Complaint Review: Swift Transportation - Ocala Florida

Yes I am also a former Swift Employee.  I was fired and was not suprised when I was fired because Swift loves to take a small situation and blow it out of proportion.  Effectivley I was fired for having the wrong date on my log sheet and was cited for it.  It was my first ever log violation and I would have caught the mistake had I been given time to review my logs before having them taken from me and audited.  I always go thru and skim my logs before scanning them to check to make sure the dates are in order, everything is flagged, miles, signatures, the major things that could be missed and easily checked.  When asked to provide my logs by the state police they were just taken from me before I had a chance to review them, and that current day, i accidentally got the date wrong.  They not only audited the prior 7 days but the prior 14 days, and they combed thru them with a microscope for over an hr.  They didnt find any mistakes except the date error on that day the audit occured.  So since the police had followed me to the terminal and made some accusations against me that were not true after an investigation, I was only given a 80 dollar ticket for a log violation, nothing else, I was immediatley fired.  I knew Swift was making a mistake and told them to suspend me pending an investigation, or until cooler heads prevailed, or at least until the smoke was removed from the situation, it was blown way out of proportion.  They insisted I was being reckless and fired me.

I filed the unemployment claim and it was denied.  I appealed it was taken to a hearing in front of a judge or what they call an administrator.  Swift had one month to send me the paperwork they intended to turn in against me, since they claim "gross misconduct" in safety is why they fired me.  the hearing was on a Tuesaday and they sent me 50 pages of discovery the day before on a monday.  I spent the entire afternoon and most of the night reviewing the documents and it was absolutley amazing and how far they were trying to go to not pay the claim.  In the end I had my own documents from the court system that proved crucial showing I was only ticketed for a log violation and not "reckless driving" which is what swift said I was ticketed for and terminated for.  Obviously if someone is cited for reckless driving they should be fired but I wasn't ticketed for that and tried pointing that out when I got my walking papers.  The FM stated it was going to an investigation or some crap like that, which turned out not true.  I went to the County prosecutors and the State police to confirm that I was not cited for reckless and driving and no ticket was issued.  Absolutley nothing, except the police report stated that the cops asked me if i was driving recklessly and I said responded no.  they did not have any evidence except a phone call that a driver on the road made about me but it was a he said she said, and no physical evidence like an accident or picture.

The judge chastised the my boss for over reacting and blwoing it out of proportion and the attorney they hired was scratching her head in shock at how badly i tore apart their case against me.  We all knew on the spot that I had won so no suprise a few days later when the letter arrived stating i won the appeal.

yes im going thru the same s**t, i was surprised when i read yours, i hope iwin the apeal

yes im going thru the same s**t, i was surprised when i read yours, i hope iwin the apeal

Please keep any and all records of your employment with Swift. I filed for unemployment last October, 08, and Swift was one of my employers during the time period that fell under my benifits. The only company that appealed was Swift, bacause they hire a firm out of Richardson Tx. called Corporate Cost Control, that does nothing but fight unemployment claims. I resigned in Oct. 07, due to waiting over 210 hours in the month of Sept.07 ( Only 1 day hometime for the whole month) . I turned a written resignation stating that the wait times were too much, I itemized the trip numbers, and stated the wait times on each trip. I had a new DM, and she just couldn't keep her fleet going. Under my previous DM, I almost always got my milage bonus, and my idle time was 8%. After being left to sit 18 hours on a 119 mile trip, I filled out my resignaton, and cleaned out my tractor. My FM talked me into comming back ,and I worked for another month. My milage didn't get any better, so I left again. Imagine my surprise when Swift filed an objection to my unemployment claim. In Colorado, you can collect unemployment if you have a justifiable reason to quit a job. A reduction in pay, is a good reason in the States eyes. Swift now claimed the reason I quit was to take care of my ill Wife. First I heard of it. The fact that I turned a resignation, stating the reason I was quiting, and the fact that I had all my records, helped a lot. I won the unemployment as well as one appeal. I don't know if they are going to take it to the Colorado Court of Appeals, but this company will say anything to try and get out of unemployment. I have a transcript of the appeal, and their rep was caught in several lies. The DM was caught in lies as to why I quit, because loosing a good driver ( my FM words, not mine), would have put more pressure on her. So if anyone is driving for Swift, please keep detailed information on your trips and wait time, it can save your butt. Also, my DM said that Swify does not normally take written resignations, but give them one anyway. It can not hurt, and it can benifit you in the long run. Document everything. Thanks, Nighthawk, Colorado