I'VE BEEN DRIVING OFF AND ON SINCE 1994. OVER 1MILLION MILES EASY. WAS A TRAINER AT SWIFT FOR 8 OUT OF 9 MONTHS AND IT WENT O.K. AT BEST UNTIL X-MAS TIME. IN DEC 07' I WAS IN CA. TRYING TO GET MY STUDENT AND I HOME FOR X-MAS AND WAS TOLD TO TAKE A LOAD TO THE NORTHEAST AND THAT THERE WAS NO OTHER OPTION. I WAS LEFT WITH NO CHOICE SO I TOOK MY STUDENT TO HIS PHOENIX TERMINAL AND I CONTINUED ON TO MY TERMINAL IN EL PASO TX. TO TURN THE TRUCK IN AND GO HOME. THEY TOLD ME I HAD TO TAKE THE LOAD TO THE NORTHEAST EVEN THOUGH I WAS A WESTERN REGIONAL DRIVER. I TOLD THEM I WOULD NOT TAKE IT AND THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD SEE TO IT THAT I WOULD NEVER GET ANOTHER TRUCKING JOB AGAIN. THEY SENT ME A TERMINATION LETTER STATING THAT I ABANDONED THEIR EQUIPMENT AND LOAD WHICH IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH AS I LEFT THE TRUCK AND LOAD IN THE SECURE TERMINAL. I TRIED TO TALK TO THE POWERS TO BE IN CHARGE IN PHOENIX WITH NO SUCCESS. I ONLY GOT VOICEMAILS AND THEY NEVER RETURNED MY CALLS. THEY SEEMED TO FORGET ALL ABOUT THE 9 MONTHS OF GOOD SERVICE I GAVE THEM WITH NO TICKETS, ACCIDENTS, OR LATES. I'VE WORKED FOR SEVERAL COMPANIES AND ALL ARE POSITIVE REFERALS. I HAVEN'T CHECKED MY DAC YET BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THEY'VE SCREWED IT UP FOR ME. I JUST FOUND THIS SITE AND IF ANYONE READING CAN HELP ME I'M ALL EARS. I'M LOOKING INTO LEGAL ACTION AND I'M VERY WILLING TO JOIN IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST SWIFT TRANSPORTATION FOR DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER ETC... LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK AND REPLIES. SORRY SO LONG BUT DRIVERS NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN THESE BIG COMPANIES THAT THINK THAT THEY CAN JUST SLAM ALL OF US GOOD TRUCK DRIVERS. PEACE!

First, in computer forums all caps equals shouting and most don't like to be yelled at. My first question is, what have you been doing for the last 6 months since you say you quit Swift last December?

If you haven't checked your DAC yet, how can you be talking about a suit for defamation? I can guarantee, Swift and every other trucking company will list only what they must in your DAC and often times they don't list anything. Most likely your DAC will have a comment that states you abandoned a load. That is a serious offense as far as trucking companies are concerned and most that use DAC will not hire if you have an abandonment on your record.

And, in terms of abandonment, if you dropped a loaded trailer without authorization to do so (which from what you have said, you did not have because you were told to take the load to NE) that IS abandonment.

I am assuming the "they" you refer to is your DM. As for trying to resolve the issue on the phone, that is not the best way, particularly if you are considering a lawsuit. If you have left messages in the way you have posted here, yelling and angry sounding, they most likely will not return your calls. Any correspondence trying to resolve the matter should be written in a calm, non-threatening, professional manner. When it is mailed, it should be mailed certified, return receipt. This way you have proof they have received it. You should maintain a copy of the letter and attach the return receipt to that copy.

You can contact an attorney about a lawsuit but if your DAC reads "abandoned load" any good attorney will tell you that you do not have a case.

As for trucking companies "slamming all us good truck drivers" I assure you there are thousands of good truck drivers that have been driving for Swift and other big companies for years who have not been slammed. Sorry you have had to go through all this but stop and think about what you may have done differently.

Wasn't trying to shout or sound angry. First time doing this forum thing and didn't know about the all caps and shouting and I'm sure there's much more. Not sure why you're interested in what I've been doing for the last six months and is irrelavent. I will go ahead anyway and say I wanted to do something else for awhile and I've been in real estate. I stand behind my actions. My student and I were out for over three weeks and Christmas was only a couple of days away. I was a western regional driver being forced to take a load to Maryland so leaving the truck and loaded trailer at my home terminal seemed like the right thing to do. Never had this kind of problem with any other company go figure?

Unfortunately, leaving the load and truck, even at a terminal, without authorization equals both a service failure and an abandonment. I agree that as a western regional you should not have been "forced" to take the load. Who was forcing you, your regular DM or a night or weekend DM? If this occured on a night or weekend it is more difficult to reason with those folks. The problem for trucking companies at that time of year is it is hard to cover the freight with so many who want to be home for the holidays. It sounds like your DM dropped the ball on getting you pegged in the computer for holiday home time.

They say that hindsight is 20-20. The best thing in this situation probably would have been to refuse to p/u the load. You may have gotten terminated anyway but at least you would not have an abandonment on your record that will most likely not go away.

bh7, You can only sue for defamation IF you can prove that your reputation HAS been defamed by unfair, slanderous, or libelous information. Check your DAC and see what has been entered. It sounds to me that the only thing they can actually have against you is quitting while under a load. If you left the truck in one of their terminals, they can't get you for abandoning the tractor. Quitting under a load, in all likelyhood, will probably not impair you too much in obtaining employment. Check that DAC! You can get a free copy of it once a year. Leaving the tractor and trailer in their terminal, whereupon it's secure, can't be construed as a valid abandonment. But, quitting while under a load isn't good either. If you are able to get another job in a reasonable time period, your background can't be considered defamed. If you can't obtain employment because of what they put on your DAC, and if it's not factual, you may have a case.

As an added note, they could have charged you for the fuel. Good thing they didn't. And, they may have not defamed your record at all. Just check first, and keep looking for another job in the interim.

Thanks for the great feedback! I would definitely have turned the load down but it was all they had for me and I my main concern was to get my student and I to our perspective home terminals for Christmas. The company had over 3 weeks notice for me and my student to be home for Christmas and this is the best the could do so I had to take these drastic steps. And yes I am lucky they didn't charge me for out of route miles which I'm very surprised they didn't. I will add that I got good miles and made good money but I had to make many phone calls to keep it that way. I was looking into leaving the company for this reason and many others (too many to go into) but the Christmas incident sealed it for me.

I've been in "beware mode" for years when it comes to SwiftQuit. Nothing changed in the past, nothing is changing now, and nothing will change in the future when it comes to this outfit. Too bad. They always have needed drivers and they always will need drivers. If they could only get their act together and keep people around, they might be worth taking a chance on. But, as always, I know I'm right. This will never happen at the Quit.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Too bad the rest of us can't be all knowing and perfect like Tip is.

i have a question, i guess i am just too old and been drving forever at times, but abandonment and service are very hard to beat on any DAC report. You also have to think about the DAC report of quitting under dispatch. happened to me and it took a ton of alot to get that off my dac report. they listed me as quit under dispatch, abandoned the truck, not rehireable and a few other choice words they used.
but i got lucky, they called me for 2 weeks after i quit, they left me 3 voicemails asking me to come back and for a much higher pay, i took that too a lawyer had him hear it, he called the main office of that company and threatened a suit and they took it off my dac.
but that was my experience. quitting under dispatch is as bad as abandoning the truck no matter where it went. i see your point with dropping it at a terminal where it would be safe, but technically, the others are right, you did abandon the truck, quit under dispatch and if your dac is not listed with that, you got very lucky. just my 2 cents.

bubba