WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has named representatives from the trucking industry to assess the prevalence of predatory leasing agreements by carriers against owner-operators and follow up with recommendations to Congress.
FMCSA’s Truck Leasing Task Force, authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021, will address areas “that have long needed intense focus,” according to the agency. It will include providing best practices to help drivers weigh the potential costs of entering leasing agreements.
The panel will also recommend changes to laws to promote fair leasing arrangements.
“At a time when our country needs truck drivers more than ever, we must do everything we can to support the men and women who work in this vital industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The Truck Leasing Task Force is taking a hard look at leasing agreements as part of our effort to ensure every truck driver in this country has good working conditions and can make a good living.”
FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson said leasing “can have a major impact on people choosing trucking as their career, and protecting drivers is of the utmost importance.”
The nine members of the task force are:
- Tamara Brock, Brock Logistics/Lewis & Lewis Logistics (independent owner-operator).
- Paul Cullen, The Cullen Law Firm (attorney).
- Troy Hawkins, TTOH Consulting & Logistics (independent owner-operator).
- Jim Jefferson, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (consumer protection).
- Joshua Krause, OTR Leasing (business).
- Kaitlyn Long, Teamsters union (labor).
- Steve Rush, Carbon Express Inc. (carrier).
- Lesley Tse (attorney).
- Steve Viscelli, University of Pennsylvania (educator).
According to the IIJA, the task force will examine:
- Common truck leasing arrangements available to truck drivers, including lease-purchase agreements, and the terms of those agreements.
- The existence of inequitable leasing agreements and terms in the trucking industry, whether any inequitable terms and agreements affect the frequency of maintenance performed on trucks subject to those agreements, and whether those terms and agreements affect whether a truck is kept in good repair.
- Specific agreements available to drayage drivers at ports relating to the Clean Truck Program or similar programs aimed at reducing emissions at ports.
- The impact of truck leasing agreements on driver compensation, including port drayage drivers.
- Whether truck leasing agreements properly incentivize safe operations, including driver compliance with hours-of-service regulations.
- Resources to assist drivers in assessing the financial impacts of leasing agreements.
- Opportunities by which drivers can use equitable leasing agreements to start or expand trucking companies.
FMCSA noted that truck leasing “is an important step that many owner-operators in the trucking industry take to get started in the business,” but agreements with inequitable terms can discourage drivers from working in the industry.
Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, recommends against it for those trying to get started.
“Don’t lease-purchase,” Pugh urged in his keynote address at FreightWaves’ Small Fleet & Owner-Operator summit last week.
“There are exceptions to every rule — some lease-purchases are fair and pretty good, but the vast majority of those fail. [New owner-operators] buy a truck and then they don’t make enough money to cover the cost.”
John silveira
Lease purchase, are the driver legal rip-off carriers can get way with, leasees are company drive who pays for everything on the job, and after 2 or 3 years give a paid truck to the carriers so they can lease again and masque taxes.. it is a rip-off. Unfortunately many if not most do it, and inexperienced drivers don’t see trucking as business, where everything in the road is doubled or triple of the price, Prime did became a mega carrier doing this thievery …we drivers are working 70 plus hours a week, sleep guarding the truck and load. That’s working also. And not get paid for none of it, it’s no shortage of drivers, it’s shortage of honest carriers, one example, in Connecticut a big tire company Town Fair Tire. Posted on indeed a add for a truck driver. Class A, 19,00 a hour, this people should be prosecuted, for exploitation, as well all those leasing companies, owning a truck is bad enough with all the overpriced expenses, shippers and companies continue to exploit and enslave drivers, troopers and city ordinances are continuing treating and prejudice against drivers.. goverment doesn’t care for drivers pay, health or safety, small vehicles drivers rage against trucker are worsen by the minute, media on call against truckers… and yes.. we bring everything to everyone. Ridiculous
Chris Peacock
Ive been the trucking industry for going on 31 yrs. Sense the government has let trucking companies do this lease purchase program they figured out how to take a cut off the top of every load and then tell drivers what the load pay and deduct from the lower amount. For instance the load pays $6,000.00. Companies take $2,000.00 to 2500.00 and that leave $3,000.00 3500.00 or 4,000.00 and then u get 65 to 70 percent of that. Its bad enough that people are coming out of these truck driving schools and company schools and they cant drive down the road and keep the truck in their lane but we have people from foreign countries coming over here and they cant read or speak English and dont care about anyone or anything thats going on around them. And last but least, these companies allowing these drivers to have the restricted license for only AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION on their drivers license is stupid. What are they gonna do if they are in an emergency situation to where they have to drive a standard and they dont no what to do? They are gonna kill innocent people.
Jose Rivera
Truck companies use this program to pay for their trucks not to give the driver an opportunity to own a truck or start a an independent trucker even if stayed in the company. After pay the truck for a couples of years they start dropping down in miles and force the drivers to leave the program and lease the truck to a new driver until paid off the truck.
Lawrence Scism
Leasing a new truck using the companies you signed on with using there authority takes about 2/3 rds of your earnings off the top each month to pay the lease and should be no more than 25 % of your total earnings for the month or less.
No driver can bring home a paycheck that can pay his or her expenses at there home base and there needs while away from home when companies are milking most of a drivers earnings just because they can. And I disagree with these companies that do that to us drivers.
Timothy Alford
Steve Rush is the last person you want on this panel. Don’t let his facade fool you.
Jerry
Leasing from a carrier is a bad idea. There was a company, I wont name, who did lease purchase and after the truck got a certain amount paid off would slow the drivers freight until they lost the truck and then lease it again. some trucks had been leased 3 or 4 times. Dont do a fuel card with a carrier either. Keep everybodys hands out of your wallet.