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Waiting on a load - How long can they hold us?

by Matthew
(Jessup MD )

My wife and I took a load from Michigan to Washington DC. After arriving on time. We found out our load was cancelled. We sit in a no parking zone for 2 hours with no where to go.

I am a company Driver and the company could give me no answers. After a whole of phone calls we was able to track down the buyer and he let us deliver it to his warehouse and he would hold it there.

Needless to say We had a few words with the company I work for. Then they sent me a load of over 730 miles and no way I could deliver on time. (Legal or not) So I sent them the facts, mile and driving time and told them I could not complete this on time.

I have worked for this company for over 6 month and never have I been late with any load. I have ten years trucking and know what I doing. The company told me that was the only load they had and I have to wait. That was three days ago. I told them I would drive the truck home and they said they keep my paycheck.

I come to the east coast every week and they have lots of freight here. We now are in a stand off.

Does anyone know how long they can hold me without paying me. I never ran into this situation before. Any Idea on what I could do would be helpful.

Ps My wife decided to ride with me this week. She is a diabetic and has enough insulin for the end of the week. I only planed for a weeks run because that's all I ever do.

HELP!!!

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Feb 07, 2008
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Re: Help
by: TheCrazyTrucker

Hi Matthew,

Wish I had a majic wand for you buddy. That sounds like a real sad excuse for a dispatcher you have there. Were you trying to go back to Michigan or just any load with reasonable time.

An employer can't hold your check unless you owe the company more than the amount of the check as far as I know. (there probably are ways that the company can say you owe them for varies expenses that would eat up a lot of the check like uniforms, time, use of equipment) So if you were talking about driving the truck empty back then they probably could deduct at least the fuel amount.

Sounds like a discussion for the state department of labor and FMCSA. Should get your company moving.

I guess your wife's medicine would be the biggest immediate problem. Luckily Jessup is not in the woods somewhere, maybe there is a CVS nearby where she can get an emergency refill or something if she gets her Dr. to call.

But for he more permanent issues that you definitely don't want to be a common thing. . .

You should have a talk with your dispatcher's superior and let him know what to expect from you and what you expect from your dispatcher.

Let them know that you intend to do all you can to be part of a team as long as you can do it legally but you expect not to be punished for wanting to perform your job legally.

Be stern, but tactful. Not yelling or disrespectful. If you don't like his reaction to that meeting and you can't switch your dispatcher I wouldn't stay at that type of company.

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