Complaint Review: Freight Collect Inc. - Shelby North Carolina

Freight Collect started factoring Freight Hawk Trucking Companies invoices in February of 2015.  Factoring is the process of purchasing a companies receivables.  In trucking a factor checks the credit of the broker/shipper, verifies the load was picked up (by the carrier sending in a bill of lading), verifies the load was delivered and what advances/deductions were taken.  Then the factor immediately funds the carrier less their discount rate or fee.  If the factor performs their due diligence of verifying the transaction, their risk of loss is minimal.

The relationship between Freight Collect and Freight Hawk  was great at first, but we never received any statement of loads factored, only the schedule that we faxed in and the bank wire in response with no explanation.  That worked out, but many times we had discrepancies that started in the hundreds, and then went to thousands of dollars often times with no written documentation or explanation from Freight Collect.

During the beginning of May 2015 a former employee of Freight Hawk Trucking abandoned a truck in Portland, OR.  Dwayne Porter stated that he had a team in California who would dead head up to Portland and retrieve the truck.  Dwayne Porter told me that the longer the equipment sat out there, the higher the chance was that it would be towed and impounded.  I was convinced that I needed to get my truck as soon as possible, that I did not need to wait until next week when my other team could get there to retrieve the truck.  Furthermore, Dwayne Porter told me that his driver would haul a load back, we could factor that load, and that would cover any normal expense of transporting the truck back to North Carolina.  I met with Dwayne in the parking lot of the Waco post office to sign an agreement giving him permission to have the truck transported back to NC.  No price was agreed upon, because I was led to believe that the compensation from the load would pay for a vast majority of the cost.  I was told that I was agreeing to pay for "all cost" incase the unexpected happened, tires etc...

Around May 15, 2015 Dwayne's driver arrived at Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland OR.  I had spoken to Jubitz security when the truck was abandonded, and my former employee had left the keys at the fuel desk.  At first Jubitz security would not let Freight Collect's driver take the truck.  I got a call from Dwayne Porter about 2am, Dwayne told me if I didn't let the driver have the truck, It was going to cost me big time!!!  I let the driver take possession of the truck.

Immediately the driver disappeared.  After attempting to call Dwayne, I called Jubitz fuel desk to see if they had a number from NC on caller ID.  They did, and I utilized White Pages.com to learn that the number was associated with Sierra Dawn Trucking of Pulear, NC.  Cathy Harrold was the driver of the truck, she also factors with Freight Collect.  The load that I had prebooked from TQL was never picked up, as Dwayne promised.

That same day  May 15, 2015 my life would begin to change.  Around 4pm that day, I got a harsh phone call from Dwayne telling me to come to his office.  Upon getting to Dwayne’s office alone, Joe Hurd Dwayne’s partner came in and we both sat in front of Dwayne's desk.  Dwayne told me  " This is not going to be a good conversation"  Dwayne proceeded to tell me that he was turning my funding off immediately!  He said that it was because I owed him money and I had taken advances from the broker that he did not know about while using his fuel card.  Had I known anything about owing him money, I would not have let Cathy Harrold take possession of my truck!   Dwayne had every chance to verify the invoices as they were being delivered, funny how he waited to bring this situation to light AFTER he took possession of the truck, under the false pretense that he was helping me out.

When you sign a factoring agreement, the factor places a UCC-1 on file with the state.  This UCC-1 not only allows the factor to collect money from your customers on your behalf, it prevents you from collecting money from customers even if you do not wish to utilize the factoring company.  Your customer is sent a Notice of Assignment.  The notice of assignment lets them know they can not pay anyone but the factor for your services.  Not even you.  The only way this can be released is through a release letter, and this has to come from your factoring company.

With Dwayne refusing to fund me, and refusing to release my UCC-1, claiming that I now owed him thousands of dollars, had possession of my truck.  Don't you love the timing???  This placed me under extreme financial duress as I was unable to pay my drivers, make my truck payments or anything else.  When I tried to switch to another factoring company, Dwayne told them that I had a high negative equity, and there fore, they declined to buyout my account. This is how he prevented me from getting alternative financing.  Unable to collect money from my customers, I was unable to pay drivers so they started to leave.

After much begging and pleading for mercy Dwayne decided to "help" me again, on May 28, 2015 Dwayne called me into his office and let me know that Paul, his investor, would allow him to release my UCC-1 and the truck if I would sign an "Acknowledgement of Debit"  All my bills behind, drivers threatening to kill me along with the threat of loosing everything, I was willing to do anything.  Over the past two weeks I had wondered what I was going to do and where I was going to turn, being that I have Crebrial Palsy and bilateral hearing loss makes it difficult if not impossible to get gainful employment.  Dwayne's  "Acknowledgement of Debit"  seemed to be the only way out.  I signed the debit acknowledgement and Joe Hurd, Dwayne’s partner notarized it.  If they would have just held a gun to my head and killed me, it would have been easier than this.

 On June 1, 2015 Dwayne assisted OTR Capital in buying out the accounts of Freight Hawk.  By the time this process was completed, my drivers were gone and trucks were in repo.  I had not been able to pay my trailer lease payments either, so that relationship was also tarnished.  One truck had already been repossesed, another truck was on its way back to the finance company and Dwayne Porter and Freight Collect Inc, a factoring company who had some how taken it upon themselves to become repo agents, drive away agents, mechanics, and towing/ storage facilitators still had possession of my truck and trailer, that was costing me nearly $800 a week in payments and insurance cost.  Dwayne never told me where my truck was stored, and when he finally applied to the liscensce and theft breau of NC for a possessory storage lien, the only information given was his P.O. Box 102 in Shelby NC.  I exercized my right to dispute the charges with the breau, but a hearing was never arranged as this is the responsibility of Freight Collect.

Searching the countryside for a month, I located the truck at  Shelby Towing  512 N. Post Road, Shelby NC.  I called the Shelby PD so they could document the location of the truck.  I was told by Mike Chapman of the Shelby PD that the truck had been repossessed for the bank!!!  This was NOT true, it was just Dwayne's testimony to the Shelby PD.   A few days later, when I went to the Shelby PD to retreve a copy of the report, an officer came out and met with me.  Upon learning what the situation was about, and that it involved a former member of law enforcement Mr. Dwayne Porter, I was escorted to the back room where I sat at a table.  Even though no longer a officer, Dwayne was immediately called to the station and I was told that it was a civil issue, the Shelby PD would not be involved since Dwayne had an agreement on paper it was civil.  It is civil alright, civil process used to cover up a crime!!!!    Since that time I have been to Shelby Towing again with the authorized commercial asset recovery agent for the owners of the truck.  Upon arriving at Shelby Towing with the Repo man and a pending claim and delivery order, we were notified by Johnathan Wilson Sarratt the self proclaimed owner of Shelby towing, that the truck had already been repossessed.  Johnathan Wilson Sarratt went on to say that we could not repossess a truck that had been repossessed and that we could not repossess something that did not belong to us... and he called not only the Shelby PD but Dwayne Porter himself!!!  Moments later, the Shelby PD Joe and Dwayne come walking through the door, they let the Repo man and I know that the truck was not leaving!

It is now November, and now Freight Collect is suing Freight Hawk, me personally, the truck sales lot, their financial backers and the real owners of the truck.  Freight Collect has filed two claims in small claims court.  One for $9,200xx and another for $9,515.  While both of these actions are for storage, one is on the truck and one is on the trailer.  I am being sued as a corporation because Freight Collect knows under North Carolina law a corporation must be represented by an attorney because they are separate entities and hence can not represent themselves.  The hope is that I can not afford a lawyer, so their storage lien is pushed through by default.  

I will continue to update this report as things progress.  My personal advice to you when dealing with factoring companies, is to stay away from folks who get involved with taking possession of your equipment and just factor your bills.  Thats a good start at least........   Don't always trust that because a factor is a member of the International Factoring Association that they are good to work with.  The IFA is not a regulatory agency, only a group of members who pledge to follow a code of ethics. 

Filiing fees and Freight Collect not banking on me fighting this :$50 ?

Factoring company morphing into a repo company, tow company, mechanic, and storage lot: $5000 ?

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