says they are a Christian, you expect honesty as well as good treatment to follow.  My wife and I talked and I stopped considering other job offers; even waited 2 weeks to start Orientation Training.  By the time I started, I was in need of income.  

First, I had to complete orientation in Sellersburg, IN which I did.  Vibes during the training were mostly good although on the first day, Ken Campbell looked at me and said regarding me getting a look at my truck, "we'll see if you still want to work here by the end of the week".  Following that, Ken Campbell taught the Orientation classes and the training was good. Accommodations were good with a nice Continental breakfast and the company provided Lunch which was adequate.  

Ken and Gordon West (Operations Manager) were pleasant people to talk to, although Gordon who is also the Co-Owner with the Owner of NDL of a Sister Company which is the Broker for NDL (Avco, I think), made a comment that "the worst place you can be in this company is between Gordon and his money".  Then on the last day of training, I asked the question about the company's CSA Score.  Oops!  Ken Campbell said they were in compliance in every category except 'MAINTENANCE'!  

Before I had accepted employment while sitting at home in Texas, the Recruiter, Ken Campbell told me they were planning to issue me a Classic truck, year 2000.  I told him that while I did not require a new truck, I would not drive a "rust bucket of a truck that was unsafe or that would be a DOT violation magnet", nor would I drive a truck that seems to be an obvious maintenance nightmare, because I needed to be rolling in order to earn money.  

Ken assured me that "our trucks are WELL maintained."  This was the first lie.  While I was in training, my assigned truck was supposedly in the maintenance shop, getting prepared for me to accept it.  At the end of the week, the truck was ready, supposedly, so I did a thorough Pre-Trip and found so many things wrong with it that I just knew the company was not going to want to fix it.  If I were a DOT official or a State Trooper, just a look at that rusty old, poorly maintained truck would clue me in to run an inspection which undoubtedly would have resulted in so many fines to me that I might have burned up 100 points in one inspection!  

I thought about the maintenance situation all weekend and it seemed to me that it would be a problem that would continually cost me money, even though the company was required to pay for maintenance.  Also, one of the other drivers, this one a veteran driver of over 20 years, told me he had never worked for a company with such a stingy advance policy.  The company will advance each driver $75 per week to pay for tolls, etc.  If the driver uses more than 50% of the money to pay for personal items such as meals, when the company subtracts the personally used portions of the advance from the employee's paycheck, they charge an additional 30%.  

(Another driver who was also from Texas said the company had promised the driver the same route they promised me, then did a switcheroo once the driver showed up for training.  That speaks to the company's honesty, integrity and reliability as an employer.  That was not a lie they told me but it was a lie told to that driver.  I will call that the third lie, but not a lie told to me, just another driver I met in Sellersburg, IN. However, that conversation was very revealing to me about the company, in light of everything else that occurred.)

Anyway, as a term of employment, I signed a contract that says in order to get paid $150 Orientation Pay, each new hire has to complete Orientation which I did and complete atleast 1 Dispatch, which I did (1 completed, the other I drove and was dropped off near home, enroute).  On the Monday following Orientation, I was dispatched in a truck with a company Trainer named 'Don'.  He signed the dispatches but I was in the truck as an employee and for 2 loads and therefore, 2 dispatches, I was an employee.  Also, I drove over 500 miles while delivering the 2nd load.  However due to a family situation, before leaving Sellersburg, I had told both Ken Campbell and Gordon West that I needed to get home.  Instead of flying me home or sending me home on the bus, Gordon West said he would keep me on as an employee and send me to Laredo with a load and I would be dropped off near my home, on the way.  In the interim, my Trainer/Team Driver 'Don' and I were dispatched to drive to Kentucky to pick up a load which we did.  Don drove but I was in the Sleeper Berth and Off Duty.  We then brought the load back to Sellersburg, IN and switched that trailer with a load bound for Laredo.  When Don ran out of hours, I went on Duty, performed a Pre-Trip and drove for 11 hours, taking a .5 hour break and conducting an Intra-Trip Inspection, then a Post Trip Inspection when I switched out with Don who had spent 10 hours in the Sleeper Berth.  

The second lie to me was about Orientation Pay.  Before leaving Sellersburg, I told both Ken Campbell and Gordon West that I would like to get paid the Orientation Pay and for any miles that I drove.  They looked at each other and didn't say anything at the time.  I told them I was not happy about the rust bucket truck they tried to give me but knew we could work that issue out if they either fixed the truck or gave me a newer, better maintained one to drive.  I also stated I did not know whether I would be able to continue working for NDL as a result of my family issue as well as the maintenance issue but said I would deal with it, later.  

The following week, I called Ken Campbell and told him I would not be able to continue working for NDL and needed to find a job in my hometown that would enable me to be home, every night.  I told him I had not received my Orientation Pay and that I had driven over 500 miles on the trip to Laredo, TX.  Ken Campbell told me I had not completed the Orientation Pay requirement because I had not been dispatched.  I told him he would have a hard time proving I was not dispatched when i drove over 500 miles in a company truck and logged my miles electronically.  I told him if NDL does not pay me, I will report them to the Labor Board and while I did not want to say anything negative about the company, I would not allow them to get away with cheating me, either.  He said he would talk to Gordon West about it and threatened to call the Labor Board on me, as well!  Well, that was a dumb move.  Not a very reputable way for a businessman and especially one purporting to be a Christian, to deal with an issue regarding wages earned.  

A week after that conversation and almost 2 weeks after I should have been paid, I still have not been paid.  Today, I called and got transferred to the HR person's voicemail.  I was told she was out for the day.  So I guess I will wait until Monday.  But I already spoke to the Labor Board in Texas.  I was told it is Federal and State Law in TX and each State that employees have to be paid for wages earned.  I hope NDL leadership will decide to do the right thing and pay me.  I earned the money and I need it.  It is wrong as well as illegal for the company to withhold my pay.  I also hope they will stop their dishonest and stingy business practices.  It really is not necessary.  It simply underlines that NDL leadership is greedy as well as dishonest and not at all a place where truck drivers should work, unless they have no other choice.

I do suspect this company may try to retaliate, perhaps by giving me a bad reference to future employers.  But my hope is that they will realize they are wrong, will improve, will pay me and will give me credit for the good I did do while with the company.  Even Ken Campbell said my Orientation class was the best class he had taught (the most knowledgeable, engaged and responsive as well as the lowest combined CSA risk scores).  So I must not have been a bad employee.  Also, I did drive over 500 miles while under dispatch, without incident.