Complaint Review: Majestic Transport

I just wanted to update this report. The people whom this report was originally filed on to this date, almost 5 years later still have not made any contact with me regarding the balance of what they owed, nor have they made any kind of payment.

Unclear whether or not they are even still in business. If they are, drivers beware!

Christina, you need to stop and think here. Look at the 1099 you sent to me. I made a whopping $2300 during the time I drove you in that 3 month period. So don't even try to deny the fact that your truck continuously broke down. You told me you could not do something because it would be lieing. Asking me to get on here and do something about the report I put on here. But see, if I did that, I would be lieing. Because it is all true. And I have it all on paper, in black and white to prove it.

As for what you say about mediation. In your B.S. contract it states "mediator will be selected by mutual agreement". You have someone reputable to use for your mediation. Or so you made it seem when you had an "attorney" who may have just been another sloppy fleet owner acting as your attorney. Call me and tell me that if I called anymore regarding my pay , etc. that you would file a suit against me for harassment.

The miles I deadheaded from ElPaso to Houston were not miles I took upon myself to take. You told me to go ahead and go home so I wouldnt be spending 5 days at a truck stop waiting on Panther who would not get any loads out of ElPaso and had no backhauls at the time to get me a load for up to a week and a half. You simply told me then that you would not be able to pay me for those deadhead miles due to Panther not authorizing an empty move.

I was never paid for any deadhead miles that Panther did not pay. And if you would like me to I can send you a copy of the contract you gave me. It says no where in that little contract that Panther has to pay deadhead or empty miles at all for me to be paid for them. It simply said I would be paid a percentage of the mileage pay, at $1.30 a mile.

When I talked to you, you sounded upset. Because you had heard from several people about this report. Why would you be upset and worrying about it if none of it was true? As I told you before, and obviously I was correct. I was never an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. I was driving YOUR truck for crying out loud. And I do not recall you telling me I did not know how to drive a truck. Matter of fact you and Dale were trying hard, trying everything you could to keep me driving for you.

It was $1200 worth of damage to the roof of the box on your truck. Excuse me for trying to unload the freight myself and get one with that load so I could get my next one quicker to make more money faster. I lost my home and many other things because I was not making squat. $2300 is not very much for 3 months worth of work. At that rate, I woulda made a total of $9200 in 1 year. You call that good money? Sure I believe the cost for repairing the roof went up after you had me put about 30-45 pounds of steel on a TRANSLUCENT roof which bounces in the wind on it to try sealing up the cracks and the hole. I know it cracked all the way to the rear from the front of the box after the fact. It was not that bad before you had me try to rig it up to get it by. Instead of putting it in a shop and fixing it right for whatever reasons you had at that time. Common sense would tell you metal would add weight to it, causing it to crack more. I only did what I was asked to do. You kept telling me to just do that.

And best as I remember you and Dale told me to play stupid after that happend when Panther called me. And try to pretend that I did not do that. Which I did tell them about, which is probably what kept them from firing me to begin with. I could not park on the street and block traffic. And this happend at night, not during the day. I hope you someday get a load to that same motel in Charlottesville Virginia so you can see how it is.

Your mechanic was not here in 24 hours to repair the truck. And you did not pay me for down time. You paid me $60 to drive almost 6 hours in your truck to take it back to your house.

I am not wrong for anything I have done. I would like to thank Steve for the information. It might just come helpful. As the only reason I dd not pursue matters further before is I could not find an attorney who would help me. Due to the fact the expenses for the attorney would be more than what I would have been awarded. But if I can do it on my own with the Department of Labor I just might do that. Anybody who could see my 1099 form and know that I only got $2300 for 3 months of working for you would now I was not making much money and not getting paid correctly.

I do not apolgize for this, nor will I ever. If anything, you should apologize to me. I hope more drivers see this and learn from it.

Another thing about this driver, he left the scence of an accident(which he did) causing damaged to the truck cost of which is close to $2000.00(which he got priced). We didn't fire him over this(which we could have),also Panther could have fire him for the same thing.

He also threaten to break into the truck and steal anything of value that we in the truck. He left over 30 messages on my voice mail threatening to beat us up and damage the truck.

The mediation requests that this driver wanted was at his convinced. We were never contacted by a mediator to set up this meeting, so we didn't go to a mediation. We didn't answer his phone calls because all he did was yell and scream at us over things.

Our bankruptcy is personal not business and had nothing to do with our business. We paid the drivers before we did anything else with our income. If the truck was breaking down every single weeks then he wouldn't have made any money at all.

As for all the money this driver thinks we owe him is not true, if anything he owes us for the damage to the truck that he did.

Christina, I'll take your response apart line by line as it is ridiculous. I have been a truck driver for a very long time and can see BS a mile away. You are all the same, and these scams get pulled on drivers all the time.

Brandon, here's how you get paid, and shut this scam down. Read the end of this rebuttal for info.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Rebuttal REBUTTAL Owner of company
Submitted: 2/17/2007 5:29:40 PM Modified: 2/17/2007 9:09:04 PM
"President"

You wrote>>
"First off let me say that this report is from someone that doesn't know how to drive a truck".
**If this person does not know how to drive a truck, WHY was he driving yours?**

"We started this company in March of 2004, and have been doing business since then. We have our business Incorportated in the state of Nevada". **Who cares**Totally irrelevant to the matter at hand**

"If you are not a big company or have a web page then you most likely find them on the internet".
**Find whom?**

"I don't know where this driver came up with the deadhead miles that he thinks**[are]** is owed to him, but when he moves location on his **[own]** owe then I don't see why I have to pay for that. And most detailing shops dealing with trucking charge more than $110, to clean, the cost is more likely in the $250, range. And there was trash in the truck when he got out of it."

"As for the reimbursements that he's claiming that we owe him that's false.We paid all receipts that we received from him. And most of the time we paid for items from a comceck from my fuel card. As for our mechanic, we don't owe him anything. All work has been paid for mostly before he did the work."

"We paid for all parts with a comcheck or regular check or on account or cash. Our mechanic didn't say anything to this driver about our business with him or anyone else. So where he got his information is I don't know".

"As for the bankrucpty, we have always paid the drivers before we got paid for anything. This has nothing to do this driver. And we did have someone at house house to fix the truck within 24 hours. We did give him some money for driving our truck back to us and most companies don't pay their drivers for down time(speically when it's at their own home)".
**Spelling and grammar are totally atrocious for an alleged "President" of a company**

"I can't be responsible for a driver's pay when they don't work. When all they do is complain about his job. The trucking industry doesn't pay an hourly wage and he signed the contract saying his an independent contractor".

****This is the biggie, and is always a problem as people like you get in business and do not know the law****

Brandon WAS NOT an independent contractor as you claimed, regardless of whatever independent contractor agreement he signed. It simply does not work that way.

**Brandon, you need to file a "Determination of Worker Status" form with the IRS, and then use that for the DOL complaint to get paid. You will also force them into BK because they will have to back date and pay Workman's Comp and Unemployment insurance, as well as match your SS, etc, along with fines and penalties for non-compliance. I have done this TWICE and won each time, and BOTH companies are now OUT OF BUSINESS!**

Christina, It is YOU who are the Independent Contractor of Panther, and Brandon is YOUR EMPLOYEE. I am thoroughly familiar with this operation and the very old scam being run on the driver here.

Christina, Here is the way it works. As soon as you direct someones activities, they are your employee. Period. As soon as you pay any expense in the performance of the work, that person is your employee. As soon as you provide any equipment to perform the work, that person is your employee. This information can all be obtained from both the IRS website and the USDOL website.

For Brandon to legally be an independent contractor, he would have had to make a "substantial investment" and be able to suffer a monetary loss other than wages/compensation for work performed, AND he would have had to have been able to perform the services to others at the same time or prior to working for you, with his OWN equipment. If he is driving your equipment, he CANNOT qualify as an independent contractor.

Christina - Belton, Texas
U.S.A.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

**Christina, Learn the law if you want to come on here all high and mighty. You just demonstrate how ignorant you are, as well as that you are perpetrating a scam on the drivers and the taxpayers.**

Here's an idea! get your own operating authority and run a LEGITIMATE trucking business! BTW..I have, that is why I know the law.

First off let me say that this report is from someone that doesn't know how to drive a truck.
We started this company in March of 2004, and have been doing business since then. We have our business Incorportated in the state of Nevada.

If you are not a big company or have a web page then you most likely find them on the internet.
I don't know where this driver came up with the deadhead miles that he thinks is owed to him, but when he moves location on his owe then I don't see why I have to pay for that. And most detailing shops dealing with trucking charge more than $110, to clean, the cost is more likely in the $250, range. And there was trash in the truck when he got out of it.

As for the reimbursements that he's claiming that we owe him that's false.We paid all receipts that we received from him. And most of the time we paid for items from a comceck from my fuel card. As for our mechanic, we don't owe him anything. All work has been paid for mostly before he did the work.

We paid for all parts with a comcheck or regular check or on account or cash. Our mechanic didn't say anything to this driver about our business with him or anyone else. So where he got his information is I don't know.

As for the bankrucpty, we have always paid the drivers before we got paid for anything. This has nothing to do this driver. And we did have someone at house house to fix the truck within 24 hours. We did give him some money for driving our truck back to us and most companies don't pay their drivers for down time(speically when it's at their own home).

I can't be responsible for a driver's pay when they don't work. When all they do is complain about his job. The trucking industry doesn't pay an hourly wage and he signed the contract saying his an independent contractor.

Okay, I added up everything they owe me, per the wording and provisions of their contract. Total comes to $912.98 BEFORE adding the fact that they breached their contract, in two seperate provisions.

The fact that the contract titling me as an independent contractor, when I did not pay for the truck, did not own the truck, nor did I pay the cost of operating the truck. I was paid TO OPERATE the truck. Which from what I have been advised, basically made me an employee of their company. As a "company driver".

They claim in their contract the governing law over the contract and its enforcability is the State of Nevada. However, their office is located in Belton Texas, and they do not have an office in Nevada. I have searched search engines looking for Majestic Transport and cannot find anything. There are also no telephone numbers for Majestic Transport. And I was unable to locate any possible "D.B.A" name of Majestic Transport.

They did not even so much as respond to mediation requests, via text messages and emails requesting meditation. As it states in the contract mediation must be done, prior to any dispute, or unresolved matters being taken to court. They have left me no choice. They will not answer the phones.

Their daughter who does their payroll mailed a check. Which was sent back, because the post office could not even find the address they put on it. I spoke with her and she said she was mailing it back out Saturday (now today). Which is only for $280 as they think that they owe me nothing else.

These people lied to me to start with telling me that their business and revenue were great, promising me that I would be making excellent money. My highest check during May 15th to July 7th, was $568. Every check thereafter got smaller, and smaller.

They informed me on June 18th, that they filed bankruptcy. Refer to above comment, they told me nothing about bankruptcy before I began working for them. Then they had the nerve to get mad at me, when I told them I decided I was not going to work for someone filing bankruptcy, who also cannot pay to fix their trucks. Because their truck constantly broke down, every single week.

The text messages and emails I sent requesting mediation, they may have erased. But apparently either fail to realize, or just simply don't care that I have saved them all. I have also sent emails and text messages warning them that I intend on taking legal action to get what is rightfully owed to me.

Keep in mind that if it is found that their contract is unenforceable, that makes me a company driver. Which subjects them to wage and hour laws, of the Texas Labor Board under the U.S. Department of Labor. And according to them, your employer only has 6 calendar days to pay you (in lump sum) what they owe you. They claim they have up to 45 days before they have to pay me. What do you people say to this? The company he is leased to is none other than Panther II Transportation.