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were independent contractors.
4. Ability To Profit by Management Skills
In considering whether the drivers had an opportunity to
profit, we also consider whether they were at risk of loss. See
United States v. Silk, supra at 716, 717.
The drivers had a limited ability to profit by their own
management skills. Drivers were paid by the mile; therefore, to
maximize his earnings, a driver had to rely on his own knowledge
of traffic patterns and road conditions, his ability to read a
map, and his ability to anticipate the need for an alternate
route.
However, the ability to read a map and choose a quicker
route does not constitute a management skill. The execution of
this duty is only evidence of efficient and hard-working
employees. See In re McAtee, supra at 572. "[I]nitiative, not
efficiency, determines independence". Brock v. Mr. W Fireworks,
Inc., 814 F.2d 1042, 1053 (5th Cir. 1987). The drivers' energy,
care, and judgment may have conserved the equipment and increased
their earnings, but petitioner was the director of their
activities.
In this case, the drivers were dependent primarily upon
petitioner's ability to locate loads for them to haul with his
trucks. If petitioner failed to locate a return load, the
drivers would attempt to arrange one through a broker or the load
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