Trucking: Ohio/DOT Laws and Regulations in regards to small trucking co., drivers, etc., trucking co, ohio dot

Question
My husband HAD a good buddy who owns two trucks.  He drives one and wanted my husband to drive the other, of course, we were to make weekly payments to him for said truck as well as pay for any repairs with the understanding that we would receive the title in the future! Dumb, yes.. Anyway, my husband and his "good buddy" were driving under another guy's authority because he wanted to begin a small business.  Anyway, all three were driving under the "authority guy's" name as a business in Ohio.  My husband was never given a paycheck.  The "Authority guy" would be paid, place it in the "good buddy's" acct. and cash was given to my husband.  On top of that, we paid for the plates on the truck, a few costly repairs and the stickers with the business name for the truck.  The best part is, after five weeks of this nonsense my husband says forget it!  We do not have the truck, the plates which cost $1400, the company stickers we paid for.  Also, they will not send me settlement sheets for income verification purposes, etc.  Do we have any recourse whatsoever?  Oh, I also checked for the company's license with the Secretary of State and there is none.  Is that required?

Answer
Jenny, check the FMCSA website to see if the "authority guy" is properly licensed and insured.
http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/
If they are registered you can get their legal name location etc.
It sounds like a shaky deal and likely some regulations have been violated.  Best thing you can do is contact a reputable transportation attorney.  It's worth getting a specialist who understands transportation regulation.  Check here:
http://www.translaw.org/index.cfm?fuse=member_listing
Hope it works out for you.
Jim.