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Kim Johnson ReportingMore than one hundred truck drivers find themselves in dire straits, and out tens of thousands of dollars owed them by a West Valley Trucking company.
The truck drivers say they were told today would be the day they would finally get paid. Some are owed more than $10,000 in back pay and lease payments. But soon after they showed up this morning, they found Jerry's Power Service closed.
A peek through the window told them more than they wanted to know -- their former employer, Jerry Eaton was gone, their jobs at JPS were gone, the money Jerry owed them was gone.
Lee Alo: "I'm going to lose my car today. Plus my family might be out on the streets."
Patti Barrons, a truck driver from Michigan, says she has no money to get home to her family.
Patti Barrons: "My son, who's he with right now? My ex-husband. He's twelve years old and I can't get home to see him anymore."
Donald May: “I lost my apartment, my furniture. I lost everything working here."
Misti Allred, who managed the JPS office, quit last Wednesday. She says she couldn't continue making excuses for the company's bounced checks.
Misti Allred: "As of last Friday he was $290,000 behind in payroll. He hasn't paid any of the wage withholdings, like federal or state taxes. Some of these guys have court-ordered child support that was deducted from their paychecks that was never paid."
This former office employee knew over the weekend that the business was in trouble.
Angela Ray, Former JPS Employee: “I had an idea about Saturday when I came in and they were loading up files.”
The employees filed wage claims against Jerry Eaton today at the labor commission. They say Eaton recruited them by promising salaries of $5,000 per month, and a week off for every two on the road. Even when their checks started bouncing last fall, they remained loyal.
Ray Cox: "They were really nice people. We believed they were going to come through because they'd just had someone screw them, so we were trying to help them out too. They got us all."
We attempted to contact the owners of the company, but phone calls to Jerry Eaton and his business partner were not returned. However, a former employee who said he was a nephew of the owner, told KSL he was told the company had to fold up but that it would try and make good on all debts in two or three weeks.
Some employees are hoping law enforcement investigates.
