FREE Seminars: Wed., June 23, 2010 - Charlotteville, VA

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ONLINE!


Please RSVP to info@transportationlaw.net to attend in person Two FREE Seminars in Charlottesville, Virginia!

June 23, 2010
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY
8:00AM – 12:15PM
Seaton & Husk L.P., Kalbaugh, Pfund, & Messersmith P.C., Great West Casualty Co. and its Agency Partners Cordially invite you to attend this free seminar.

Topics: CSA 2010,The Employee Free Choice Act,Carmack, COGSA, & Contract Issues, Trends in Catastrophic Losses 

- Please click here to view the full agenda and invitation.

PROTECTING YOUR BOTTOM LINE: A Presentation of Important Issues and Solutions for Motor Carriers and Brokers In Today's Uncertain Transportation Climate 
12:30PM – 2:30PM

 Please join Seaton & Husk, LP for a free afternoon session. 

    - "Carrier's Rights as Creditors in Bankruptcy," by John T. Husk, Esq. 

    - "Avoiding the Dirty Dozen in Freight Contracts, " by Henry E. Seaton, Esq.

    - Please click here to view the invitation and description.

LOCATION

Holiday Inn Monticello
*1200 5TH Street Southwest  (Please note this revised street number)
Charlottesville, VA

(434) 977-5100 

RSVP to info@transportationlaw.net 

Click here to view and print both invitations.

CCPAC Newsletter: 2010 SPECIAL SPRING CONFERENCE EDITION

Please see the link below to view the CCPAC 2010 Special Spring Conference Edition newsletter which includes Henry E. Seaton, Esq.'s article "FMCSA Sends Elimination Of Cargo Filing Rule To President For Okay" on page 1.

ProClaim_Spring_2010.pdf

2010 SPECIAL SPRING CONFERENCE EDITION
ProClaim is the official newsletter of freight claim professionals worldwide.
An exclusive publication and all copy rights reserved by CCPAC.

Congress to Scrutinize Harbor Truck Leasing; DeFazio calls for investigation of alleged owner-operator scams by motor carriers

Please see below for news transmitted to us by Rick Gobbell, our transportation safety consultant.
John T. Husk, Esq.

HEADLINE: Congress to Scrutinize Harbor Truck Leasing; DeFazio calls for investigation of alleged owner-operator scams by motor carriers

Video: http://www.joc.com/trucking/congress-scrutinize-harbor-truck-leasing

Byline: William B. Cassidy

A key House Democrat called for an investigation into motor carrier leasing practices in the harbor trucking industry to root out alleged abuses of drayage owner-operators.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., called for an investigation after allegations that some drayage motor carriers were imposing leases on owner-operators that in effect rendered them employees or failing to pass on equipment subsidies to owner-operators.

“We’ve seen an explosion in scam lease purchase agreements,” Joe Rajkovacz, director of regulatory affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said at a hearing on the clean truck programs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Many drayage carriers “give lip service” to federal regulations requiring written contracts with owner-operators specifying compensation, insurance requirements and any charges the company may assess, he said. “It is sharecropping or involuntary servitude.”

“We need to look further into this, to look at whether these leases are sham leases or not,” said DeFazio, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, which held the May 5 hearing into the impact of the Los Angeles and Long Beach plans.

DeFazio questioned whether carriers that received subsidies from the Port of Los Angeles to buy clean trucks passed those subsidies on to owner-operators leasing the equipment.

“Is the owner-operator getting a discounted price for the clean truck?” he asked John Holmes, deputy executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “Have you required they discount the price if they are using owner-operators?”

“The short answer is no, sir,” Holmes said, explaining that the port provides truck subsidies only to carrier and “we would like to think” they pass it through to drivers.

“Like to think?” said DeFazio. “I hope you’re going to hang around for subsequent testimony because I think that’s a kind of Pollyannish view of the world here.”

He called for a joint investigation into truck leasing by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Complaining of “disturbing and contradictory testimony,” DeFazio said, “We may be using our subpoena power to better understand these leases if we can’t get cooperation.”

OOIDA’s Rajkovacz said what owner-operators need is better enforcement of existing federal regulations. “For them to be a vibrant part of the marketplace, federal regulations to protect them from unscrupulous practices by motor carriers need to be enforced.”

End.

Video from Henry Seaton and Big Truck TV: The Carmack Amendment vs Contract Law

A new video from Henry Seaton and Big Truck TV is now available. 

 The Carmack Amendment vs Contract Law (4:18)

Henry E. Seaton, Esq. / Big Truck TV
The Carmack Amendment was put in place to bring order to cargo claims. It stated that the carrier was liable to the goods, but the carrier also had the right to mitigate those losses as much as possible. But that was 100 years ago. Since then, many shippers have used contracts to undermine the spirit of the Carmack Amendment. Henry Seaton discusses what he calls the Reject it, Crush it, Dump it approach many shippers take and what carriers can - and should - do about it.

For more webinars and videos, please visit our site below:

http://transportationlaw.net/webinars.html

KRS Chapter 281 Motor Carrier Transportation Contracts

Please see below from the Law Offices of John L. Alden.

John T. Husk, Esq.
Seaton & Husk, LP

Please click on the link below for the new Kentucky law dealing with motor carriers and "Promisee."

KRS_Chapter_281_Motor_Carrier_Contracts.pdf