Questions for current Swift drivers

He's saying your questions are pointless if the company goes under .

 

I sure love all the hate toward Swift. It is rather amusing, and makes for cheap entertainment.

I just picked up a load in Monroe Township, NJ at a CostCo. And according to the guy at the gate, "...Swift just started at the beginning of the week...." and there were 200+ trailers and about 20-30 trucks there, 4-5 yard dog trucks, and one whole room in the guard shack for Swift dispatch run by swift employees. I would be willing to bet that Swift dumped some good $$$ into that, and now has another good contract with CostCo/Wal-Mart. Can you really say a company 'is going under', if they're landing new BIG contracts? I recall the Procter and Gamble DC i stopped at few weeks ago, another deal was agreed upon with us.

 

This insurance is collision insurance and property damage (PD). It has nothing to do with the trucking academy. Many insurance companies require this as a deductible per incident, and some companies are completely self insured.

 

Do a web search for Swift Academy lawsuit. They are seeking class action certification. The complaint is for TN, IL and one other state. It seeks $5 million damages....that's per person. The state of TN has already taken away their third party testing status.

 

I was able to discover that the following federal and state entities were involved in the raid on the Swift Driving Academy in Millington (Memphis), TN:

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Tennessee Department of Public Safety (TNDOS)
Tennessee Criminal Investigation Division (TNCID)
United States Department of Transportation Office of The Inspector General (USDOT/OIG)
The United States Secret Service (USSS)
The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (USBATF)
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE)
United States Marshall's Service (USMS)
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (USFMCSA)

All are being tight lipped about the deal. I'm trying to get in the back door with some friends to find out what the deal is

From a retired federal DOT official

 

There is also a class action suit involving L/O and O/O involving miles paid, on this one courts ruled that Swift has no arbitration with the drivers, because of the wording in the contract. There are more details to it but they went screaming over my head. (I hate legalease)

And the line of individual suits Swift has been fighting to keep extensions going before going to trial, not to mention individual complaints filed with OSHA and Dept. of Labor. These are both drivers complaints and office staff.

Those Swift lawyers are a buy group indeed.

 

When you look at your list here, makes you think that maybe there is more to this than 3rd party testing infractions.

 

Costco and Wal-Mart are competitors, Swift has sketchy contracts with Costco in some parts of the country, out west (SLC terminal trucks) and up to Sumner WA, they have a solid heavy haul contract they are pushing the L/O's to jump on. As far as Wally world (same as Sam's Club) they, like many other companies (CR england, Werner, Great America) have at will (by wal-mart) contracts. All at-will contracts can be broken when there are excessive "late" deliveries, either to the stores or to the DC's. And Wal-Mart is very picky about schedules being kept.

Swift has been in with P&G for many years, and any P&G loads don't get any detention pay for either loading or unloading. Very one sided contract.

 

This appears to mean that the drivers are screwed unless the contractual agreement is ruled invalid. The suit claims that Swift shorted drivers/O-O's on miles. But this can only happen if it is a federal litigation because of all the different rulemakings under state laws.

I turned them down for a V.P. of Safety job for $112,000.00 about 10-years ago. Seems more like the right choice to me but at the time it sure looked good.

 

I'm trying to go in the back door through some old friends and find out what the deal is/was.