I sub hauled ethanol for Van G Trucking out of Fowler CA since late Dec and have not been paid for 75 loads from July 18th to August 5th. I was given 48 hr notice on 8/9 and was told via email by Brandon Moran the dispatcher to have their trailer in yard by 8/11 or it would be reported stolen and that I would be paid upon review of trailer inspection report by owner Roger Van Groningen.
I was not paid and Van G has not responded to any of my emails or phone calls in many weeks regarding non payment. Van G was supposed to pay within 15 days of receiving paper work on loads according to Federal law 376.12 I have come to find per a compliance person for OOIDA the major advocate for owner operators.
After I was given 48 hour notice on August 9th and told to return Van G trailer for inspection and that i would be paid upon review of inspection report which I had done on Aug 11th I had to email copy to Van G on Aug 12th because after calling to verify they received it, I was told the fax from their Lathrop yard where inspection was done did not get to them. Van G was paid by Pacific Ethanol for the loads done by DHF Express and I have paid approximately $7500 to complete the loads for fuel and my drivers wages.
When I began hauling ethanol in 1st week of Jan I asked Brandon Moran my dispatcher how many loads behind would I be on pay being it was not specified in sub hauler agreement as it was supposed to be I found out recently according to Federal law 376.12. I was told i would be one week behind. The 1st check I received was one week behind as I was told but soon grew to 2 then 3 then 4 weeks behind at which point I was told one week a few months back I was not going to be paid at all for the week due to missing paper work. After I confronted the owner of Van G and told him I was not missing any paper work and him hanging up phone on me I called back and he connected a 3 way call with myself and owner and Brandon Moran, who also tried to tell me paper work was missing and I told him that wasnt so and was hung up on again. When I called back a 3rd time they had the payroll person Letty Cantu tell me the computer somehow did not print out check and a check was fed ex'd to me upon my request. At that point I appologized to owner for my temper and he proceeded to tell me that he built his company upon christian principals and at that moment a red flag went up as he had just tried to stiff me on grounds of missing paper work which is not legal either except for only actual loads paper work was not turned in for which in my case was not true for any loads and varied from Ms Cantu's final version as to why I didnt get a check that week.
I decided to count back how many loads I was owed for and to my surprise I was owed for 135 loads at that point despite having received weekly checks but appearantly not for all loads owed as some loads were omitted over time and checks sometimes came a few days late. It was eventually paid down to 75 loads owed but still not within the 15 day legal limit per law 376.12 so i filed a dispute resolution which went ignored till I emailed owners wife larinda Van Groningen in accounts payable and was contacted next day by Brandon Moran via email who gave an explanation taylored made to mesh with how many loads behind they were at that time but still not in compliance with federal law 376.12 and certainly not anywhere in sync with how i was paid previously 20 out of 23 weeks. Since then all my emails and phone calls have gone ignored regarding nonpayment for the 75 loads. Beware of ever sub hauling for Van G trucking... The company drivers all are paid a week behind but are protected by california employment laws so owner pays them on time while shorting the subhaulers over time and then firing them and not paying as is the scenario in my case.
I went into Pacific Ethanol months ago requesting payment records to Van G for my loads and was denied on grounds I was a 3rd party and would need them requested by an attorney and they still continue to use Van G despite their unethical business practice and did nothing on my behalf to try and resolve the issue.
There was another subhauler that bought 2 trucks on credit to haul ethanol for Van G and he lasted only about 4 months and was running out of gas due to lack of $ but not long afterwards the owner bought some newer trucks and hired a few more company drivers which cut into my loads. This owner thinks he can get away with not paying evidently but a complaint has been filed with BBB and will be reported to OOIDA, FMCSA and I also am considering having Channel 7 On Your Side Fresno CA News meet with me in front of Van G place of business to do a story on trucking companies who stiff their sub haulers. I really think after all this free publicity Van G will think long and hard before they try and short change another subhauler.
Sub haulers are not protected by CA employment laws but fall under the Federal law which leaves hiring an attorney one of the few options which I may persue unless Roger Van Groningen apologizes publicly on this forum after paying what is owed in full plus interest. He needs to be taught a lesson so he knows there will be consequences as all a court judgement would require of him is to pay what is owed plus interest and attorney fees but if he paid before actual court date then he could possibly wiggle out of attorney fees and it is all discreetly swept under carpet without other owner operators any wiser to Van G's self proclaimed yet twisted "christian principals"/ unethical / Federally non compliant payment practices.
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