All the things you hear about Kennedy are true. It is common knowledge in the industry that Aberstar and Kennedy are related in their dealings. They have a terrible reputation in the industry and frankly, I haven't ever met someone in the trucking industry who wasn't aware of their pernicious business practices.
It is not only the naive newbies to the industry that they are ripping off, but also the leasing companies they deal with, and the carriers they place these new drivers with as well. Many carriers will not take on another Kennedy recruit any more (except for guess who?), and most leasing companies won't provide a lease for Kennedy's clients any more either. They have pretty well exhausted the locals and they are reaching out overseas to recruit honest, hardworking people from other countries to bring their families and life savings over here, to spend on the opportunity of a lifetime. They leave a wake of broken dreams, financial ruin, and shattered lives in their path and I don't have a clue how the owners or employees can sleep at night.
You can see the strong arm they wield if you have a look at 'Michelle's' post on ripoff.com and see how she retracted her statements. It's pretty obvious they weren't retracted in good faith. Perhaps that is why people speak online with anonymity.
I am not bashing anyone here or anywhere else for doing business with Aberstar though. If the price is right, the service is good, and their owner/operators stick with them, how can a business not take advantage of that? If we all lived by principles, we wouldn't be eating tomatoes or doing any number of things in our daily lives. I'm thankful for sites such as these that can at least try to educate the unknowing about the sharks amongst us. Reality bites, but hopefully someone somewhere will avoid being bitten after reading this thread.
