Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/710421
T I C K E T S NO MEMBERSHIP FEES NO MONTHLY DUES MOVING AND NON-MOVING 844-784-6384 INTERSTATE TRUCKER LTD. © www.interstatetrucker.com Follow us on LEGAL LANE 12 // COMPANY DRIVER // AUGUST 2016 ers. Well, I know of a couple instances now wherein they have deemed a driver an "im- minent hazard" to public safety and have banned them from driving commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. This author- ity is spelled out in 383.52 and it allows them to disqualify a driver for up to 1 year. Drivers leaving the industry – During the recession many drivers found themselves without a job and carriers weren't hiring. As a result, many people left the industry and haven't - and probably won't - come back. Another group is the Owner Operators; they got absolutely decimated in the recession as companies let them go fi rst in an effort to load their company trucks. So they couldn't fi nd loads or companies to lease on and they went out of business. That situation has been followed by tight credit even for those with good credit. The Internal Revenue Service as well as state governments are currently try- ing to fi nd taxable income by declaring owner operators are in fact employees of the carrier. The end result is that there are very few owner operators left in the industry. Companies with lease purchase programs have been doing well fi nding drivers that would like to lease a truck to get their leg up as an owner operator. I recommend they spend some time educating their lessee's on cost of operation and how to run a business. Unemployment – In 2009 and up until March of 2010 many drivers had to be on un- employment because companies weren't hir- ing. However, there were quite a few that de- cided to stay on unemployment as long as the benefi ts were available and our government kept extending them so we've ended up with drivers with a lot of unemployment in the last three years. Many companies have policies related to how many months of not driving they'll allow in a 3-year period. Medical Concerns – Weight, Diabetes,