Good Night From II

BP in Lincoln, Il across from the pilot. Had an occasion this week to get burned by a situation that really makes Swift look shady, if not down right dishonest. We picked up a load at the cluster f%#k Costco DC in Morris, IL. If you've been there you know what a nightmare it can be, but that wasn't the problem. In this area there is a brand new Pilot across the street from the DC and a TA about 1/4 mile down the road. Currently Swift owner ops get 10x fuel points at Pilot / FJ, we needed fuel so naturally I went to the Pilot.

I pulled into the fuel lane to start the card dance and punch in my info. Right after I get my license info entered I get a "Please see cashier" message. I figured that I screwed up my DL number so I just started over. In the same place I got the same message, so in I went to see the wizard ... er ... cashier.

I began to to ask what was up when she noticed the red comdata card and asked if I was a Swift owner op. I said that I was and she, the store manager, explained to me that about two weeks ago Swift turn off owner op ability to fuel there since the TA is giving Swift a $0.40 per gallon discount. She then explained that it seems that Swift is pocketing the bulk of the discount and passing only the fuel surcharge to the owner ops. How she knows this I don't know.

Now, my beef isn't with Swift playing fast n loose with discounts since I'm fairly sure that while this practice is shady most companies do it. My problem is with them violating the contract with me. The contract states that I, as an owner op, can fuel whenever, wherever and how much I choose as long as they accept comdata. It's not right and I've called and left a message asking for an explanation from a Phoenix voice mail box that I'm sure I'll never get. However, my little protest over this will be simple. I will refuse any that pick up and deliver in that area with the following Mac 9 message:

Truck not available for loads from this location due to Swift fuel restrictions.

It ain't much, but then I'm not looking to start a war. Just wanted to pass that along. Be safe.

 

I would copy and paste that onto the Facebook owner-op page and see how they respond.

 

There's a Swift o/o FB page?

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Swif...289009152?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser

 

Memphis, snagged a load to t-call in Lancaster tomorrow. Getting out of there should be fun.

 

New or old contract?

 

Yes. Be forewarned, if you post something that they don't like they will remove the post.

 

Well now I'm on safety hold. A few weeks ago safety called me saying I had and overspeed (75 mph) and driving in neutral. None of these happened and the safety guy agreed. He took time and looked at my driving habits from QC data (kinda makes you wonder why bother with cameras) and flat out told me knew it was wrong and he would have it fixed. I told this in a PM to I'll call OD on this forum. Now there's two overspeeds and I'm on safety hold. The latest must have been yesterday and I flat out KNOW where I was.I call safety and get refered to the head guy but it goes to voice mail so I leave a message. No response. It really has me irate, looks like Monday is off just trying to figure this out. My DM is a useless idiot, planner(the absolute best) is overwhelmed by us because-DM is a useless idiot. Ok rant over sorry

 

Did you read your contract? States in your contract that Swift will keep any discounts.

Yeah go jump off the deep end with Swift, based on the manager at a Pilot. Did you call your DM to find out what the issue is with your fuel card? May just be a glitch in the system that is easily correctable.

And what in gods green earth are you doing fueling at a pilot anyway ... 10X point is an absolutely stupid reason to be fueling there vs a $.05 discount at the TA and that TA has better food - if not the best at any t/s. But even then you should not be getting more than 50 gallons to get to some cheap fuel.

The name of the game to make money is fuel and you're not going to make it fueling at the big 3, except on rare occasions. You need to always know what the national average for fuel is and you want your average to be at least $.20 under that.

Now all that said I can think of 2 reasons fuel cards may have been shut off there. One is reefer fuel. Swift is paying for that and they don't want any Pilot fuel in their reefers. Second, the Swift fuel folks have been known to go off the deep end in the past, without knowing what is in the O/O contract. And since that Pilot is discounting their price by a nickel to attract the Swift O/O - but also a typical practice when any of the big 3 open a stop - the Swift fuel folks may be going beyond their pay grade to screw with Pilot ... If your DM can't fix it, call RR and get them involved

You didn't read your contract either.

Depends on how they post it ... if it is simply to ask why the fuel card is turned off, they should get a straight answer. If they take the approach that Swift is stealing the fuel discount - especially on the word of a Pilot manager - then they will look like idiots when everyone points out that it is in the contract.