True North Freight Solutions drivers demand unpaid wages
Scores of drivers claim they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after they alleged an Ontario trucking company told them to remove their belongings from the trucks they drove, and locked up the premises a couple of weeks ago.
True North Freight Solutions, based in Georgetown, west of Toronto, has a pending insurance cancellation, according to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) website. The carrier has 120 power units and employs 140 drivers.
Driver Amoljit Sidhu said he had been receiving partial payments for work done since January and is owed $29,000. He received partial payments and sometimes did not receive his wages.
“Sometimes they’d pay $1,000, sometimes $2,000, when I was owed much more. It would be a lollipop, not the full amount. They’d say complete one more trip and we’ll pay you. I trusted the company and its owners, they kept saying the money would be deposited in your account, but it never was,” he told TruckNews.com in Brampton, Ont., where he and other drivers employed by True North gathered to plan their next move.
He said work stopped April 16 when drivers were told to remove their stuff and the yard was locked. Some drivers who were on vacation still have their belongings in their trucks.
True North Freight Solutions did not respond to requests for comment. When TruckNews.com visited the company’s Georgetown facility, it was deserted, and a gate barred the entrance. Trucks were parked in the yard but there was no activity visible.
Team driver Davinder Khehra said the carrier owes him money too, and had been making partial payments for the past three months.
“At first the cheques started bouncing, then they started making partial payments via direct deposit. If you performed work for about $8,000, they were paying $2,000,” he said.
Drivers said mechanics, dispatchers and office staff are also owed wages. Fuel cards given to drivers were blocked a couple of times and the carrier then issued new fuel cards.
Drivers Hugo and Pushwinder said everything was moving along smoothly until late last year. In November 2023, cheques issued to drivers started bouncing. The company told drivers to provide direct deposit information in December.
Pushwinder, who was employed by the carrier for three years, saw the writing on the wall when partial payments were being made for wages due. He quit in March 2024 but is still owed $16,000. “I kept asking for my payment, but have not received the money,” he said.
Met with silence from the company, drivers said they are considering labor and small claims court options to claw back money from the carrier. The truckers are also looking for work, saying that the weak freight market is not helping their job search.
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A outfit can only cut rates so far, then they will collapse.
This is going to happen more and more often with these cheap freight carriers. True North isn’t the first, and they sure as hell won’t be the last. Should anyone be surprised? I don’t think so.
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If the author of this article spoke directly with these drivers why were they not asked the most obvious question? Are, or more pertinently, were they “Driver Inc” drivers? I have no axe to grind with these folks but until drivers start suffering the consequences of their choice of knowingly subverting the labour law re “Driver Inc” nothing will change. How much more money have they made now?
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Exactly. Should be noted as part of article. Perfect exampke of want your cake and eat it too, if INC model is in play.
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I agree. I’ll bet you they are drivers Inc for sure.
Isn’t it odd that this is the second East Indian Trucking Company that has gone bankrupt on the last 2 months, I’m sure there is more out there.
Everyone of them had no problem cutting freight rates, now that market is soft, cost everything going through the roof , it’s all going to be a domino affect.
You are owed $29,000 in wages and not getting paid for work preformed over many months and yet you still continued to work for this company??????WHY$$$
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Hey. Paul
Hope all is good
I Am Manpreet Singh.I was also working with them im on bounded work permit im in very big problem i can’t do work for others company. They are not providing Release letter to me.i have nearly pending 8000$.
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This sure sounds like some folks who are not familiar with the legal system here in Canada are being taken advantage of by the company that brought them here to work for them. Shocking. Just shocking.
I dont understand why drivers keep on working when they dont get paid and cheques are bouncing and they will never see money owed to them one bounced cheque and i would be gone feel bad for those drivers
It’s disgusting how some of these companies treat their drivers. Reminds me of Arrow a few years ago.
A similar event happened to me a few years back and I was told that I would get paid someday it did not last too long they called me and said the same bring the truck back to the yard and they are going bankrupt but be reassured you will get paid first before creditors WRONG they disappeared and no trace of these people so I went to the labor board and filled a complaint and two years later I finally got the money they owed me because lucky one of the company directors stayed behind in Canada and he was responsible for what the company owed to driver the rest where gone home to India.
Big Company or Small Company Drivers Inc or not Drivers Inc. Like some have already said more companies will be going under and wages will not be paid. The rates are low and expenses are high. Too many trucks. Lets see who survives. But this will not be the last one!
I would never work for a company after the first paycheque bounced I would be gone. But if I was there and found out the company was going bankrupt and telling me to bring the equipment in and clean it out, the driver should not do that. Take the truck home and put a lien against the equipment. Do not take the equipment back to the trucking yard, that’s the only way to get your money back if everybody starting doing this, they would be paying you and the Canadian government needs to wake up and stop this. This is what happens when the trucking industry is deregulated. It’s very sad. Will be a lot more trucking companies going bankrupt And don’t kid yourself the people that start these little trucking companies their pockets are filled before they go bankrupt And if they were Driver Incorp, that I don’t feel sorry for him. The labour laws will not protect you.
Good more bad Driver’s off the road. Trucking starting to look goog again.
ask them if the are actual true north employees or incorporated tax dodging employees. as i am sure if they where on a payroll system the govt would protect them in some way . the trucking industry is saturated with drivers who are incorp. and dodge paying taxes.
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What exactly is it that you want the government to do?
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If these are payroll employees they will stand a better chance of receiving their wages, versus independent contractors, according to bankruptcy laws. That should be the limit of what can be done for them by any level of government.
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I think the owner s , management should be held responsible and bank account frozen by the law until wages are paid!
Can we learn from any of this group of drivers, if try were paid through a corporation of if they were real employees?
If they were paid through a Corporation, they were Drivers Inc and they are not entitled to any benefits from Tru North.
The case of Pride deserves to be investigated by the court Jouse.
These new companies have been starting up in Canada for years, and undercutting, well established, and respected Trucking Companies.!! Stealing their business, and putting many seasoned veteran drivers out of work..!! There has to be alot more regulations in the Industry. Especially, on new, Foriegn owned Companies..! No pity from me!!
I went through the same thing back in the eighties, learned a valuable lesson. Once the first cheque does not arrive or bounces pull the pin , it’s not going to get any better, all you are doing is paying down their debt. Or they are scoping out as much money as they can before the close.
What you expect from companies like this one, growing in short time collapse in more short-term, however, this is still nothing what you can expect to the end of year l, whole economy will collapse under smart one in Ottawa!!!
Their not the only ones!
And a lot of driver’s from India etc are in the same boat. The $ is going sideways and they get ripped off for most of it.
During my career as a company driver I found when a company missed one pay I would start looking elsewhere for work. It was also obvious that when I observed drastic changes in equipment or dispatch then it was time for a change.Never ever did I keep working on promises. Promises DONT pay the bills!
Are these guys slow? If they are driver Inc then I guess karma is back.
As usual, the workers are left in the lurch. Sad to say, they will probably get a small percentage of what they are owed.
You can’t get anything out of a stone.
Sounds like they are “Driver Inc” drivers. They are about to find out they have zero legal protections.