Complaint Review: Swift Transportation

 I got my CDL license from Swift Transportation. After driving OTR, my driver mentor recommended me to become a lease operator as well as a driver mentor. I seemed like a good opportunity to increase my pay as well as provide for my family. I trained students through a very cold winter, and I even worked Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July. I delivered all on my loads on time, and each month the I would get a message from the company owner thanking me for my service. I the beginning, they flew me out to Salt Lake City, Utah, to pick out my truck. Once I got the truck I was forced to drive the truck because of the balloon payments. Each week, I owed the company money, and at the end of the month, I owed them for miles driven while training students. In nine months, I drove over 150,000 miles and my student's drove another 75000. At the end of the year, I owed taxes and was forced to get back on the road. The account that the company used told me all I could do was drive because they would not let me return the truck before the 3 year lease was up.

After having a disagreement with a student that had been stealing, the student decide to file a report. While at the terminal, The safety and compliance team called me into there office to challenge me about the accusations made by the student. They did a thorough investigation of the students claims to resolve the issue. I was upset because of the accusations, and the safety compliance team told me that I went outside to smoke a cigarette, they were going to call the cops. I called my attorney, but the refused to talk to him. When the cops got there, the said that I hadn't done anything wrong and there was nothing they could do. They safety and compliance team got upset, and took my truck while I was still on the phone with my attorney. They told me that I could go lease a truck from a local leasing company and come back to work for them. But I was forced to get a rental car, and pack all of my things, and drive home at my own expenses. To make things worse, I hand just spent over $5000 on a new set of longhaul steer times (February), 8 new drive tires( June), and the full maintenance the day before the innocent. I paid the insurance to cover every passenger, and personal belongings on my truck, and they treaded me horribly. I had to drive over 2000 miles to get home in a rental car (after the fact that they flew me to Utah to lease the truck). I was disrespected, and humilated; and they hired the student the next week. They had no regard for the welfare of my family, and negligent to take my truck as well as other valuables.