Any one on here work with Driveline?

Fill me in, please. I'm in the process of "onboarding", and right now it seems my ignorance is vast.

Any hints, help, insight, deeply appreciated.

Interesting that they are offering different rates in different states; is this an "employee" situation, or IC? Do they actually PAY the 20 cents a mile? (I've been burned on that before, to the tune of over $ll00, by a different company.)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2021 05:21PM by ceasesmith.

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It's been years since I worked for them, but they paid fairly at that time. No issues with mileage.
I have worked for them for years and it is w-2 not Ic and yes they pay varies depending on which state you live in. For example you may live in Rhode Island and work in Massachusetts, where, minimum wage is considerably higher in Massachusetts than Rhode Island so, less pay.
If you do end up working for them as an employee and they reimburse at $0.20 per mile, that is $0.36 per mile less than the IRS rate. You can claim the other $0.36 as an unreimbursed business expense on your tax return. (BTW, the $20 per mile is not income.)
@ceasesmith wrote:

Fill me in, please. I'm in the process of "onboarding", and right now it seems my ignorance is vast.

Any hints, help, insight, deeply appreciated.

Interesting that they are offering different rates in different states; is this an "employee" situation, or IC? Do they actually PAY the 20 cents a mile? (I've been burned on that before, to the tune of over $ll00, by a different company.)

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
Before you try taking that extra $0.36 per mile off your taxes, do your research. The IRS has disallowed most employee business expense, I think last year. Here's more about it: The vast majority of W-2 workers can't deduct unreimbursed employee expenses starting in 2020. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated unreimbursed employee expense deductions for all but a handful of protected groups.


@myst4au wrote:

If you do end up working for them as an employee and they reimburse at $0.20 per mile, that is $0.36 per mile less than the IRS rate. You can claim the other $0.36 as an unreimbursed business expense on your tax return. (BTW, the $20 per mile is not income.)
@ceasesmith wrote:

Fill me in, please. I'm in the process of "onboarding", and right now it seems my ignorance is vast.

Any hints, help, insight, deeply appreciated.

Interesting that they are offering different rates in different states; is this an "employee" situation, or IC? Do they actually PAY the 20 cents a mile? (I've been burned on that before, to the tune of over $ll00, by a different company.)

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
You are so right, ArkLaMiss! It's absolutely impossible to deduct them if you don't itemize. And filing a Schedule C is NOT itemizing! It's amazing how many people get confused over that. I think they think they have "itemized" on Schedule C, because you do actually list them; but itemized deductions are totally separate from business-related deductible expenses. Thank heavens!

However, if I'm doing a job for Driveline and then go to another assignment for a different Merchandiser company or for an MSC, that additional mileage is deductible. So I'll be working my Driveline assignments into routes!

I do live in Nebraska, and they were very, very clear if I go into another state to work, I would be paid at that state's rate. So for Colorado, I'll make $3.50 more an hour than I will for Nebraska; Kansas is also different....and Wyoming, South Dakota, etc.

Thanks, all.
Cease, have you started with them yet? If so, how do you like it?

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
Just finished "onboarding". It's funny, I applied months ago -- like maybe October? Never heard from them. Then I was doing a route, and saw an acquaintance doing a reset for them, and she gave me her DM's phone number. I called her, and she hired me on the phone. Then I did the process.

I'm looking forward to it -- a real W-2 job, LOL.

Although if I work for them like I do as an IC, traveling to KS, OK, WY, CO, and SD, I'm not looking forward to filing taxes in each state!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2021 07:06PM by ceasesmith.
I'm happy for you, cease! For your taxes, maybe you can find one of the tax shops...lol.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
I do a tax shop every year!

I prefer to do them myself. But if the bonus is high enough, I'll have them done.

Sometimes I have to file amended, because I know more about taxes than the preparer!

I actually had one preparer tell me (on a shop) that I shouldn't report (actually, I think he said something more like I should consider not reporting) my "side-gig" income, because my refund would decrease!

smiling smiley

And one year I did the one where the MSC provides a "fake" w-2 and SS#, etc., and it turned out to be the gas station next door to the preparer's office. "Huh. I've never seen you in there", he says. I told him I stayed in the back office, bookkeeping, LOL. Then he says, but that's not the same employer ID, either -- he walks over to a cabinet, pulls out 4 or 5 returns from my supposed co-workers, and says, yep, I was right -- different employer ID.
I gulped a couple times and said, "Oh, I work for Corporate. That's probably a different ID number than a franchisee would have". He accepted that.

Good grief.
Okay, here's what happened:

Onboarding was super confusing, with different websites, different logins/username/password, and conflicting advisory on which browser to use and which login goes with which website or app.

Muddled through it somehow. Then an hour on training calls (paid; the paperwork isn't paid time).

Then she called me Tuesday and said I had in-store training Wednesday, 45 miles away.

Dragged myself there. Great trainer, great boss at Driveline (District Manager, I believe). However, the training was for all day, and after 45 minutes of stoop work (lowest shelf, anyone?), my back hurt so bad I had to quit. Told the trainer, she was great; called the DM, she was great.

Spent the next 3 days in bed, recovering; had to pay a neighbor to come over and take out my trash, etc. The pits!

For the able-bodied, I could in good conscience recommend the company.

But there is no way they can make "accommodations" for the disabled amongst us; in order to do the job, you MUST bend, stoop, twist, carry, and climb.

I do believe accommodations to allow disabled to work is a great thing -- but the accommodations cannot reasonably extend to hiring someone to do all the work the disabled person can't do.
Did you try using a stool to sit down on? I have a bad back, too and I sit down when I have to clean/reset the bottom three shelves. I've worked for Driveline since 2018 and I have three different stores they gave me. Never had anyone tell me I am not allowed to use it. I've also used it to do jobs for other companies. The store managers and associates have always been understanding. I think even if I didn't have sciatica I'd still use a stool. To kneel down on those floors or squat down is bad on the knees and is just unnecessary in my opinion. I think it also looks more professional to have a stool than walking around with dirty knees.
I am sorry it didn't work out for you, Cease. HM1974 has a great idea. I've seen other merchandisers do the same thing.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
I use a stool constantly when I'm merchandising. Unfortunately, the projects I was working on that day meant constantly bouncing from shelf to shelf, from location to location in the store. One had to read the shelf stickers for different types of products -- and the products were all over the store. Didn't make any sense to get a stool in order to read 2 or 3 price stickers; you'd spend more time than the chore allowed just moving the stool around! I probably looked at 200-300 price stickers in that 45 minutes. And I hadn't covered 5% of the store yet!
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