Trial date set for Swift suit

Trial may resume Sept. 17 in the class action suit truckers brought against Swift Transportation over alleged practices that occurred when it provided third-party testing to graduates of its Millington, Tenn., school.

On Dec. 19, the U.S. District Court for the Western Section of Tennessee, Western Division, granted the parties’ joint motion to extend previously set court deadlines following a “productive” November mediation session.

However, the presiding judge recently had been elevated to an appeals court. Although the lawsuit was transferred to Chief Judge Jon Phipps McCalla Dec.. 29, a court spokeswoman said a visiting judge ultimately may handle the case and the hearing date could change.

A spokesman for Swift declined comment on the case.

The motions deadline is May 4 and a pre-trial conference is Aug. 27.

The plaintiffs are Millington’s Swift Academy graduates who received a Tennessee CDL between May 2005 and February 2008. The end date represents when the U.S. Department of Transportation and FBI raided the academy, which soon was followed by the Tennessee’s Department of Safety’s investigation.

Tennessee terminated its third-party testing contract with Swift after it uncovered illegal practices, according to court records. Licensing agencies in Tennessee and other states were informed that the affected CDL holders had compromised credentials.

New
Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer
Know your costs? Compute the potential profit in any truckload, analyze per-day and per-mile breakouts, and compare real offers on multiple loads or game out hypothetical rate/lane scenarios. Enter your trucking business's fixed and variable costs, and load information, to get started.
Try it out!
Attachments Idea Book Cover

The CDL holders then received letters from motor vehicle agencies that their CDLs were suspended and that they would have to pay for and pass retests.

TDOS records indicate that more than 8,700 former Swift students had their CDLs revoked and were required to retest. Each student had paid $3,900 in tuition, plus a $150 reservation fee.  The consolidated case was filed nearly three years ago.

Looking for your next job?
Careersingear.com is the go-to platform for the Trucking industry. Don’t just find the job you need; find the job you want with the company that wants you!
Pride & Polish
Overdrive’s annual Pride & Polish virtual truck show attracts entries from across the nation showcasing show-quality design, mechanical ingenuity and plenty of trucking-business pride. Find recent-history awards shows, in-depth features about the winners, and more.
Read More
Pride & Polish Promo Image