Cully Frisard, Trucking Company, Louisiana

Cully Frisard, Trucking Company, Louisiana

Trucking is in the blood of the Frisard family. It’s part of who they are.

“I was brought up in this business from a very young age,” says Cully Frisard, the owner of Frisard’s Transportation, a family-run trucking company in Louisiana. For years, he watched his father build the business from the ground up, and earned his own place in the driver’s seat of the company.

“Growing up in this business taught me so many different things,” Cully explains. “Frisard’s wasn’t my only stop. I’ve worked for several other major corporations in trucking as a 1099 agent, so I ran my own business, and I was able to grow and create more jobs for other folks, being a 1099. If you start off as a company driver, you couldn’t really do that.”

Owning Frisard’s Transportation has brought a world of depth and joy to Cully’s life. “I talk to every one of my people. This is family to me. I want to know their family. I want them to know my family.” His drivers own their own trucks, make their own schedules, and often stop into his office to chat about the industry and get advice on how to become more successful as their own 1099 entities.

For others who prefer to be paid salary or on hourly, Cully has another company that employs W-2 drivers who use company-owned trucks and are assigned their loads and schedules. Having these options keeps his drivers happy, and allows Cully to control costs and stay flexible for his clients.

But a new federal rule may force Cully to make an impossible choice: To turn his 1099 drivers into full-time employees—whether they want to be full-time or not—or risk turning off the engines at Frisard’s Transportation for good.

If Cully is forced to reclassify his 1099 drivers as employees, not only will it destroy his businesses, —it will erase his family legacy. “If this rule does go through, I would most likely have to shut down Frisard Transportation as a whole,” he says, fighting back tears. “That business would go away.”

Cully estimates that between both companies, he would have to let go of about 32 contractors and 16 full-time employees, just to try to salvage what’s left. “I would have to probably sell the property. I would have to restructure,” he says. “At worst, I would have to shut down my company of 35 years. My dad’s company.”

But Cully is not giving up without a fight. With the help of the Pelican Institute and the Liberty Justice Center, he filed a lawsuit in February, challenging the rule (Frisard’s Transportation, L.L.C. v. United States Department of Labor). Both organizations are representing Cully at no cost.

Beneath the determination in Cully’s voice is a sadness. “I’m very passionate about this business,” he explains. “These are hard-working people who come to work every day to support America. We deliver the medical supplies for the doctors and nurses to do their jobs. We deliver ammunition for the police officers to protect the streets.”

“We’re already regulated so deeply, and it’s unfortunate that it seems like, these days, I fight more than I work. I should be able to get up in the morning and ask, ‘How many more people can I get to work this week?’ That is the American Dream.” It’s a dream that Cully is willing to keep fighting for.

 “My drivers are very concerned that their livelihoods are at stake. And it keeps me up at night too because that’s my family,” Cully says. “You’re messing with 32 members of my family, and I can’t allow that to happen.”