Driver Inc.: Dysfunction and Death On Our Highways

The Driver Inc. scam has been going on for decades. I first heard about it more than 2 decades ago. An owner-operator working for me told me about how a carrier (one still running up and down the highways today) was bringing over drivers from India and withholding pay for a minimum of 90 days to "pay for the costs to bring them here". The carrier also ignored such inconvenient things like hours of service regulations, training, and even driver licensing. They'd simply put a new driver, with no experience driving North American tractor-trailers on North American highways in North American weather, in a team operation with someone who got his license, learning the same way -last week. Since then this practice we have come to call Driver Inc. has become a common place amongst certain communities. And that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone - it makes the owners of these companies incredibly wealthy at society's cost. By the way, you and I are a part of that society, So we are paying the price. What is disgusting is that our governments and regulatory agencies, at all levels, have done absolutely nothing about it. And now, we are not only faced with an employment and tax issue but we have fleets of unlicensed, inexperienced drivers operating fully loaded tractor-trailers in the most demanding situations killing people every day. It's a daily news event. And still, nothing from the government.

Driver Inc continues to gain traction, sold to drivers, companies, and the government alike under the pretense of flexibility and independence. Far from being a product of the so-called "gig economy," Driver Inc. is nothing more than a sophisticated revival of the under-the-table tax scams of the past.

Money buys influence. Someone needs to follow the money and see who is being influenced.

Turning a Blind Eye: Government Complicity

Driver Inc. operates by misclassifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. This circumvents payroll taxes, deprives workers of benefits, and allows companies to dodge regulatory requirements. Proponents of the model claim it’s a product of the "gig economy," offering drivers greater flexibility and control over their work.

Bull.

Driver Inc. has hoodwinked the government into turning a blind eye to a system that deprives the public purse of millions in tax revenue.

Someone needs to follow the money and see who is being influenced.

The government’s leniency towards the Driver Inc. model is baffling. Despite numerous warnings and calls for action, including reports from various industry organizations, enforcement has been tepid at best. Politicians and policymakers are either ignorant of the depth of this issue or, more concerningly, willfully complicit. This is a systematic method of undermining labour laws and tax regulations.

Someone needs to follow the money and see who is being influenced.

Workers Caught in the Deception

Some drivers are misled into believing that the Driver Inc. model is to their benefit. The pitch is simple: work as an independent contractor, pay fewer taxes, and take home more pay. But this is a falsehood. These drivers are not afforded the protections of employees—no unemployment insurance, no workers’ compensation, no paid sick leave, and no pension. Worse yet, many drivers may not fully understand their tax obligations, potentially leading to serious financial and legal consequences down the road.

This exploitation is facilitated by the intellectually dishonest narrative that these drivers are "entrepreneurs" in control of their destinies., They are not. They are controlled by the very companies that claim to offer them freedom, forced into an arrangement that benefits no one but the employer. The rhetoric around the "freedom" of independent contracting serves only to distract from the fact that these workers are not free at all—they are bound by economic necessity to a system that fails to protect them.

Other drivers knowingly chose this path for purely selfish reasons - more money for them at society's cost.

Clients as Unwitting Accomplices

Corporations chasing the cheapest solution to logistics challenges contract companies practicing the Driver Inc. model based on price. Plausible deniability and the quest for a strong bottom line contribute to lax or absent investigations into the legitimacy of their carriers of choice. Don't ask, Don't tell. If asked, we hear the same false narrative of the gig economy’s virtues. Companies benefit from lower labour costs, and less regulatory scrutiny while ignoring the legal and ethical ramifications.

The result - our supply chain becomes dependent on a scheme that violates labour laws. If it continues much longer it will be irreversible as it will have reached a scale that is hard to undo without damaging corporations - ones with lots of money, who can buy lots of political influence.

Our politicians are complicit in sustaining a system that contributes to the erosion of workers' rights. Driver Inc. is nothing more than what we used to call "paying- under-the-table" It isn't some amazing new solution driven by the Gig economy. It's a dangerous exercise in intellectual dishonesty that hides the exploitation of labour under the guise of modern, flexible work arrangements.

Someone needs to follow the money and see who is being influenced.

The Gig Economy or an Old-Fashioned Tax Scam?

The "gig economy" label is nothing more than a rebranding of an old tax dodge—employers avoid their obligations, while workers take on the risks and responsibilities of being independent contractors without the rewards. This model is designed to benefit one party: the employer, who reaps the rewards of a low-cost, low-responsibility workforce while the driver - and you and I - bears the full weight of tax obligations and lack of protection.

Conclusion: Time to Expose the Intellectual Dishonesty

The Driver Inc. model is a classic example of intellectual dishonesty masquerading as innovation. By repackaging an illegal tax scheme as part of the "gig economy," proponents of Driver Inc have successfully duped drivers, clients, and the government into becoming complicit in an illegal enterprise.

The question remains: how long will this deception continue before meaningful action is taken? Policymakers must stop pretending that Driver Inc. is part of the natural evolution of work and acknowledge it for what it is—a tax avoidance scheme that exploits workers and drains public resources. Intellectual dishonesty is at the heart of this scam, and until we recognize and address it, we are all part of the problem.

#Trucking #DriverInc