Complaint Review: May Trucking Company - Salem Oregon

May Trucking Company, headquartered in Salem (Brooks) Oregon is a trucking company that no one should ever think of trusting, whether as a company driver, lease driver (especially) or as a customer.

I started at May Trucking Company as a company driver. After a couple of weeks I became a driver trainer for the company. I trained 2 drivers who stayed with the company after 1-2 weeks of over the road training with me. That part was fine, as a trainer I got decent miles and was kept rolling.

The problems came when I signed up for their much enticed and pushed "owner operator" program, which is known as a Lease/Purchase program by my most drivers. For one, you are NOT an owner operator by the very words. A true owner operator can turn down loads, reschedule loads and drop loads in a May yard (secure) if the load creates too much of a problem with the "owner operator." However, at May Trucking Company, you are NOT allowed to do these things...wait a minute...you are! Yes, in the very CONTRACT that May Trucking Company has you sign, which is very one-sided on May's part and favor (unconscionable) there are FEES that you are charged as an owner operator when a load is delivered late or picked up late. I had some late deliveries due to several factors, IE: 2nd part of load couldn't be picked up til the next day (shipper closed), breakdowns (had tons), family issues (hey, things happen), slow unloading ability of receiver (unions), and various other reasons. In the CONTRACT, May Trucking Company can charge me $100.00 per late load or pick. THAT is what they can do.

However, May Trucking Company chose to CANCEL my CONTRACT, thereby BREACHING it, instead of charging me the late load fees. Wait a minute...they did that too! I had paid over $15,000 of HARD EARNED money, away from family for long extended periods of time (up to 7 weeks) and had the goal of owning my own truck so I could better my family's life. I'm out the $15,000 plus all costs that went with it. They charge you whether you are running or not, even when they have NO FREIGHT in the area (you can sit for days). This goes for company drivers too, you WILL sit.

As the CONTRACT states very clearly, May Trucking Company is the SOLE OWNER of the truck until it is paid in full by the contractor. However, the wording in the CONTRACT says this is a RENTAL. As a RENTAL, I'm responsible for paying for all the fuel (as most rentals are, right?), but mechanical REPAIRS are supposed to be paid for by May Trucking Company, not me. THEY CHARGE THE CONTRACTOR for ALL repairs during the RENTAL. This is illegal!!! They also charge numerous "admin" fees that add up quickly. With all of the contractors they have, that's several hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars that they skim (rip off) from the contractor. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that such ADMIN fees, flatly based as they are, are illegal under the federal Truth in Leasing regulations. They charge $195 per month for "admin fees" (illegal), they charge $5 or $20 per fueling for "admin" fees, they take a portion of the FUEL SURCHARGE and keep it. They say it's because they pay contractors EMPTY miles. With all they do to keep the "deadhead" (empty) miles down (even sitting you for days), they make money on it. They should pass 100% of the fuel surcharge through to the contractor (like most good companies do), and keep the deadhead down like they are anyway. Why should they be allowed to make all this extra money?

These are just SOME of the issues with May Trucking Company Inc. If you're thinking of driving for them, I'd really consider your other options. If you're thinking of leasing a truck through them...I'd run. They'll tell you what you want to hear, they'll demand in their contract that all disputes are to be "mediated" or "arbitrated", but that's illegal anyways. Even in my case, they didn't mediate first, they took my truck away that I had paid $15,000 into. All in all, they caused soooo much hardship for family, almost caused a divorce and made life hell. Are you a shipper thinking of contracting with May Trucking Company? There are many other options for companies that take care of and treat their drivers better. Why associate yourself with such a company like this?

May Trucking Company has several customers, however, two of their customers, which they are concerned about losing, are Americold (Kraft) and Armstrong. They will lie, steal, cheat, fire, yell at the driver for, ruin a driver and anything else to keep. If there are "legal" reasons IE: not enough hours for a SOLO driver to complete a load on time, they will put the blame on the driver, reschedule the load (shippers, are you listening? -They'll say whatever to get the business from you, but will probably have delivery issues. Myself, I'm going to sue not only May Trucking Company for these issues, but also their two customers, Americold (Kraft) and Armstrong.

In a nut shell, there are several companies to work for or with, working with May Trucking Company, which has no integrity when it comes to their drivers, is NOT a good choice to make in my opinion. I've worked for several companies over the years, and can honestly say that they are the worst so far. Hopefully it doen't get any worse.