
A federal panel studying truck lease-purchase plans used by many carriers was especially blunt when it filed its final report with Congress and the Department of Transportation. It said:
"TLTF’s findings are clear. The current lease-purchase system harms drivers and creates an economic advantage for individual carriers at the expense of the health of the industry and highway safety. Undoubtedly, action is needed and long overdue. All stakeholders, i.e., the government, carriers, drivers, and advocacy groups, have a responsibility to protect drivers from these predatory programs."
The task force recommended:
"Congress should ban CMV lease-purchase agreements as irredeemable tools of fraud and driver oppression that threaten a safe national transportation system and diminish the number of truck drivers attracted to and who stay in the trucking industry. Such a prohibition would be the most efficient and effective remedy to stop the damage created by lease-purchase programs."
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration task force, which was created by Congress, had a long list of recommendations it said should be enacted if lease-purchase plans were allowed to continue.
In the introduction of the final report, the task force painted a bleak picture of lease-purchase plans. It said it had "formed a consensus to recommend that such arrangements, whereby a motor carrier controls the work, compensation, and debts of the driver, should be prohibited. Lease-purchase programs are regularly established to enrich motor carriers at the expense of drivers. These programs promote a race-to-the-bottom in driver compensation and treatment, pushing qualified drivers out of the profession. Currently there are no effective checks on these programs or remedies for drivers harmed by them. Litigation, currently the only avenue for relief, can provide some remedy for the drivers involved, but has not led to reform of these programs."
And, it called on the federal government to protect drivers. If carriers are allowed to continue offering lease-purchase programs, the task force offered a number of recommendations. They include:
- Congressional oversight Congress should appropriate funds and provide whatever additional authority is necessary for FMCSA, the Department of Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to oversee truck-leasing programs, hold hearings on lease-purchase practices and their impact on drivers, highway safety and government programs and expenditures, such as subsidies for truck driver training, and enact whistleblower protection legislation for drivers reporting lease purchase programs.
- FMCSA oversight The agency should mandate that motor carriers and their affiliates offering lease-purchase programs keep accurate records of the experience of individuals who signed such agreements.
- Department of Labor enforcement Among other things, the department cchould conduct targeted audits and enforcement of companies deploying lease-purchase programs to ensure compliance with DOL regulations concerning misclassification and independent contractor status. It also should publish guidance targeted at drivers to educate them on arrangements which may violate DOL regulation, and pursue back wages and overtime for drivers who have been misclassified.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Enforcement This federal agency should exercise its authority to enforce its regulations governing financial products and services to leasepurchase programs in trucking including the Truth in Lending Act.
- State and Local Law Enforcement The task force encourages state and local agencies to review such contracts and agreements operating within their borders to determine whether state rules apply to address fraudulent or oppressive contracts and take any enforcement action necessary under those laws.
It remains to be seen how the new Trump administration will react to the task force's report.