Swift Academy Licenses Suspended

Tony,
I've been monitoring the threads but haven't signed in for awhile. We did email and call that attorney filing a class action suit (I don't have the name in front of me - the one from this thread who said best to email) but we did not hear back. Is that the best suit to be part of, or is there one for NY residents? Thanks for all you're doing on this....ex cdla wife

 

Tony,
I spoke with someone at the lawyer's office in TN... Watson Burns. The person I spoke with told me exactly what you explain here, how they will get a list of everyone affected and all will be included except those who choose to opt out of the suit. Of course someone could potentially get left out, but I believe that there would be a way for someone to be able to be re-included should that happen. But, I wanted to let you know that I did speak with them and they confirmed what you said here about the lawsuit being set up to include all affected persons. She also said it was going to court (and this was about six weeks ago I spoke with her) to get approval for class action status and they were very positive it would get approval for that. I haven't called back for an update since, but it seems very hopeful that it is moving forward.

 

I left swift after three months of not making enough money.. I was getting plenty of miles, but the pay was so dang low, I just couldnt make ends meet.

I came home for a while, then took another job with KLLM. My wife had a mild stroke in Dec 08 after giving birth to our child, So, I came off the road again till she could manage the household... I have been talking to the KLLM people about possibility of coming back, and was really thinking about making a go of it all again, (I miss the road, the sounds of those big engines, the jakes cutting in on a long easy downhill.....) And then I open up my mail today, and surprise! Your license isnt valid, call this guy to retest(for us here in MS I am told its a complete retest, written, skills, and road... with no fees waived...) I get online to look into all this, and I find an article about the memphis lawyer with the suit seeking class action status. Im a big believer in not suing ordinarily, but I dont have the money to go rent a truck, trailer, and driver to bring it all to the retesting place. So, I am gonna have to downgrade. In august of 07, I spent 150 bucks that I had to borrow from my father in law to even make it in the door of their "academy", listened to their lectures to pass the written, poured over my pretrip things, and I went and did the skills part, and driving test, which apparently, I didnt need to sweat after all...cause apparently everyone passed...

When I left swift, I had trouble finding a good paying job that would allow me to pay off my loan for the swift school, (when I quit, they sent me an acceleration letter demanding complete repayment) as a result, they filed collections against me.

I had a chance at a REALLY good paying job, but was told that information on my credit report disqualified me from taking a job, I asked them which particular information, and they said that I owed a former employer(swift) over 3000 dollars. And I keep running into this problem. I cant find a place to work that doesnt run a credit report before they let you work there... seems like if I have folks I owe money too, I would be MORE inclined to be a good employee...

So, you old hands can go ahead and rip me apart cause I went to swift school, and drive a slow white truck. Its a #### hard job, and it takes its toll on a man, his family, and everyone involved on any level... My hats off to ya, and I wish I could be out there with you, but, its just not in my cards anymore.

to be honest, I dont care about punitive damages from a suit, but it would be nice for that loan to be forgiven and for them to have to remove any derogatory reporting of that debt... I dont care about getting rich quick, Id much rather earn my money. Now, I only have to find someone willing to look past my credit score.

 

What are you crying about, you left Swift after they gave you plenty of miles??? Well I call that a dumm move.
You knew how much Swift would pay you before you signed a contract and you knew they would come after you if you if leave Swift before that one year.

See I really have a problem to understand people like you,
When you have a family you have to suck it up and you have to do things even if you don't like it.

 

I left swift, for another carrier... making 34 cpm. which was a very nice change. I stayed with that new carrier till my wife's sudden illness made me have to stay home to take care of the kids till she could relearn things like moving her left arm correctly and taking care of our children. Maybe I should be a little more clear, when I started with swift, i was getting plenty of miles, around 2500. which is good, from what I hear. But as time wore on, literally within a few months, the miles just kinda fell off. To less than 1500 miles per week. At this time, it became less than lucrative to remain with swift.
When you only get 25 cpm, take out taxes, and 75 a week for loan repayment, you have bills at home that dont stop just cause you are living there, and you have to live on the road, and one meal a day is a nice thing, you really dont have a lot left over to pay the bills so your family can continue to enjoy those little luxuries of life, like eating, and sleeping indoors.

The only thing I can think of is you just like bashing people on forums.
I have done more than my fair share of sucking it up to provide for my family. I dont happen to have a law degree, so I missed the clause that stated that swift would accelerate payoff of the loan at the termination of employment. I was not given an opportunity to continue to make monthly payments, i was told the whole amount was now payable in full.

The whole thing is, ok, I signed a contract, but regardless of that fact, swift apparently was in violation of that contract before I even signed it. I signed in good faith, not knowing that they, or the state of TN was not doing their good faith and due diligence to insure that they were holding up their end of the contract. Which was providing me with training, and a CDL. I went to the classes, did my best to learn what they taught, and took my skills assessment like everyone else. The fact that they invalidated licenses from this large of a period of time shows that Swift wasnt holding up their end of the bargain. Since the time period that they were not in compliance pre-dates my enrollment and signing of the forms and contracts, then that would serve to invalidate the agreement. If one party makes fraudulent(sp?) claims, or provides a service, then turns around years later and says, oh well we said x, but gave you Q, so you should still pay, I call BS.

It would be like you going to buy a car, and you sign papers stating you are paying 13000 for this car, then coming back a couple of years into it, and saying, Ok, give the car back, you were only renting it, and oh yeah, you still owe us the 13000.

I usually try to not get fired up over random people on the internet, but you singled me out, attacked me, and that sir, is a dumB move. I am disputing the loan fees only because my CDL is now threatened. I am currently in the middle of paying off old debts in order to secure me credit for a mortgage in the future, If Swift had made sure their T's were crossed and all I's were dotted, I would not have posted a single thing.

So, sir, since you really dont have a dog in this hunt, why dont you just keep on moving along, there is nothing more for you to see.

I am sorry you are SO offended by my story, but I will tell you like I would tell anyone, no one made you click on the link, and if you dont have anything positive to add to a conversation, drive on.