Playing by the rules
Greetings,
These last few months have been a struggle to say the least. Paired with a sharper than normal slowdown, I have some new competition. I am all for competing fairly, but that is not the case. I have provided service to one main customersince 2017. In 2020, we started hauling for other customers as well only because we needed to fill in. We now have established relationships with several other strong customers, although the main customer is still the lion's share of our business. A few months back this guy came into the yard and started running loads. He gets to use our customer's trailer rent free, while I am still providing my own trailers. It didn't bother me so much when it was just him, but now he has added 2 more trucks, and significantly cut intomy business. What is worse is he is hooked to trailers that I sold to the customer. This feels like a betrayal from our main customer, but we don't have enough work outside that customer to move on. If it were a fair race, I would say I can outlast him, because he is inexperienced and I am already seeing him make a lot of mistakes, but it isn't a fair race. I am and always have paid my employees on W2, withheld taxes and paid for workers comp. I know he does not. I had the odacity to ask my main customer for a rate increasein November and the response was us being nearly shut out of the yard for a few weeks (until they really needed us again), and I managed to still secure a small increase. My question to the groupis this.
I am morally opposed to the over taxation of business, but I also think that competition should all play by the same rules (even if I don't like the rules). Is there a way to report this guy? I have been at this for over a decade, and we are struggling here.