What Should I Do ? Swift Has Me Stuck And Giving Me The Run Around

Hello to all my old friends who decided to pop in!! Good to see all of you are doing great!

UPDATE: Got load back home but missed it due to truck being broke down. DEF issues and doser assembly malfunction . Wont be ready till Wed . Because I put my two notice in and my last day fell on Fri. Swift Refuses to pay for my hotel until then , or bus fare back home. The told me "you should have driven back to atlanta when you had the chance " Meaning i should have just done it without the ok i presume , and once you quit the company we aren't spending any money on you anymore". They even told the shop here H&H to not let me back in my truck to get my stuff after today. Another issue is we all know that our trucks is our homes, so I can't possibly grab all of my belongings with just my one travel bag that i have in my truck. Asked about how am i supposed to get all my stuff with just my two hands and my travel bag? they said not their problem figure it out...

I mean.... Damn..... they are treating my like i abandoned their truck and its my fault that it broke down. It seems Swift is acting like a spiteful ex spouse who is trying to get me in anyway they can at the moment . I always been a top notch employee and person to them so i know i don't deserve this.

I don't know trucking truth family , but this is definitely something ill never forget. Send prayers my way.

If I am understanding what has happened properly, and it's done more than inconvenienced you a bit financially, Document your costs, your trucks service needs, your two weeks notice, travel expenses, shipping expenses, and take them to small claims court. Just realize that they probably record al incoming phone calls, and they will drag out whatever you said to anyone that you spoke to if their lawyers think it will make you look bad enough to slam dunk you in front of a judge or jury. If they don't have you on tape saying foolish/stupid/hyperaggressive things, they will almost certainly settle if you can document what you have said here sufficiently that a judge or jury will slam-dunk them.

Don't let this interfere with your other job though, if you still have that job waiting.

Good Luck!

First, thanks Old School. With age and experience comes wisdom. You saw things in this story that I and others missed. That is why you an an invaluable asset to this site. It didn't seem to me that he was bashing Swift as much as stating his frustration with his current situation. He seems to have everything worked out great. However, your advice speaks volumes to me and I'm sure others. I further see the importance of planning in this industry.

Now that Deonte is on to his next thing, we can only hope that he is successful. Also, that he learns a lot from this situation.

Once again, thank you Old School.

If I am understanding what has happened properly, and it's done more than inconvenienced you a bit financially, Document your costs, your trucks service needs, your two weeks notice, travel expenses, shipping expenses, and take them to small claims court. Just realize that they probably record al incoming phone calls, and they will drag out whatever you said to anyone that you spoke to if their lawyers think it will make you look bad enough to slam dunk you in front of a judge or jury. If they don't have you on tape saying foolish/stupid/hyperaggressive things, they will almost certainly settle if you can document what you have said here sufficiently that a judge or jury will slam-dunk them.

Don't let this interfere with your other job though, if you still have that job waiting.

Good Luck!

Seriously? People never cease to amaze me ...

I had been thinking about this thread also and was going to respond to it but you guys totally have it covered.

Deonte, it's great having you around here. You've had a great attitude and you've seemed eager to learn and work hard. I just wanted to say that as always I'm in total agreement with Old School. He nailed it by making a series of excellent points about your situation. It would have been nice if you could have stuck it out a little longer where you were at but hopefully they'll approve you for rehire should you choose to come back. I have a feeling after a week or two at this new job you're going to wish you were doing almost anything else. I've worked at a lot of restaurants and my family even owned a pizzeria for a short time a number of years ago. If you're going to be delivering to stores and restaurants you're in for a tough road as the others have mentioned. Those jobs are as tough as just about any trucking job you'll find anywhere.

I also worked the Dollar Tree account for US Xpress for a year unloading 90,000 pounds a week of freight and making multiple stops with each trailer. It's really brutal work and your job is going to be quite similar so I know what you're in for.

I would recommend asking the boss at Swift if they'll put you in the computer as approved for rehire. Even if you don't go back there your future employers very well may see that and it will help you land other jobs in the future.

Definitely let us know how things go at the new job. As you can see we all like ya and we're all pulling for ya but we're pretty concerned about the job you've taken. We'll be glad to help you out with any questions you may have or tough situations you may come across.

For everyone else - please come by here and talk to us about any big plans you may be making early in your career. I can't tell you how many times over the years people come here to tell us after the fact about a major career move they made. This industry is far more complex than almost anyone realizes. Get some advice before you go jumping from division to division or job to job to make sure there isn't something you're unaware of.

For everyone else - please come by here and talk to us about any big plans you may be making early in your career. I can't tell you how many times over the years people come here to tell us after the fact about a major career move they made. This industry is far more complex than almost anyone realizes. Get some advice before you go jumping from division to division or job to job to make sure there isn't something you're unaware of.

Thanks Brett.

I had been thinking about this thread also and was going to respond to it but you guys totally have it covered.

Deonte, it's great having you around here. You've had a great attitude and you've seemed eager to learn and work hard. I just wanted to say that as always I'm in total agreement with Old School. He nailed it by making a series of excellent points about your situation. It would have been nice if you could have stuck it out a little longer where you were at but hopefully they'll approve you for rehire should you choose to come back. I have a feeling after a week or two at this new job you're going to wish you were doing almost anything else. I've worked at a lot of restaurants and my family even owned a pizzeria for a short time a number of years ago. If you're going to be delivering to stores and restaurants you're in for a tough road as the others have mentioned. Those jobs are as tough as just about any trucking job you'll find anywhere.

I also worked the Dollar Tree account for US Xpress for a year unloading 90,000 pounds a week of freight and making multiple stops with each trailer. It's really brutal work and your job is going to be quite similar so I know what you're in for.

I would recommend asking the boss at Swift if they'll put you in the computer as approved for rehire. Even if you don't go back there your future employers very well may see that and it will help you land other jobs in the future.

Definitely let us know how things go at the new job. As you can see we all like ya and we're all pulling for ya but we're pretty concerned about the job you've taken. We'll be glad to help you out with any questions you may have or tough situations you may come across.

For everyone else - please come by here and talk to us about any big plans you may be making early in your career. I can't tell you how many times over the years people come here to tell us after the fact about a major career move they made. This industry is far more complex than almost anyone realizes. Get some advice before you go jumping from division to division or job to job to make sure there isn't something you're unaware of.

Yea definitely thanks a lot Brett. As others have stated I saw nothing wrong with the way he quit but when Old School pointed out a few things I'm like WOW that makes sense. So it's good to know that we all can come ask questions & get good sounding advice before we make a major change in our career.

@ oldschool , I read your post and I agree with 99% of it ! The 1% was I didn't mean to come off a bashing . Just saying my somewhat difficult position . Infact many of your points my dad had said those to me to while I was on the road haha. I didn't think to unload and go Spartan for a while as it certainly would have saved the losses of some valuables I had in the truck . Yikes it sucks to think about it ...But what was had once can be had again. :)

I agree that I normally I should have waited and in fact I had planned to , I was actually scheduled to start GFS in September but again circumstances were urgent . My grandmother who was looking after my 2 baby sisters is sick and I had to get them . I'd imagine it's next to impossible to look after them while Otr .

@ Brett ! Thanks it's always a pleasure to be around ! And I didn't know you did any work similar to food service . You really have been around the block huh ? Lol!

The choice of Gordon Food Service was by my design , albeit not this early . I realize the work will be challenging and physical , but that's what I'm looking for. Otr was definitely not kind to my body . Some peoples bodies are just built to move and I believe mine is one of them. During my time in Otr I devoloped body aches and general feeling of brittleness. I detest that feeling as I was always active and played sports so coming from that to feeling brittle definitely sucks haha. Hopefully will go away and I return back to normal within a few months of the food service work.

I'm sure I'd be eligible for rehire. But I really doubt I'd want to go back Otr. After 10 months and all 4 seasons I don't think it is for me haha. Also while being Otr I realized that if never finish my engineering degree . Otr was more or less just a tool for me to build experience afor a food service or a local gig and save some money for school. So within the parameters that I set , I'd say the time Otr while brief was a general success .

My focus now is my sisters and my degree . And the schedule at GFS And being home everyday definitely helps with that .

Thanks to the guys for all the support. Don't get the wrong idea , even though I'm not Otr I'm still sticking around the community !

Hey man, I did OTR for about 7 months and overall I'm glad I did that much for the driving experience , but couldn't imagine going back to it. I now drive a truck (tractor trailer) delivering dairy products mostly in Chicago. It's a very physical job, I unload my own trailer all day. Not to mention the skill needed to make deliveries in the Chicagoland area. While it's never an easy day, I enjoy this challenge much more then the OTR challenges. Getting home every night is a wonderful thing. Best of luck to you in your new local job. City driving is a whole new adventure.

Deonte, you can see how many "regulars" here are on your side. In your last post you said

My grandmother who was looking after my 2 baby sisters is sick and I had to get them .

Regardless of the timeline between your 2 weeks notice and your Grandmother's situation, did you bring it up specifically with your DM & FM? For most companies, these personal emergencies are handled with the highest priority.

Deonte, i completely relate to how you felt regarding your sisters, and i pray your grandma is well again.

For most companies, these personal emergencies are handled with the highest priority.

When our daughter was abandoned, we were on the opposite side of the country and four loads later we said we just can't wait any longer. I was near hysteria and no where near home. They paid for our greyhound tickets home and back to the terminal , but the freight just didn't cooperate.