FORWARD AIR INC BEWARE AND IF A DRIVER HEED WARNING NOW!

I drove for forward air for 2 years and made good money BUT ended up getting hurt off one of their trailers. While having to roll down a door on the back of one trailer. I reported it to dispatch as per their contract and company policy! In turn dispatch, if you're a good driver does not report as supposed to with safety dept. In turn I drove all the way back home and was seen at the hospital for my injury. I had cracked a vertebrate straight across after pulling down a door and it stopped suddenly due to the dock worker hitting (pinching one of the rail systems for the door) with a forklift while previously unloading the trailer prior to me picking it up! Hence, I will tell you now all driver's beware and heed my warning! IN THE CONTRACT THAT FORWARD AIR MAKES ALL DRIVER'S SIGN. If you become hurt or any other legal fight it states, YOU can only file suit in the STATE OF TN AND ONLY GREENE COUNTY TN. Well, good luck with that I have had a suit going for 6 years with forward air! I was paid like workers comp for 2 years and then I was thrown on SSD for the rest of my life due to this injury. I was found to be 100% disabled from this injury and will not ever be able to drive again after a 34-year career! Oh, and I had long term disability insurance with forward air! And they also have refused to give me my benefits that I am supposed to get. I have been fighting for 4 years for those benefits also! Thirty days after being hurt, forward air's contractor relations manager called me and stated he had investigated the whole accident. Knew the trailer I was hurt off and verified everything. He then stated they were willing to pay me 25K if I would sign a paper that I would come back to work in 3 months. Well, that wasn't accepted how could I when the doctor's had just stated it would take up to a year for my vertebrate to heal. Now, listen carefully... Have fun trying to find a lawyer that will take a case in Greene County Tn. There is NO ONLINE FILING OF CASES WITHIN THE COURT THERE! So, if you do find a lawyer, he will have to drive to file a case. And I will tell you now, you will not find a lawyer! No lawyers will take cases there due to conflicts of interest, too far to travel and believe me the list goes on and on. I lost a 34-year career, my home, cars, tractor-trailer and everything due to a split second while trying to roll down a stupid door on one of their trailers! Forward air's headquarters is Greenville, TN and they have employed for generations people from the area. Even if you ever did get a trial, it wouldn't be fair, and you would lose! I am just warning all drivers! Yes, you make good money with forward air BUT don't get hurt or in an accident. READ THE CONTRACT CAREFULLY!!!!! FORWARD AIR WASHES THEIR HANDS IN ALL LEGAL SITUTATIONS THAT YOU MAY GET INTO AND YOU ARE HELD 100% LIABLE. After what I have been through to this date and reading all the fine print. Thank-god I never was in a truck accident with this company, you will be on your own! So, long story short.... Is the money, your career, your life worth driving for this company? If you say yes, good luck with your choice!

 

??? you were a contractor and you expect the company to pay. I think your beef is with the insurance company if you have proof of paid premiums for a disability policy.

 

did you HAVE a lawyer represent you..??

if not, i totally cannot believe you could not find.,.......ONE...???

how do you know a trail would be "unfair"..???

did you actually GO to trial..??

workman comp cases can go on and on, i KNOW that as a fact.

i been thru w/c claims at least twice in my life.

i got hurt in different states, and an attorney here in MY state represented me, as he got each case transferred here....

again...this is fact.

if you are a private contractor, didn't you have your own workman's comp insurance..???

sorry you got hurt, that sucks, but it happens, and just cuz it happened to YOU at that company, does not mean everyone else is going to get hurt.

1 more thing, there are cameras all over the places these days...

it is highly possible that a camera "caught you" closing that door improperly....but more importantly,,, you stated this:

right there, what you said, prior to you picking up the trailer..??

why didn't YOU report that damage 1st..???

to me, once you knew it was damaged and you took it, it's on you all day long and twice on Sundays

 

Lawyers have no allegiance to anyone other than themselves. They are business people and they will not touch a case unless they see they are going to make money. I suspect you were trying to get the lawyers to take this case on contingency. If you could not get one to take your case, you probably don't have a case.

 

Its not the company, its the system. Once you declare that you are injured on the job, the company legally should no longer talk to you. PERIOD! You are now a ward of the insurance system. While still an employee on the books, you cannot work unless released by the insurance approved doctors, and as for driving, unless you can pass a DOT physical and get carded/released for work, you're not going to drive.

 

hurttrucker

Official Hurt Trucker™ Site | Attorneys for Injured Truckers

 

Exactly right.

 

Oh yes, I did have a lawyer! You can't transfer any suit out of TN and it's stated in the contracts. Good luck with that also. tried! I'm not stating everyone is going to get hurt but if you do.. You will lose everything! I was dispatched to pick up a trailer and when arriving the back roll down door was open. All I did was try to close it which it only came down so far and I went flying off the back of the trailer.. In a split second I lost everything and it wasn't my fault. You can think this and that but I'm telling you straight out.. only what I have been through with Forward Air..

 

yep was a contractor and made weekly payments to the insurance company. They don't want to pay either, as for forward air... it was their trailer, their terminal and their employee who damaged the trailer. I was told to just pick it up..