lease-purchase programs

FMCSA names panel targeting predatory lease-purchase agreements

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...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-names-panel-targeting-predatory-lease-purchase-agreements

FMCSA moves against predatory truck leasing

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting applications for a new task force that will look into truck leasing agreements and whether predatory arrangements affect driver safety.

The task force, created as part of the federal infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in November, was highlighted earlier this week by the White House as part of progress made on the administration’s Trucking Action Plan.

The panel will include a maximum of 10 members representing commercial...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-moves-against-predatory-truck-leasing

Truckers: Shuttered Central Freight Lines still owes them escrow, maintenance funds

Owner-operators and independent contractors say Central Freight Lines still hasn’t refunded thousands of dollars in escrow or maintenance account funds that were withheld from their paychecks and that they are still owed quarterly safety bonuses. 

Moreover, they say, no one at CFL has been returning their calls since the LTL carrier shuttered operations in mid-December.

A source familiar with the company told FreightWaves that up to 100 owner-operators and independent contractors have not...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-shuttered-central-freight-lines-still-owes-them-escrow-maintenance-funds