BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Truckers say they did not get paid by a Bakersfield company, and they're owed thousands of dollars.

But, the owner of C and R Transportation said the drivers were paid for their work.

Romero Briones told Eyewitness News he drove 20 days and was supposed to get paid $100 a day.

"I was never paid," Briones said on Tuesday. The driver said he is owed a total of $2,400.

A driver who owns his rig said he was supposed to be paid by the load, but he is also owed a lot of money by C and R.

"Three weeks' worth of work came out to $11,000," said the driver, who didn't want to be identified. "Out of that $11,000, I received $5,000."

The driver said he and a partner took four loads, and went from California to Pennsylvania. The driver said in the middle of the work, he needed to be paid just to keep going.

"We needed money, 'cause me and my partner were out on the road with no food, and we sat there three days in one place," the trucker said. He added that a dispatcher eventually sent them $945 so they could get food and fuel.

Robert Davis confirmed to Eyewitness News he is the owner of C and R Transportation and said the workers have been paid.

"They have all gotten paid," he said.

But, Eyewitness News talked by phone to a trucker on a cross-country run for another company, and he said C and R still owes him $1,700 for work he did in November and December.

The wife of another trucker who owns his rig told Eyewitness News the company owes them about $5,000.

And, Christie Hankins said she was the secretary and bookkeeper for C and R, and she is owed $3,000. Hankins said the company moved their office out of a small trailer at a yard near James Road, and into a house she also had shared with Davis.

"She's not owed no money," Davis said. "She's never worked for me."

Hankins, however, showed Eyewitness News a typewritten contract that spelled out her duties for the company.

Hankins said she has gone to the state labor board to file a complaint about C and R. Briones has done the same, trying to get pay for his 20 days of driving.

Davis insisted the truckers have been paid, but seemed to indicate there had been disputes.

"We've had trucks left, drivers abandon vehicles," Davis said.

Briones said the company accused him of that, but that's not what happened.

"They tried to say I abandoned their truck," Briones said. He was on a run to Reno. "I ran out of fuel at the Flying J. That was as far as I could go. I had to put in $50 of my own money just to get back home. Back home to Bakersfield."

The truck owner who worked for C and R said he also went to the Labor Board, but was told in that situation any legal action would have to come through the district attorney's office.

Davis told Eyewitness News he had been to the labor board, but he couldn't remember exactly when.

The workers said C and R had up to four trucks. The secretary pointed to one tractor and one trailer on the small truck lot and said both of them seemed to be broken down. The drivers think the company may still have two of their rigs on the road.

Eyewitness News called the California Highway Patrol, and officer Robert Rodriguez said C and R Transportation is now being investigated by their motor carrier division.

"We have started to check into complaints of unsafe equipment, and vehicle code and insurance violations," the officer said.

The trucker who owns his rig said he wants the $6,000 he and his partner are owed, and he wants tough action against Davis and the company.

"I feel that this needs to stop. We've got maybe 15 to 25 drivers that this company has done this to."

Briones sees it the same way.

"This guy needs to be stopped," Briones said. "We need to stop him from doing this to other people."